OPM Outlines Strategy for Improving Use of Federal Employee Data

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) wants to help government HR leaders make better use of employee data, and it has a plan in place to do just that.

In the agency’s first published Data Strategy, the OPM lays out “a bold vision for a data-driven future and outlines our [fiscal years 2023 through 2026] priorities to lay a strong foundation of people, data, technology and governance for long-term success.”

Noting the organization’s commitment to recruiting, retaining and supporting civil servants across the federal government, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja says the agency plans to work with other federal entities to evaluate and implement “promising policies and practices from public and private sectors to redefine the future of the federal workforce.”

Accomplishing this goal depends largely on improving the federal employee experience and allowing federal HR professionals to “glean meaningful insights from OPM’s human capital data, enabling them to make informed decisions, measure effectiveness and optimize workforce policies … ,” Ahuja wrote in a “Message from the Director” included in the strategy document.

As such, she said, OPM will need to take meaningful steps to strategically leverage its human capital assets, and to increase data competencies and mobilize HR professionals within the agency and across federal government.

The agency has already begun this work, according to Ahuja, who shared her excitement “about the prospect of working with our workforce and partners to leverage data to drive the implementation of workforce flexibilities, expand the federal talent pool and bring about positive change for the federal workforce.”

“Harnessing the Power of Data”

Data is a critical resource for OPM as the agency positions itself as the nation’s “premier provider of human capital data,” according to the new document.

As the organization points out, OPM collects and maintains data on federal job applicants and more than 2 million current federal employees, and millions more federal and postal employees and annuitants and family members, federal retirees and annuitants.

Given the scope of OPM’s data collection efforts, the agency has what it calls “a historic opportunity to become a hub for delivering data-driven policy, enhanced analytics, data standards and digital solutions that are key enablers for strategic human capital management across the federal government.”

The just-released OPM data strategy outlines the steps the agency will take to take advantage of this opportunity, identifying four key data-related goals for fiscal years 2023-2026:

• Develop a strong, data-driven culture and a highly skilled data and analytics workforce across the federal government.
• Deliver high-quality human capital data products that inform and support critical decision-making for OPM, federal agencies, employees and the public.
• Leverage technology and standards to improve data collections, enable data integration and advanced analytics.
• Develop and implement strong data governance to include privacy, security, and management.

The federal government “must ensure that the workforce has the necessary data skills to improve data collection, management, analysis, sharing and dissemination,” according to OPM. “In its central role leading federal agencies in people management policies and programs, OPM has an opportunity to improve the data skills of the federal workforce through government-wide hiring actions and the development of a framework for data competencies that will assist agencies in better harnessing the power of data.”