Report - Government Executive

How pay pools are constructed and which pay pool an employee is placed in also will affect
payouts. All else being equal, employees could receive different payouts depending on the
characteristics of their pay pool.
Finding 4-17
Several factors negatively affect employee views of the link between pay and performance,
including perceptions regarding ratings manipulation, perceived biases against support
occupations and those in the field, and differences in payouts across pay pools.
Cost Management
Cost management is the extent to which decision makers have access to reliable estimates of
costs associated with program design and implementation, and the degree to which costs are
budgeted.
OUSD(I), responsible for developing guidance to track implementation costs, reports that DCIPS
implementation has required $60 million thus far. 155 More specific budget information is
classified, making it impossible to analyze the data in an unclassified context. Thus, this analysis
focuses primarily on cost management processes that are in place.
OUSD(I) established a Resource Management Sub-Group (RMSG) as a mechanism to track
component cost estimates and actual expenditures for designing and implementing DCIPS;
define and develop guidance for capturing cost information; and ensure resources are leveraged
to maximum effectiveness and efficiency. 156 To identify and capture direct and indirect cost
categories, the RMSG reviewed cost categories used by NSPS, as well as GAO
recommendations for how the NSPS cost management system should be improved.
Estimating costs accurately is another aspect of cost management. OUSD(I) officials indicated
that mock payout data will be analyzed to determine how much it actually will cost to run the
pay pools, which is currently unknown.
Intelligence components were directed to estimate payroll costs based on the previous year’s
budget and were responsible for estimating other implementation costs. Most underestimated
costs for different reasons. For example, some agencies did not budget enough for training, and
OUSD(I) and ODNI had to make up the difference. Because NSA delayed conversion, it does
not now have the estimated $30 million necessary to convert its workforce to DCIPS, though
solutions for this budget shortfall are being explored.
OUSD(I) has taken appropriate measures and established effective mechanisms to track
implementation costs accurately and comprehensively. Although guidance and mechanisms
allow components to estimate, track, and manage costs, minor problems have impacted estimates
155 This is only the amount allocated by OUSD(I) for DCIPS design and implementation. Each component was
responsible for funding its own PMO, workforce conversion, and such implementation activities as training.
156 OUSD(I), Resource Management Sub-Group Kickoff Meeting, Oct.12, 2007 (PowerPoint).
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