Booz Allen Hamilton /FedScoop Study Reports Government Reform Needed But Will Be an Uphill Battle

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This morning government IT media company Fedscoop and Booz Allen Hamilton BAH released the first-ever "Government Reform Study: An Outlook on Government Reform." The joint study proved that while reform in government is needed, wanted and ongoing, successful implementation is often fraught with challenges. Enhanced leadership, as well as better communication, strategic planning skills, talent planning, training and implementation would lead to improvement in the implementation of reform.

FedScoop polled more than 195 decision-makers in government and the private sector; 85 percent came from government and 15 percent were from the private sector. Nearly 70 percent worked in civilian agencies, and the majority (45 percent) held titles such as program manager or industry senior management.

The "Government Reform Study" identified five recommendations for effectively implementing reform and identifying success:

1. Innovate and Accelerate.  Apply principles from business accelerators to jump-start the reform journey and achieve success. Focus on key ingredients, including strategy, resources, talent, and engagement.
2. Create and Tap into a Broader Network of Resources.  Establish a broad network, including other government agencies, industry leaders, and academia, to advise and provide support (e.g., mentoring).
3. Embrace Constructive Disruption.  Make today's social and technological disruptive trends work for you. Invest and build a digital ecosystem that takes advantage of the potential of today's technology.
4. Create a Chief Reform Officer.  Identify a leader, or perhaps a network of leaders, to ensure the right knowledge is focused on the right challenge and coordinate reform planning and implementation from a big picture perspective.
5. Don't Reinvent the Wheel.  The key to dealing with the complexity and uncertainty of mandated change is to understand the journey that many have walked before.

The survey also found that most of the respondents are familiar with government reform, and enhancing talent is the most critical element to a successful reform effort, according to 65 percent of government respondents. Other interesting statistics from the poll include:

• Ninety-five percent of government respondents have experience with reform.
• More than 50 percent don't know if those efforts were effective.
• About 54 percent of respondents found reform laws and regulations hard to understand.
• Fifty-six percent expressed difficulty in planning for reform implementation.
• Seventy-five percent of respondents say finding the money to implement reform is a challenge.
• Seventy-five percent also agree that reform is an opportunity to rethink the mission and rediscover the purpose of the organization.

And how do organizations know their reform efforts have been successful?

More than half of the respondents (54 percent) said they gauge success by seeing improved services to customers. A visible change in culture (46 percent) and increased productivity (44 percent) were also outcomes of a successful reform.

"Although managing reform can be complicated and often is difficult to implement, it's the new normal among many federal agencies," said Angela Zutavern, Vice President at Booz Allen. "As agency resources tighten, reform can bring positive opportunity to reimagine, retool, and achieve better results."

Ms. Zutavern added, "Technology and other innovations are outpacing government rules and regulations in many areas. For example, our world is rich in data but we have yet to take full advantage of its potential while achieving privacy and security. This creates tremendous opportunity for government reform and a fundamental shift in how the government will perform services and operations in the future."

Download the study at: http://fedscoop.com/pdf/governmentreformstudy2014.pdf    

Media Contact:
Carrie Lake. 703-377-7785. Lake_Carrie@bah.com

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management consulting, technology, and engineering services to the US and international governments in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. Booz Allen Hamilton offers clients deep functional knowledge spanning consulting, mission operations, technology, and engineering—which it combines with specialized expertise in clients' mission and domain areas to help solve their toughest problems. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs approximately 23,000 people, and had revenue of $5.76 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2013. In 2014, Booz Allen Hamilton celebrates its 100th anniversary year.

About FedScoop

FedScoop features up-to-the-minute breaking government tech news and is the government IT community's platform for education and collaboration. FedScoop engages top leaders from the White House, federal agencies, academia and the tech industry both online and in person to discuss ways technology can improve government, and to exchange best practices and identify how to achieve common goals. Our websites include: FedScoop, FedScoopEvents, FedScoopRadio, FedScoopTV and FedMentors.

SOURCE FedScoop