A vision for Federal Acquisition & Human Resources Shared Services

Analysis

A vision for federal acquisition and human resources shared services

Progress, lessons, and opportunities

Deloitte and The Partnership for Public Service collaborated on two new reports that reinforce how using shared services can help consolidate separate, overlapping, and duplicative processes and systems—from human resources and acquisitions to financial management and information technology—to improve how government operates.

Human resources shared services

The intent of this study was to look specifically at human resources shared services across the US government to assess the progress made since the consolidation of payroll and human resources technology under the initial human resources line of business initiative. The study also recommends ways intended to help advance the use of human resources shared services, both within departments and through the use of federal and commercial third-party providers.

To increase the effectiveness of the federal human resources service delivery model even more, future models should:
  • Provide human resources shared services providers with funding to enable them to upgrade their technology platforms, innovate new service offerings, and increase customer satisfaction
  • Expand human resources shared services providers’ portfolios to include both technology and processing capabilities
This report:
  • Provides examples of how shared services offers advantages, while allowing human resources offices to focus more on strategic management
  • Provides an analysis of where federal efforts for human resources shared services stand
  • Offers insights into where future efforts should be directed to increase effectiveness

Acquisition shared services

This study reinforces that changes in the way the US government acquire goods and services can help consolidate overlapping and duplicative acquisition processes to take advantage of the buying power of the federal government. This report provides an overview of acquisition shared services efforts and category management, and a vision for the future of federal acquisition shared services.

The current acquisition environment should consider changes to help overcome an overburdened workforce with a focus on small purchases that could be done more efficiently.

  • Overburdened workforce: Agencies’ acquisition workforces are often overburdened and struggle to meet mission-critical procurement requirements. Also, similar to other areas of the government, the acquisition workforce could soon experience a wave of retirements likely resulting in the loss of key subject matter expertise.
  • Large number of transactions for small purchases: Acquisition officials we interviewed stressed that many acquisitions are for ongoing support products and services which indirectly support mission. If agencies were able to execute this purchasing more efficiently they could not only save money but also shift their acquisition staff’s focus from managing common types of acquisition contracts to working on more high-risk or mission-specialized acquisitions.

This report:

  • Provides an overview of federal acquisition shared services providers
  • Discusses a move to category management
  • Provides a vision for the future of federal acquisition shared services

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