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The OIG reviewed the Bureau of International Labor Affairs' (ILAB's) agency mission, strategic and performance planning, budgeting, organization and staffing, agency functions and activities, performance measurement, working relationships, communication, and managerial controls. ILAB appropriations have increased almost sevenfold during the last two fiscal years. However, ILAB's current management structure, managerial controls, evaluation methods, and the roles and responsibilities of individual staff were not designed to provide adequate accountability for this level of funding. The quality and effectiveness of any organization's managerial controls determine the level of risk associated with its activities and operations, and the absence of adequate management controls and evaluation methods poses a very high risk.
Therefore, we recommended that ILAB:
- revise its existing mission statement to focus on expected outcomes;
- revise its strategic and performance plans to include goals and measures that better represent ILAB's wide variety of responsibilities and functions;
- determine how the increased grant and contracting activities will be accomplished and who will accomplish each aspect of the process; and
- review, revise, and strengthen its managerial controls over grant contracting activities.
ILAB's response to the draft report included steps it has taken and is
planning to take to address the recommendations. ILAB's response noted
that it had discussed and received guidance from the Departmental GPRA
team and the OIG on developing broad high-level goals that focused on the
Secretary's priorities for ILAB. During our audit, which was subsequent to
the discussion on high-level goals, we noted that ILAB's Office of
International Economic Affairs and Office of International Organizations
did not have goals. We continue to recommend that these plans be further
improved to include ILAB's Office of International Economic Affairs and
Office of International Organizations.
(Report No. 17-00-008-01-070, issued March 24, 2000)
