GAO said defense officials would benefit by linking training to performance for acquisition employees.

Defense Department officials and analysts at the Government Accountability Office disagree on which set of metrics will yield the best perspective of what’s happening with the department’s acquisition workforce, according to a new report.

GAO recommended that DOD establish milestones to track how contracting-related certification training for acquisition workers improves their proficiency, abilities and performance.

 However, DOD officials said they already have metrics in place. Their measurements give a view of DOD’s workforce, such as its composition and experience.

DOD officials track the number of civilian and military personnel who handle acquisition work and the number of people the department adds as a result of insourcing federal work from businesses.

They also check on annual increases in the percent of acquisition staff members with levels II and III certification requirements. Finally, they seek to exceed benchmarks in government and industry for the average number of training courses offered in the classroom and online and the average number of follow-up surveys received to measure courses’ usefulness.

GAO said those measurements were worthwhile, but they don’t offer information on productivity. DOD’s existing metrics don’t show the outcome in terms of employees’ proficiencies or capabilities.

“Without outcome metrics, DOD cannot demonstrate how certification training contributes to improving organizational performance results,” GAO auditors wrote.

Given the scale and value of DOD’s acquisitions and spending, GAO said defense officials would benefit by linking training to performance.

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— by Matthew Weigelt – Oct. 28, 2010 – About the Author: Matthew Weigelt is acquisition editor for Federal Computer Week.