EXHIBIT V EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington 25, D. C., June 13, 1951. CIRCULAR No. A-44 (Issued jointly with the Civil Service Commission) To: The heads of executive departments and establishments. Subject: Conservation and utilization of manpower in the Federal Government. 1. Purpose. The President, in his letter of June 8, 1951, to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, stressed the importance of conserving manpower and stated that all agencies would be responsible for giving this objective top priority. Because effective manpower utilization is a critical need at this time, it is essential that each Government agency give special attention to the prevention of overstaffing and nonessential activities and to the bringing about of maximum effectiveness and economy in the utilization of its personnel. Such actions fall within the continuing responsibility of the head of each department and establishment to provide efficient and economical operations, and should be given special emphasis under the President's management improvement program. This circular is issued jointly by the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of the Budget, with the enthusiastic endorsement of the Manpower Policy Committee of the Office of Defense Mobilization, It sets forth the responsibilities for achieving manpower conservation and utilization in the Federal Government; lists steps to be taken by each agency including the central management agencies in effecting this program; and prescribes reports to be made. 2. Coverage. The provisions of this circular are applicable to all Federal departments and establishments including the municipal government of the District of Columbia. Emphasis, however, in the central review and inspection phases of the program will be given to those agencies and bureaus which employ large numbers of people. 3. Agency actions for the conservation and utilization of manpower.—As a part of its continuing management improvement program, each department and agency is responsible for taking steps to assure the most effective and economical use of all its resources. Because shortages of manpower are becoming increasingly critical in the present emergency, it is imperative that each agency give top priority to those management improvement activities that are specially designed to assure the effective conservation and utilization of personnel. Existing organization procedures, and methods, designed from the standpoint of overall economy of men, money, and materials, may require revision in the light of the present critical emphasis on manpower conservation. Measures such as those listed below have proved useful in assuring effective use of manpower in many agencies. Each agency should reexamine its existing program for manpower utilization to assure that it is making the most effective use of measures such as the following: a. Actions to conserve manpower through improved organization, procedures, and methods: (1) Plan and schedule work programs so as to assure that personnel needs and recruiting are held to a minimum. (2) Reanalyze organization structure to insure that personnel requirements are as low as possible, consistent with good management. (3) Reexamine procedures in the light of personnel shortages. Use production planning and control techniques in mass operations. Use simplified procedures such as those developed for such activities as personnel processing and record keeping, payroll, and accounting. (4) Study work methods with special emphasis on conserving manpower and use modern business machines where applicable. Use dictating machines, stenographic pool arrangements, and streamlined correspondence methods to reduce the need for stenographic help. Use systematic methods for controlling forms and reports. (5) Stress management techniques in supervisory training to develop improvements in procedures and methods. Use work simplification or a similar program. (6) Encourage the participation of all employees in developing organization, procedures, and methods that will save manpower. Üse suggestion systems, efficiency awards, and other incentives to secure suggestions for improvements, to improve morale, and to reward persons responsible for saving manpower. (7) Adopt modern methods of statistical sampling wherever possible as a substitute for 100 percent reviews, checks, and inspections. (8) Review delegations of authority to assure that they permit operating heads to make decisions and put into effect improvements in organization, procedures, and methods that will save manpower. (9) Reexamine review systems to assure that they are being used to identify major areas where possibilities exist for saving manpower. Review systems should also be used to identify requirements or restrictions in law or regulation which should be eliminated or modified in the interest of conserving manpower. b. Actions to achieve the maximum utilization of manpower through improved personnel management: (1) Inform all employees and supervisors of the objectives of the agency manpower conservation program and point out the responsibility of each employee for his cooperation with that program. (2) See to it that the supervisors and technicians responsible for the agency's classification program understand that the agency relies on them for the integrity of position descriptions and that public funds are paid out on that basis. (3) Accelerate your program for simplifying personnel procedures. (5) Determine the extent to which personnel needs can be reduced by the better use of the skills of employees already on the rolls and by reducing employees' absences and keeping turnover at a minimum. (6) Shape orientation and training activities so as to improve the development of supervisors and of workers already on the job and to get new employees into efficient production promptly. (7) Gear employee relations programs to provide reasonable employee incentives and services. (8) Keep constantly before employees and supervisors the fact that their responsibility for good personnel utilization is a continuing one and that more money and more employees are not the chief means for handling increased workloads. c. Actions to develop and utilize standards or criteria for determining staffing needs: (1) Apply work measurement and unit costs where applicable to relate amount of staff needed to amount of work to be done. (2) Use staffing ratios, staffing guides, or other standards where applicable to determine the amount of staff needed in relation to work to be done or other criteria. (3) Use tables of organization, staffing patterns, or overall strength controls, where appropriate. d. Actions to evaluate results of manpower conservation and utilization efforts: (1) Determine through the conduct of inspections, or by other means, whether the above measures are being used and the extent of their effectiveness. (2) Identify through the conduct of inspections, or by other means, specific opportunities for obtaining better use of manpower and take necessary actions to take advantage of them. (3) Report, as required (see par. 5), on the benefits derived from the manpower conservation and utilization program. 4. Actions of the central management agencies.-As noted in paragraph 3, each agency is responsible for taking all necessary steps to carry out a full-scale employee conservation and utilization program. Governmentwide leadership with respect to these efforts will be taken by the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of the Budget, with the Commission assuming the primary responsibility for leadership in the application of the measures listed in paragraph 3b. In order to insure that substantial results in conserving manpower are obtained throughout the Government, the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of the Budget, with the cooperation of the General Services Administration where appropriate, will take the following actions: (a) Provide pertinent information with respect to such measures as are listed in paragraph 3; (b) conduct inspections or surveys to determine the effectiveness of agency actions and to assist the agency in carrying out its responsibilities for conserving manpower; (c) review reports submitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 5 of this circular, and hold hearings as appropriate; (d) further refine and utilize staffing guides for common services and processes; (e) identify and distribute information about particularly effective practices found to be in use in the departments and agencies; and (f) give other assistance as appropriate. The central inspections or surveys mentioned above may be formal or informal, and may be made either separately or jointly. The reports of inspections and classification surveys made by the Civil Service Commission and the reports of inspections made by the General Services Administration, together with information available in General Accounting Office audit and investigation reports and in reports of congressional investigations and hearings, will be used both by the Bureau of the Budget in arriving at budgetary decisions, and by the Civil Service Commission in making personnel decisions, that will insure the use of effective conservation and utilization practices. 5. Reports and hearings.-a. Hearings to review the 1952 staffing needs of a selected list of agencies using large numbers of people will be held by the Bureau of the Budget in connection with the approval of apportionments for 1952. Agencies should be prepared to report informally at these hearings on the standards used to determine the number of people needed, the application of specific staffing guides, and the steps being taken to conserve manpower. b. As a part of its report on its management improvement program required by Bureau of the Budget Circular No. A-8, each agency will include the following additional information in its report of September 15, 1951: (1) Standards or other criteria developed and used to determine staffing needs for the 1953 budget. (2) Actions taken to adopt or strengthen the measures for conserving manpower listed in paragraph 3 of this circular, with results achieved. (3) Actions taken to solve manpower problems in particular shortage areas such as stenographic, with results achieved. (4) Recommendations for changes or modifications in legislation or regulations needed to achieve manpower conservation but beyond the authority of the agency to put into effect. c. Each agency should be prepared to report on its results in conserving manpower to the President's Advisory Committee on Management at the request of the Committee. d. These various reports will be used to evaluate the agency's manpower conservation and utilization program; as a basis for reports to the President on results achieved; and in connection with the examination of financial requirements for agency operations. 6. Advisory committee.-An interagency committee is being formed to advise the Bureau of the Budget and the Civil Service Commission on the matters covered in this circular. ROBERT RAMSPECK, Chairman, Civil Service Commission. Director, Bureau of the Budget. EXHIBIT VI EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington 25, D. C., June 4, 1951. BULLETIN No. 51-18 To the heads of executive departments and establishments, 1. Purpose. The President in his letter of April 24, 1951, to the heads of executive departments and agencies pointed out that the Nation's security requires the highest degree of administrative effectiveness in the Federal Government. In line with this requirement he requested the departments and agencies to review their programs and operations to insure that sufficient authority has been delegated to permit effective operation at the field level. This bulletin describes actions to be taken by departments and agencies in fulfilling the requirements of the President's letter. 2. Agency actions.—The head of each department and agency shall: a. Review the programs and operations for which he is responsible to determine whether sufficient authority has been delegated, consistent with good management, to permit effective performance at each operating level. In conducting this review special attention should be given to the need for: (1) field offices to carry on operations independently if required by an emergency; (2) field offices of defense mobilization activities to be organized and staffed quickly and effectively; (3) departments and agencies to make the most effective use of personnel, fiscal, property, and other services provided by the central agencies of the Government. b. Initiate action to delegate authority in those instances where it is found that sufficient authority does not now exist to meet the needs cited in paragraph (a) above. c. Submit a report to the Bureau of the Budget, as described below. 3. Agency report.—The head of each department and agency having offices in the field is requested to submit a report to the Bureau of the Budget (in triplicate) by July 31, 1951. The report should consist of three parts. Part I should contain a brief narrative statement of the actions that have been taken by the department or agency to fulfill the requirements of the President's letter. This should include actions to review existing delegations of authority and to initiate additional delegations. Part II of the report should contain a brief narrative statement indicating the extent to which authority has been delegated to regional, district, and other field offices for carrying on program or substantive operations. Because of the wide variety of activities in the departments and agencies, it is not feasible to prepare a list of standard items (as indicated below for common management activities) that would be applicable to all agencies. Each agency should describe delegations that have been made by June 30, 1951, or which it plans to put into effect, for each of the major programs of each Bureau or major constituent unit. The statement should cover the delegations of authority that have been made to make the operating decisions that are required to carry on each major program. The types of delegations to be described include such items as awarding contracts for program activities, adjudicating claims, making agreements with Federal, State, and local agencies, approving and issuing licenses and permits, initiating action to enforce compliance with regulations, and establishing rates and charges to the public. Part III of the report should contain a brief narrative statement for each bureau or major constituent unit indicating the extent to which authority has been delegated to regional, district and other field offices for taking final action in each of the following common management activities. a. Procurement of materials, supplies and contractual services. b. Release of property for disposition. c. Acquisition, renovation and release of space. d. Operation, maintenance and protection of Government-owned buildings. e. Storage and disposition of records. f. Communications services at Government-owned buildings. g. Procurement of printing services. h. Recruitment, appointment and placement of personnel. i. Other personnel transactions including status changes, promotions and separations. j. Establishment and classification of positions. k. Transfer of funds between allotments which are available for a given unit. 1. Maintenance of accounts and related records. This part of the report should specify the delegations of authority to take final action that have been made by June 30, 1951, and delegations of authority that the agency plans to put into effect. Limitations, modifications, and exceptions to delegations should be specified for each item. (For example-field station establishes and classifies positions up through GS-12; positions GS-13 and above require central office approval; or field station authorized to make emergency purchases up to $500; purchases above $500 require prior approval of regional office.) FREDERICK J. LAWTON, Director. (Attachment: The President's letter of April 24, 1951.) To the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, April 24, 1951. In my recent message to the Congress transmitting the 1952 budget, I emphasized that realization of the objectives of the Nation's security program requires the highest degree of administrative effectiveness in the Federal Government. Because most of the Government's operations are carried on outside of Washington, sound and expeditious management of Federal field operations is essential to these objectives. Successful field management must be accomplished by responsible officials in the field. It will not be achieved if those officials are hampered by inadequate delegation of authority from their central headquarters. This fact has been stressed by both the Hoover Commission and my Advisory Committee on Management. The demands of the present emergency require that we give immediate attention to this problem. The difficulties incident to organizing and staffing Federal field offices for defense mobilization activities require that field officials be authorized to deal quickly and effectively with problems of field operation. Furthermore, if central or headquarters offices should become temporarily inoperative in an emergency, field offices must be in a position to continue operations. For these reasons, I am asking that the head of each department and agency review his programs and operations to insure that sufficient authority has been delegated to permit effective operation at the field level. Recent improvement in the provision of personnel, fiscal, property and other services by central agencies of the Government will greatly assist all agencies in strengthening their field operations. More extensive delegation of authority by. departments and agencies will permit them to take greater advantage of the steps, taken by the General Services Administration, Civil Service Commission, Treasury Department, General Accounting Office, and Government Printing Office to expedite field operations. I have asked the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to request reports from all departments and agencies for the purpose of determining the extent of delegations of authority to field activities. I have also instructed the Director to prepare a summary of actions taken by the departments and agencies for my information and consideration. HARRY S. TRUMAN. Memorandum for the President EXHIBIT VIA OCTOBER 5, 1951. Subject: Report on delegations of authority Your letter of April 24, 1951, asked the heads of executive departments and agencies to review their programs and operations to insure that sufficient authority has been delegated to permit effective operation at the field level. The letter also instructed me to perpare a summary of actions taken by the departments and agencies for your information and consideration. The reports submitted to me show that considerable work has been done by the departments and agencies to review their existing delegations of authority. These reports also show that, in many cases, administrative action has been planned or is already under way to clarify or modify existing delegations and to delegate or authorize the redelegation of certain additional authorities to the heads of subordinate field offices. In some instances the heads of the departments or agencies have indicated that laws will have to be amended to permit the delegation of certain authorities to subordinates and to heads of field stations. These instances have been noted and the Bureau of the Budget will undertake the necessary followup action. As a The analysis of these reports by staff members of the Bureau reveals that departments and agencies generally have made greater progress in delegating authority to carry on the substantive or program type activities at the field level than they have in delegating authority to carry on the common management activities, such as procurement, supply, personnel administration, etc. part of our continuing management improvement efforts and in reviewing the management improvement reports of the departments and agencies we shall give particular attention to what is being done to improve this phase of their management. In addition, the Bureau will collaborate with the General Services Administration, the Civil Service Commission, the General Accounting Office, and the Treasury Department to insure that continuing attention is centered on this problem. A copy of each of the agency's reports is being made available to the |