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• Coast Guard - Logistics
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• Farm Service Agency

Activity Based Costing Development and Training Needs Assessment

Pathfinder Workforce Transition Support Customer Solution Case Study

Domain

Job Task Analysis and Training

Agency Client

Farm Services Agency (FSA)

Customer Profile

The Farm Services Agency administers and manages farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan programs as laid out by Congress through a network of federal, state and county offices.

Business Situation

In response to requirements outlined in the President's Management Agenda (PMA), FSA had to transition to a performance-based management system based upon a strategically aligned activity-based costing (ABC) structure.

Solution

VectorCSP, subcontracting for Perot Systems, conducted an independent job task analysis and assessed the training needs of the 22,000 state and county office employees in the field. This provided the basis for a new activity reporting system with associated training

• Developed ABC code structure.
• Identified human performance factors and cost drivers for each program output.
• Identified practical measures of performance for program outputs.
• Developed comprehensive training to facilitate transformation.

As a result, FSA began developing requirements for a replacement system that would enable activity-based reporting tied to the agency’s strategic goals. 

They began by creating a comprehensive model of field activities and tasks that could be used as the basis for an ABC system.
VectorCSP conducted personal interviews, used its Internet survey system, and used the Pathfinder Performance Model™ to create a snapshot of the entire “world of work” encompassed by the FSA’s branches. The snapshot covered everything from strategic outcomes to individual job tasks. Pathfinder's benchmarking tools and intervention analysis made it possible to:

• Contrast the current situation with desired outcomes.
• Devise solutions for transitioning to the new system.
• Develop training required for a successful transition.

The strategic analysis and interrelated data gathered through this process allowed FSA senior management to move ahead with their plans. Specifically, they chose and implemented a more modern, activity-based reporting system, and they provided consistent, accessible training to employees at all levels.

Situation
To improve delivery of services to U.S. agricultural producers and to comply with the President's Management Agenda, the FSA developed a budget and performance management system (BPMS). The system was to support strategic objectives and the translation of those objectives into actionable plans.

In 2003, the FSA Budget Division facilitated an independent review of the system’s performance at capturing work measurement, workload and cost allocation data. The review showed that it would be cost-prohibitive to upgrade legacy systems to provide complete, accurate data to support the BMPS.

As a result, FSA Senior Management took the first steps toward developing a replacement system:

• Developed a comprehensive model of field activities and tasks that could be used as the basis for an ABC system.
• Developed performance measures and indicators.
• Identified functional, technical and human factors required for a replacement system.

Solution
Using the Pathfinder Work Force Modeler, VectorCSP conducted surveys of all 22,000 state and county office employees. The benefits of this study:

• Provided the job-task analysis needed to develop activity-based costing.
• Developed a description, list of key tasks, and a list forms to process for each identified field activity.
• Reconciled legacy system task codes with proposed ABC codes to produce a code “crosswalk.”
• Identified human performance factors and cost drivers for each factor.
• Identified practical measures of performance for program outputs.
• Produced a prioritized training needs assessment at the program level based on field performance data.
• Identified bottlenecks, strengths and weaknesses in the process.

Benefits
Using Pathfinder methods and tools, the survey and analysis allowed for accurate and timely development of criteria for the new activity-based system and associated training.

This was a critical component of the FSA’s move to integrate performance information comprehensively into the budget to ensure compliance with the Presidential Management Agenda's government-wide initiative of Budget and Performance Integration (BPI). BPI is a major reform initiative within the FSA. It involves reengineering business processes and developing state-of-the-art technology solutions.

Plans for the Future
Moving forward, FSA has used the newly acquired data and model to:

• Develop pilot programs for the activity reporting system.
• Develop computer-based interactive training.
• Document the cost associated with each field activity and outcome.