Tax Administration: Workforce Planning Needs Further Development for IRS's Taxpayer Education and Communication Unit
GAO-03-711
Published: May 30, 2003. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2003.
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Highlights
Strategic workforce planning helps ensure that agencies have the right people with the right skills in the right positions to carry out the agency mission both in the present and future. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Taxpayer Education and Communication (TEC) unit within its Small Business and Self- Employed Division assists some 45 million small business and self-employed taxpayers. Given the number of taxpayers it is to assist and changes in its priorities and strategies, GAO was asked to determine whether TEC has a workforce plan that conforms to critical elements for what should be in a plan and how it should be developed and implemented.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Revenue Service | Given the uncertainty on how the workforce plan for TEC will be developed and implemented, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the workforce plan for TEC be developed in conformance with the critical elements for what a plan should include and how a plan should be developed and implemented. |
Closed – Implemented
IRS agreed to implement our recommendation and a TEC contact had told us that the recommendation had been implemented. However, the actual workforce plan had not been provided since we began asking for it in late 2004. IRS provided the copy of the plan on 9/1/06. This plan generally followed the critical elements for what a plan should include as we recommended. Between our asking for a copy and receiving it, however, TEC was reorganized into the stakeholder liaison function. Consequently, although TEC's workforce plan was produced as we recommended, its relevance has been superseded by the new organizational structure.
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Topics
Agency missionsFederal employeesInternal controlsLabor forcePersonnel managementStaff utilizationStrategic planningWorkforce planningHuman resources managementTaxpayers