Myva Integrated Plan Analysis

Introduction

In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-2014 VA Strategic Plan, then VA Secretary Eric Shinseki identified three principles to guide the agency into the 21st Century; 1) to be people centric, 2) results driven, and 3) forward looking. Subsequently, the FY 2014-2020 Strategic Plan built on these guiding principles and further defined VA’s mission. Since that time, the agency has undergone significant transformation in these areas. Building on these guiding principles, in July 2015, Secretary Robert McDonald introduced the MyVA Integrated Plan (MIP). The MIP focuses on giving Veterans greater control over provided services, modernizing VA by focusing on the organizational culture, processes and capabilities with the intent of providing “a
Based on this classification scheme, job duties and responsibilities while interrelated, are segregated into distinctive tasks with little overlapping or commonality of task. This structure places significant constraints the ability of agency leadership to utilize the workforce in agile and adaptive ways in response to fluctuating requirements, dictated by changes in workload receipts, policies, laws and political climate. Additionally, this impedes leadership’s ability to optimize the use of the agency’s human capital and to serve Veterans in a timely manner. Employing human capital in the most advantageous way is critical to the success of the organization particularly during lean budget years which are often characterized by a diminishing overtime budget decreased contracting resources and dwindling prospects for gaining additional Full Time Equivalents
One of the major risks is that this concept may not align with other workload management initiatives and could potentially require changes to NWQ rules or demand additional requirements. We can mitigate this risk by working with the appropriate business lines in order to ensure that the new claims processor role aligns with the current structure of the Veterans Service Center. Another risk is that reclassifying these positions would result in a significant imbalance in claims processors in the highest classification levels. The organization can mitigate this risk through normal attrition channels such as retirements, resignations, and other personnel actions. Additionally, there is significant risk this concept will meet stiff resistance from employees, labor partners and management at all levels within the organization. The agency can mitigate this risk by implementing robust change management and communication plans.

Recommendations

The VBA Office of Strategic Planning (OSP) and the Office of Field Operations recommends formation of a design team to develop this concept. OSP and the OFO believe further exploration of this concept is essential if VBA is to improve performance within the administration. The formation of a design team is required to fully explore and determine