Strategic Goal Four—Facilitate Commission performance through organizational and management excellence, efficient use of resources, and effective mission support.
Table Of Contents
The fulfillment of the Commission’s mission and the achievement of its goals are tied to a foundation of sound management and organizational excellence. This foundation is essential to support the work of the Commission at the Washington D.C. headquarters and regional offices in Chicago, Kansas City, and New York. The Commission is committed to maintaining a well-qualified workforce supported by a modern support infrastructure that enables the Commission to achieve its programmatic goals. Building this foundation will require significant investment in people, management initiatives, systems, and facilities.
The Offices of the Chairman and the Commissioners provide executive direction and leadership to the Commission—specifically, as it develops and adopts Agency policy that implements and enforces the CEA and amendments to that Act, including the CFMA. Passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in December 2000, the CFMA reauthorized the Commission through FY 2005. The Commission is currently working with the Administration and the Congress on issues related to the reauthorization of the Commission. To this end, the Commission’s policy is designed to: 1) foster the financial integrity and economic utility of commodity futures and option markets for hedging and price discovery; 2) conduct market and financial surveillance; and 3) protect the public and market participants against manipulation, fraud, and other abuses.
In order for the Commission to carry out its mission successfully and to realize the first three strategic goals, the Office of the Executive Director (OED) provides critical administrative support through the effective and efficient management and utilization of key strategic resources, as follows:
Human Resources. In order for the United States to maintain its role as the world leader in setting the standard for ensuring market integrity and protection for market users, the Commission must attract, train, promote, and retain a workforce that is not only professional, but also knowledgeable, diverse, and productive. To support this effort, the Commission has embarked on a comprehensive Strategic Management of Human Capital Initiative with the overall goals of effectively managing the size, skills, and composition of the Commission’s workforce.
Information Technology. The Commission’s ability to fulfill its mission successfully depends on a secure modern information technology (IT) infrastructure that enables the collection, analysis, communication, and presentation of information in forms useful to the Commission and its stakeholders—including the industry it regulates, other Federal, state, and international agencies; the Congress; and the American public. The Commission continues to apply commercial best practices in its enhancements of two mission-critical information systems: the Integrated Surveillance System (ISS), which supports market surveillance; and the Exchange Database System (EDBS), which provides an efficient means of collecting market exchange data. Two new systems—the Filings and Actions System and Project eLaw—will support the Commission’s market oversight objectives as well as its investigative, trial, and appellate work processes, respectively.
Management Operations. The Commission’s logistical operations are supported by ensuring the timely delivery of products and services, ensuring safety and security of all employees, and maintaining the facilities at headquarters and the regional offices. Improvements in critical operational service areas will continue with the development of a property management system for non-capitalized, sensitive items; and the testing, training, and evaluation of all security programs—including the Occupant Emergency Plan, Shelter in Place, and Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).
Financial Management. Ensuring that the Commission deploys judiciously and manages well its financial resources is achieved through effective financial management systems and services that facilitate Commission performance, improve its accountability, and earn unqualified audit opinions. The publication of the annual Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) informs the public about how well Commission programs perform and the costs incurred to achieve that performance. The Commission’s PAR for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006 received the prestigious Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting from the Association of Government Accountants (AGA).
Outcomes for Strategic Goal Four are:
- A productive, technically competent, and diverse workforce that takes into account current and future technical and professional needs of the Commission.
- A modern and secure information portfolio that reflects the strategic priorities of the Commission.
- An organizational infrastructure that efficiently and effectively responds to and anticipates both routine and emergency business needs of the Commission.
- That financial resources are allocated, managed, and accounted for in accordance with the strategic priorities of the Commission.
- That the Commission’s mission is fulfilled and goals are achieved through sound management and organizational excellence provided by executive leadership.