What if the capability gap were related to Human Capital and Employee Experience and the deliverables needed to fill it were non-technical, for example, a new training program, a conference for HR and EEO staff, or a new Ombudsman office? What type of acquisition program model would be appropriate? Would it still be able to be funded by a PEO?
I have some thoughts regarding what you wish to do regarding your question. It sounds primarily like you wish to find/bolster funding for your employee experience programs. I requested input from one our Financial Management Department professors in an attempt to glean some advice to you for potential ways to get more funding for your programs which I will also provide.
1. Official Programs of Record in DoD (any service) are funded through the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System (PPBES). Each service on an annual basis has to provide justification up through their service to DoD to get their funding allocated. There are five major appropriations used by Program Offices in developing warfighting systems/capability. They are Research and Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E), Procurement (PROC), Operations and Maintenance (O&M), Shipbuilding (SCN), Military Personnel (MILPERS), and Military Construction (MILCON). Working Capital Funds are not the same type of funds, of which I have provided some definitions below.
2. PEO’s oversee the allocation and expenditures of funding in the outlined appropriations that each program under their purview are provided. Each program identifies each system, subsystem, and all efforts to build that warfighting system/capability via a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). All the efforts to build that capability should support one of the WBS elements.
3. Program Managers, who actually are in charge of and are responsible for the individual programs, do have some flexibility to fund efforts that support their program’s development that align with those WBSD elements. Generally, those items funded should be tied to those elements in the program that are funded to show how those additional or outside actions support their programs.
4. You may be able to have a discussion with some of the PEOs whose personnel might benefit from your program as they may have access to some DWCF funding (business systems), but Sustainment/Support and Materiel Command-types of organizations within the Services generally are the larger users of DWCF funds.
Definition From Google:
A Department of Defense (DOD) working capital fund (DWCF) is a type of revolving fund used to finance operations that function like commercial business activities, (e.g., equipment maintenance, supply and storage activities, and transporting equipment and people).
Excerpt From AcqNotes:
The Defense Business Operations Fund (DBOF) was a DoD-wide revolving fund established in 1991 by consolidating the Services and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) <http://www.dla.mil/> stock and industrial revolving funds. The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) returned primary responsibility for these funds to the parent Service or component, and the DBOF concept became the DWCF. The DWCF has four working capital funds: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-wide. This was done in order to clearly delineate the responsibilities of the military services and Defense components for managing the functional and financial aspects of their respective business areas.
Attached (below) is an email from Dana Steward, a Professor of Financial Management from our Business, Cost, and Financial here at DAU – Huntsville providing some additional insights into accessing additional funds.
The only advice I have for him is to talk to his Comptroller. I doubt that the Service would create a new PEO for Human Capital since each employee normally belongs to a specific PEO; however, the Comptroller might consider speaking with the PEOs about increasing the “tax” to pay for specific training programs to enhance employee training and even help retain the employees through increased training. I would also offer up that DAU might be able to provide some training, technical and professional development, at a very low cost which could help the employees.
There might be a possibility for the PEOs to include the O&M or RDT&E funding for employees some additional training, again this path would have to go through the PEOs and the Comptroller.
Those are the only paths I can think of to help him out but I believe there is a possibility to help the employees.
