Evidence-Building

The practice of evidence-informed decision-making involves using the best available data and scientific evidence to make empirically supported decisions. OPM continues to enhance and integrate its use of evidence in all agency processes in accordance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. OPM used evidence to develop the FY 2022-2026 strategic plan and will continue to use evidence to inform the strategic plan’s program strategies, monitor program performance, and evaluate the outcomes of programs, policies, and services.

To promote collection and use of evidence, OPM created an organizational Learning Agenda, which is a set of evidence-building questions that, if answered, would improve the agency’s efficiency and effectiveness. OPM’s Learning Agenda is aligned with its FY 2022-2026 strategic plan and reflects the priorities of the Administration and the agency. OPM’s Learning Agenda includes 13 broad learning questions that reflect OPM’s research and evaluation priority domains. Each of these domains includes a set of specific research and evaluation questions that will be reviewed and prioritized on an annual basis.

To identify OPM’s capacity for generating and using evidence, OPM conducted a holistic review of the agency’s current use of evidence and its capacity for research, analysis, evaluation, and statistics. The findings are summarized in the OPM Capacity Assessment, which provides insight on OPM’s strengths and areas for improvement in increasing its evidence practice.