Critical to the success of the fed. gov't. transformation are its people -- human capital. One of the questions being addressed is how to update its compensation system to be more market based & performance oriented. This symposium was convened on March 9, 2005, to discuss organizations' experiences with market-based & more performance-oriented pay systems. Representatives from public, private, & nonprofit organizations made presentations on the successes & challenges they experienced in designing & managing their market-based & more performance-oriented pay systems. A cross-section of human capital stakeholders was invited to further explore these successes & challenges & engage in open discussions. Tables.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.