Background
The primary mission of the U.S. Postal Service’s enterprise risk management (ERM) program is to provide reasonable assurance that significant risks to and opportunity losses for the organization are systematically and effectively identified, evaluated, and mitigated where appropriate. The organization’s ERM Operating Charter (Charter) establishes the Executive Leadership Team in general and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in particular as having the responsibility for aligning the organization’s goals, defining roles, and driving progress with oversight by the Board of Governors’ Audit and Finance Committee. The ERM program is led by Finance, as directed by the CFO and the Vice President, Controller.
What We Did
Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s implementation of the Charter and identify opportunities to improve the ERM program.
What We Found
While the Postal Service effectively implemented several aspects of the Charter, we identified elements related to annual reviews, program targets, and defined responsibilities that were not fully implemented. Specifically, we noted that management had not reviewed the Charter at least annually or established a formal schedule for periodic reviews, established targets for risk mitigation and resource allocation, or defined risk management responsibilities across the organization.
Further, the Postal Service ERM program incorporates several good practices identified by federal and industry guidance; however, we identified opportunities for improving the program. These opportunities include identifying and inventorying existing risk management practices, enhancing risk reporting, and assessing the program to develop the next phase of Postal Service ERM.