The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined selected experiences that six government agencies implemented to help empower or involve frontline employees. The agencies reviewed were as follows: the Federal Aviation Administration; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Internal Revenue Service; the Office of Personnel Management; and the Veteran's Benefits Administration. The study organizations used six key practices in their initiatives to empower and involve employees. Those practices were as follows: (1) providing sustained leadership commitment to open communications and support culture change; (2) engaging unions to include all perspectives in achieving consensus about needed changes; (3) using a variety of formal and on-the-job training approaches to facilitate development of new skills; (4) encouraging employees to combine their resources and talents by working together in teams; (5) involving employees in planning and sharing performance information so that employees help shape agencies' goals and better understand how their day-to-day activities contribute to results; and (6) empowering staff by giving them the authority they need to make decisions and effectively conduct agency operations. The GAO recommended that government agencies adopt these practices to improve their performance, enhance employees' morale and job satisfaction, and provide a working environment where workers have a better understanding of their organizations' goals/objectives. (Thirteen related GAO products are listed.) (MN)