The Department of Homeland Security needs to work harder at unifying its internal components in order to tackle future challenges, according to a new survey.

The survey, conducted by the Homeland Security & Defense Business Council—a nonprofit organization of industry executives and experts— and business consulting company Grant Thornton, surveyed 67 senior executives within DHS and in supporting firms, The survey showed that the department needs to create a more united front across many of its siloed components to combat future threats at home.

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That would seem to match the goal of DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, who's "Unity of Effort" initiative debuted in April of 2014 with the goal of refining issues of acquisition, better intra-communications and cooperation across the department's varied components.

But for all of the goals that DHS has achieved in Unity of Effort's first year, the survey's authors call for stronger implementation within the department.

"The Department of Homeland Security has established a Unity of Effort initiative, which has broad support agency-wide, but is often viewed as less relevant by the agency's component level leaders to their immediate organizations," said Phil Kangas, principal with Grant Thornton's Global Public Sector and a leader of the survey team, in a statement.

"The challenge is to move Unity of Effort from a general policy objective to specific, actionable goals that will enable the agency to successfully achieve its missions."

Management challenges pose significant difficulties to DHS's ability to perform its mission, the survey found, with a decentralization of the department's 22 agencies and a "lack of buy-in" of department initiatives by component leaders serving as key factors.

Among the concerns survey respondents saw within DHS when it comes to achieving mission goals were bureaucracy, funding challenges across components and coordinating operations for a large geographic expanse.

The survey also noted that 85 percent of respondents found that hiring and retaining talent to be one of DHS most significant workforce challenges, alongside low employee morale and budget and resource issues.

Another key issue being faced at DHS is its acquisition process. Thirty-three percent of industry officials responding to the survey said streamlining functions and integrating DHS systems would be among the top ways government and industry could better collaborate. Likewise, almost half of DHS respondents cited the need for more collaborative partnerships with industry.

The survey ultimately showed support for the Unity of Effort mission, with respondents calling for better communication between components, more centralized operations and better buy-in of department initiatives.

And while respondents noted that mission clarity is greater than in DHS's early days, the challenge facing the department now is moving as a single entity rather than the sum of many, varied pieces.

The survey is first part of a five-year study by the HSDBC called the 20/20 Project on Homeland Security Enterprise, which will examine the progress of the department through annual surveys, running through 2020.

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