Transitions In Governance

“Federal Employees…they work for U.S.” is the catchphrase for the National Treasury Employees Union’s new public service campaign. However cheesy the slogan might be, a great message lies behind it, and couldn’t have come at a better time.

Several government agencies have recently faced difficulties in filling critical positions, and the forecast does not look promising—the baby boomers have begun to retire and will continue to retire for the next decade.

The “They Work for U.S.” campaign reveals the significant and rewarding work of federal employees and the wide range of job opportunities available. Through this project, NTEU is helping to dispel the negative perceptions surrounding government work, and will hopefully lead to a new generation of talented and dedicated federal employees. Learn more about this campaign at www.theyworkforus.com and share your thoughts with us.

Replacing the old GS system with pay-for-performance in federal agencies has been the subject of debate and experimentation for several years. Unfortunately, the system is still under dispute, with agency and union leaders at odds and depicting pay-for-performance in sharply different ways.

Union leaders voiced their concerns at a Senate hearing on Monday. They maintain that federal employees are unhappy under the new pay system, citing accounts of unfair evaluations and general resistance to the system. Agency leaders explained that although the program is not quite polished, it still has the potential to increase efficiency and accountability within government. The efforts of pay-for-performance include raising employee morale by rewarding government staff for their hard work. Granted, it will take time for the new work culture to develop, and ultimately pay-for-performance must gain the support of federal employees to be successful. However, agency leaders feel that this effort will pay off with a resulting efficient, content, accountable workforce.

How can agencies convince resisting feds that pay-for-performance is in their own interests and that they can ultimately benefit from the system? Are their enough efforts currently in place to that effect? What has been your experience with pay-for-performance? Read this article to learn more and share your comments.

How can we expect federal managers to perform and produce results if we do not give them the tools they need to do their job? An article in Government Executive explores the results of a survey given to program managers and federal executives which suggests that inadequate training prevents them from successfully implementing programs.

Respondents of the survey said that the policy design process is largely broken, with a total disconnect between the designers and implementers of policy. This problem could be fixed by properly teaching managers and project implementers how to carry out their missions. According to the survey, up to 50 percent of respondents had not received training in key areas of risk management, budget and financial management, working with Congress, or dealing with the media.

The managers proposed that a forum to discuss best practices would also be helpful. Perhaps federal agencies should require their managers to attend more training sessions and conferences which offer such discussions, and the Performance Institute is one of such organizations which offers these types of services. As a result, we might see projects like the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act and Iraq Reconstruction, both cited as unsuccessful in the survey, prove successful in the future.

Cybersecurity has taken a back seat thus far in presidential concerns and initiatives. Many believe that this has become a valuable domain and that more should be done to ensure the security of our nation’s information technology.

Obama has pledged to appoint a national cyber advisor who will report directly to him if he is elected President, adding to his promises of increased e-governance. Efforts will be coordinated with the new advisor across federal agencies to tighten standards to secure information. Security analysts under the Clinton and Bush administrations agree that we need such an effort and have given similar recommendations.

However, the effort to strengthen cybersecurity could prove unsuccessful if the national cyber advisor is not given enough power to influence key decisions. Former cybersecurity personnel complain that they did not have enough leverage to make changes, and suggest that the advisor become a part of the National Security Council in order to gain adequate authority.

A future national cyber advisor could be given power equal to other NSC senior advisors if the effort is carried out the way security analysts hope. What are the benefits and consequences of giving a national cyber advisor that much power? Is the creation of this position vital to our nation’s security and the promotion of government efficiency? Is increased cybersecurity necessary for e-governance to be effective and secure? Post your comments and read this article to learn more.

Leaders in government HR consider a smooth transition to the next administration to be a top priority. Katie Malague, a senior program manager for the Partnership for Public Service, spoke on the topic at the Performance Institute’s Government HR Innovations 2008 conference last Wednesday.

The Partnership for Public Service’s chief human capital officer survey for 2007 revealed that pay reform and recruiting were the top concerns of HR officials last year. Malague says that this year, far more emphasis is being placed on the upcoming transition. A major goal of CHCOs is to convince agency heads that workforce issues are paramount and should be addressed accordingly. The President’s Management Agenda has assisted in bringing workforce issues to these officials’ attention, and the next step will be to ensure that upcoming administration leaders continue to channel efforts into workforce initiatives.

OPM Director Linda Springer announced her retirement last Tuesday, when she stressed that both her successor and HR officials should not go back and reinvent the wheel, but should instead carry on the progress made under the last administration. Click here to read the full article on Government Executive.

At times, our government managers and executives lack an essential quality to effective managing: the ability to lead. OPM has recently added “developing others” to their executive qualifications list, meaning that the candidates in question have experience in providing consistent feedback to the employees they manage. They give employees projects that will develop their skills, constantly consider the talents and needs of employees, and provide guidance at every worthwhile opportunity.

The new criterion was added only two years ago, but has hardly been mentioned? Perhaps it is because leading is the very essence of managing or being in an executive position. Should we be able to expect that effective leadership is a requisite to the selection of government executives? Does the fact that OPM has to explicitly include leadership as criterion insinuate something about the capability and performance of government managers? How can we measure the leadership ability of government executives in order to hold them accountable? Read this article to learn more about “The Golden Manager’s Rule.”

Both Obama and McCain take stances against earmarked dollars that benefit congressional interests instead of the nation as a whole, but what exactly will they do about it as President? Obama proposes the Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act which will disclose the name of the legislator who proposes the earmark along with a justification 72 hours before it can be approved by the Senate. McCain maintains that he will “exercise the veto pen” to ensure fiscal responsibility.

McCain and Obama have voiced their intentions to curb earmarked dollars to congressional pet projects. These federal financial management initiatives couldn’t come sooner.

Charles B. Rangel, the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, is soliciting donations for a center of public service at the City College of New York, which will house his papers and will be named after him. Last year he won a $1.9 million congressional earmark to help launch the creation the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service, and has since requested more money from government, corporations, foundations, and individuals.

The creation of this center seems well-intentioned with the hopes of promoting diversity in public service. Would the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service actually help improve the performance and efficiency of government employees? Will it live up to its goal of helping the under-served communities in getting government jobs, or will it only serve to be a monument to Mr. Rangel as some Republicans have intimated?

The presumptive presidential candidates for this November’s election are preparing to transform the next administration’s government. Below is the agenda of each candidate on improving federal management as well as a reality check by Transitions in Governance. Which of these initiatives are critical for enhancing government performance? Which are pragmatic? Do you agree with Transitions or have a different take? Post your comments today.

McCain: Reduce spending on special interest projects Pros: The growing budget deficit and increased public scrutiny could bring new urgency to the issue. Cons: A Congressional Issue that many previous Presidents, Congressional leaders and others have failed to get a grip on. Chance of Success: 20% Establish greater transparency of the official activities of lobbyists Pros: A hot issue that could become more do-able with the help of bloggers, websites and others. Cons: A Congressional Issue. See above. Chance of Success: 33% Create an independent ethics office in Congress Pros: An interesting and well intentioned idea. Cons: Another area the President has no authority over. And who watches over the watchdog? Chance of Success: 10% Enforce limitations on corporate and union contributions to political parties Pros: The Supreme Court has ruled on this and the Executive Branch should enforce it. Cons: The issue is not enforcing current regulations; McCain seems to be hinting he disagrees with recent Court rulings, which some feel aids Democrats.. Chance of Success: 20%		Obama: Create an accessible internet database of lobbying reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings Pros: Completely achievable with modern technology. Bloggers and new media have led the charge and brought us to this point. Cons: Who is really going to read it all? Chance of Success: 90% Require nearly all contract orders over $25,000 to be competitively awarded Pros: The war and other issues have brought this issue to the fore and it needs to be addressed. Cons: The definition of “competitively awarded” differs based on who you talk to. Chance of Success: 60% Involve Cabinet officials in online fireside chats with agency workers Pros: Everyone loves fireplaces Cons: Aren’t e-mails, web sites, online forums, press release and all employee bulletins enough? Chance of Success: 60% Reform the political appointee process Pros: Desperately needed, the number of appointees has skyrocketed and the process is slow and drives away good people. Cons: Does “reform” mean returning positions to career Feds or just getting his people in place faster? Chance of Success: 65%

Carly Fiorina, former chief executive officer at Hewlett Packard Co., asserts that presidential candidate John McCain understands the importance of technology and the internet. Does McCain have a plan for e-government? Read this article and give us your opinion.

Think tanks focused on government management are helping federal agencies tackle two key management issues: the upcoming presidential transition and the retirement of baby boomers from government jobs. Click here to find out how the IBM Center for the Business of Government, the Partnership for Public Service, AGA, the Performance Institute and other coalition members are addressing management challenges.

Troubling statistics for advocates of the expansion of e-government have been reported by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The percentage of low-income Americans who have broadband internet access is dropping. Twenty-seven percent of the American population has no internet access at all, with the majority of them resisting getting connected to the web. What implications does this have for e-government? Read this article and share your thoughts with us.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is facing workforce troubles on several fronts. The agency’s contracting workforce is rapidly increasing and requires more human capital planning and oversight, while CDC also faces a potentially declining federal workforce and an inability to fill critical jobs while increasing diversity. Read this article to learn what is being done at CDC and give us your comments.

Reducing the pay gap between the private and public sector is a concern for the federal workforce today. Rewarding talented employees in the public sector is important to retain and recruit capable workers, but what price are we willing to pay for public service and government programs? Read this article and give us your own opinion.

According to a recent poll by Meritalk, an organization of government IT specialists, Generation Y desires more readily accessible government information via internet and a more interactive government community. Generation Y is interested in a straightforward conversation with and about government, and the government is adapting how it disseminates information to the public today. Click here to read more and offer your thoughts.

According to a survey given to members of the Defense Department’s financial workforce, human capital issues are of the most concern to both executives and the general workforce. The implementation of the National Security Personnel System, the civilian management system of the Department of Defense, is at the forefront of these concerns. Click here to read more about these issues and give us your feedback.

A study released today claims that the Department of Homeland Security is moving too slowly to sufficiently prepare for the security risks associated with the upcoming presidential transition. Is the department running behind schedule or is it ahead, as the last posted article would have us think? Read this article to learn more about the study and provide your own comments.

Producing a smooth transfer of power within the Department of Homeland Security is a top priority for the agency as it undergoes its first ever administration transition. Many officials, both inside and outside of the agency, worry that terrorists may see this transition as an opportunity to attack our country at a vulnerable moment. Read this article to find out what measures are being taken to ensure national security and a successful transition at DHS.

The deputy chief executive officers of federal agencies are preparing for the next administration transition, as they are essentially in charge while they await the appointment of new political executive officers, and are responsible for making the transition a smooth one. Click here to find out what career officials in several agencies are doing in preparation of the transition.

Government has become slow and ineffective with its layered bureaucracy, demoralized workforce, inadequate leadership, and lack of appeal to a new, talented generation. The inefficiencies will only continue if Senator McCain or Senator Obama does not use their legislative power to start fixing problems within the federal government. Read this article to learn more about these related obstacles to a functional government and share your comments.

The Veterans’ Affairs Department is the next federal agency to replace the old General Schedule pay system with a new pay for performance system. The new pay system uses economic incentives to encourage employee performance and results by eliminating automatic pay raises, and instead making them performance-sensitive. Click here to read more and give us your opinion on the pay for performance initiative.

Senator George Voinovich asked the deputy director for management at OMB, Clay Johnson, to speak about the delay in appropriations bills and its effect on performance at the end of a Senate hearing in May. Congress has yet to pass appropriations bills and probably will not do so until the next president is sworn in. Voinovich describes the difficulties programs face in moving forward without knowing their budgets, and how an absence of this information leads to excuses about why agencies can not perform successfully during a transition. Read this article and give us your reaction.

According to members of the administration, competitive sourcing saves the government hundreds of millions of dollars. Some members of congress believe otherwise, labeling the practice that sets federal workers against contractors “controversial” and “detrimental.” A House bill seeks to halt competitive sourcing by the government for a year, long enough to let the next president deal with the issue. Click here to learn more and share your comments.

Every incoming presidential administration faces pressing management challenges. After taking office on January 20, 2009, the next president will confront a particularly thorny set of “people management” issues related to the 1.9 million civilian employees of the executive branch. The next administration and Congress must answer several key questions regarding the federal workforce that will influence the effectiveness of the government. This forum gathered a small, diverse group of experts and key stakeholders to discuss and offer advice on three important workforce management issues.

Click here to learn more about pressing management issues through the Partnership of Public Service.

This winter, for only the second time in 16 years, the White House will get a new inhabitant. Over the course of 47 debates during the 2007-2008 primary campaign season, candidates rarely – if ever – discussed federal management. Yet, the next president’s success rests largely on his ability to effectively manage federal operations with the help of a highly skilled management team. Amid tremendous pressure to score major policy victories in the first 100 days, the new administration must also quickly invest in government’s long-term organizational health.

Click here to learn more about the Partnership for Public Service’s management initiative.

Over the past decade, many have had high hopes for information technology in supporting government management, but its use at the federal level has fallen short. Will the next administration use IT to its full potential in a successful management strategy? Click here learn out how IT supports government management and share your thoughts.

In anticipation of the upcoming Presidential elections, some are worried that management initiatives enacted under Bush will be abandoned. However, it seems likely that Bush’s lines of business initiative, which has consolidated systems and cut costs, will remain in operation even after his term ends. Read this article on the lines of business initiative give us your feedback.

The Senior Executives Association will urge and the next President to fill more high-level jobs previously held by political appointees with career feds. This could improve government performance and use talent within agencies, but are the pay benefits high enough to attract well-qualified candidates? Click here to read more and share your comments.

OPM recently released a Presidential Transition Guide which offers advice to federal employees who are new to transition procedures and to those who may lose their job as a result of the upcoming presidential transition. The guide provides information on issues ranging from unemployment compensation to security clearances. Read this article to learn more.

The power of government unions provides them with an opportunity to be innovators in employee benefits. Their stability and large size gives them strength and an advantage over their private sector counterparts. A more equal income distribution among government employees has already been achieved, but will they be able to overcome economic restraints and a combative environment to make greater strides toward employee benefits? Click here to read more and offer your thoughts.

The Office of Management and Budget has launched a pilot program to improve PAR, the Performance and Accountability Reports used by federal agencies. The new format is more concise, easier to read and understand, and helps agencies identify the most important management issues. OMB encourages all agencies to use their pilot program of PAR to cut down on the time it takes to create the report, and to spend more time analyzing performance management. Click here to learn more about PAR and give us your comments.

So it is settled, McCain and Obama will battle it out for the presidency. But, are either teams ready to form a new administration should they win? Some think-tank groups which include the Performance Institute, have laid out a transition management agenda for whoever the next president is. Will all this preparation ensure a smooth transition? Read this article and give us your feedback.

A telework bill which would permit federal employees to work from home was approved by the House. This initiative could ease traffic congestion, cut air pollution, and help save on the soaring cost of gas. Opponents of the bill are concerned about a drop in productivity, although supporters argue that agencies which currently use telework have shown no such consequence. Is this a win-win-win situation or are there potential pitfalls to teleworking? Read this article and share your thoughts

Obama has transformed campaigning through the Web, and his understanding of the medium relative to his opponents has paid off. If he is elected President, Obama could use the Web to transform governance as well. Would e-governance provide greater transparency and a voice for public opinion or confusion and chaos? Read this article and give us your opinion.

Social networking on the Internet could prove to be a potential talent base for government. It allows more people to have an input on policy direction. The challenge comes in knowing where to draw the line for input from a high number of people offering their own opinions. Read this article and tell us what you think.

In some government agencies, there have been attempts to develop new business processes modeled after the private sector. Some of these new processes have not had the desired effect of improving government operations. Do you think government should be managed like a business? Read this article and give us your comments.

Jon Desenberg, Policy Director at The Performance Institute will be the guest blogger - May 23 on the AGA Weblog. Join him as he discusses talent challenge and performance in the workforce. Click here to read the blog, and to offer your thoughts.

In today’s government, contractors work side by side with government employees and sometimes confusion can arise on which group should perform certain functions. Does this confusion diminish government performance, or in the grand scheme of things, do contractors work actually enhance government performance? Read this article and give us your comments.

The Intelligence Community has been using different performance pay systems to give pay raises. These systems have been criticized by some as not fairly rewarding employees for their performance. Changes are now being made to ensure employees who perform satisfactorily get at least the pay raise they would have received under the General Schedule. Do you think the new system will be better? Read this article and give us your thoughts.

There is a push to have government use web based collaborative tools in the hopes of increasing taxpayer participation in policy initiatives. Click here to read the following article and let us know if you think the web could enhance government performance.

Apparently senior government executives would still like their pay to be based on performance, but some do not think that the pay-for-performance system improves their agencies’ results. Read this article and tell us what you think.

The goal of improving government performance management will likely carry on into the next administration. The current performance initiatives have seen an improved performance in government agencies’ ability to meet policy goals, therefore the new president will only have the opportunity to enhance this program rather than do away with it. Click here to read the comments from leading performance management experts as they discuss this topic. Please give us your feedback.

According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) Scorecards for the second quarter show that government agencies are improving. Click here to read the article, and click here to see the current scorecard. Please give us your comments.

The Intelligence Community like other government agencies is moving to a performance evaluation system. Read this article to see how they plan to implement it.

The new pay-for-performance debate is picking up steam as the Department of Defense begins to implement it. Will this pay-for-performance system motivate federal employees to elevate their performance on the job? Read this article and give us your feedback.

The Bush administration was hoping competitive sourcing would bring more efficiency to the federal government by encouraging competition for government jobs between federal employees and private contractors. By and large, federal government workers have done well in these job competitions, but some say their moral has now been affected by these battles. What is your take on this issue? Read this article and give us your feedback.

While others are enjoying the fanfare surrounding the presidential transition, the General Services Administration (GSA) is busy working behind the scenes to make sure all the nuts and bolts are secure for the new administration. Click here to read this article and see how the GSA is preparing.

The Bush Administration is predictably trying to hang on to its performance measurement tools, but it seems likely that the new administration, like each before it, will institute their own assessment system.  Of course, even now, PART sometimes has a limited role in program funding due to political motivations.

Is PART the solution or are you looking forward to the next administration’s tool?  Read more on the Administration’s Attempt for a Performance Management Legacy here.

Government is ahead of the private sector when it comes to allowing employees to telecommute. However, a recent report says more government workers do not take advantage of this opportunity. Can employees be more productive working from home versus commuting to the office? Read this article about a survey taken on government workers and telecommuting. What are your thoughts?

Usually a new administration comes in with new programs and priorities for the government to focus on. What happens to all the other programs that government managers had been working on? How much input do government managers get in setting priorities for government?

Click here to read this article and then give us your feedback

Innovative and effective talent management systems are needed in order to make the Federal Government more competitive and attractive to a new generation of workers. As the baby boomers retire over the next several years, a smooth transition is needed to fill this potential loss of institutional knowledge, thus making talent management more so important. Read more