Human Resources

News of the Week

Here is a brief list of some of the interesting sustainability news articles from this week: Nissan developing a 10-minute car charger, report says The Not-So-Hidden Benefits of Submetering Buildings U.S. missing out on energy from trash, study says Trade Commission Likely to Play Growing Role in U.S. Renewable Energy And you’ll find more headlinesRead… Read more »

Finding Innovation

Last week I tried to connect the idea of disruptive innovation to Lewis Hyde’s anthropological analysis of the mythological trickster. The comparison hinged on a couple ideas, namely that both are focused on the breaking of traditional trade-offs, and that breaking those trade-offs results in a re-ordering of the status quo, a re-ordering that revealsRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: USAJobs.gov 3.0 Experience, A Rocky Road for Most

According to an article in the Washington Post, users of USAJobs.gov 3.0 have had a hard time using the “new and improved” site. Several glitches have prevented users from submitting applications, and performing other functions, on time. Although the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sends out daily updates and boasts about successful cases, many usersRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: How Can Seasoned Feds Get Their Mojo Back?

Back in early September, I asked a forum question around the findings of a new study which found that younger feds are happier at work. My colleague Alicia Mazzara summarized it in her Federal Buzz article in the Washington Post today. Study: Federal job satisfaction higher if you’re young In her article and as previouslyRead… Read more »

Bridging the Gap between Public Officials and the Public

This 2011 report by Tina Nabatchi and Cynthia Farrar for the Deliberative Democracy Consortium explores what elected officials know and think about public deliberation, as well as what they need to know to assess the potential value of public deliberation as a governance tool. Data from interviews with twenty-four state legislators and senior staff forRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: USAJOBS Extends Deadline for Federal Agencies

USAJOBS has extended deadlines for job seekers interested in non-emergency positions. The Washington Post reports that OPM staff is working around the clock to fix code bugs and related problems on the USAJOBS site. On Wednesday, a contractor was hired to test the site and was still witnessing a 86% failure rate. The Washington PostRead… Read more »

Per Diem Calculator for Government Travel (New and Improved!)

About one year ago, GovLoop created its first mash-up: a combination of GSA Per Diem Rate data, Yelp user ratings and Eventul content so that we could help official government travelers to learn what locals say are the best hotels, restaurants and nightlife in that city.* CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE PER DIEM CALCULATORRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Is It Time To Update The Hatch Act?

The Washington Post is reporting that Carolyn Lerner, head of the Office of Special Counsel, wants to update the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act is the 72-year-old law that prohibits Federal employees from participating or advocating in most political activities. The Hatch Act prevents any person who receives Federal funds for their employment to runRead… Read more »

Diary of a Frustrated Young Professional- Letting Somebody Go

Dear all knowing Internet, I know its been a long time since I have last called upon your all knowing goodness, but this time I am extremely frustrated. In New York State, the public employee union I belong to rejected our new contract. As a result, many young professionals including myself have been notified thatRead… Read more »

Young AFGE Member Describes His Experience at the AFL-CIO NextUp Summit

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to join with other young AFGE members to represent our union at the 2011 AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers Summit in Minneapolis. The conference brought together young union members, youth activists and student groups from around the country to participate in a forum addressing the challenges facing youngRead… Read more »