Human Resources

Why We Need to Stop Skipping Our Lunch Breaks

If you’re anything like me, you know this scenario all too well….emails flying back and forth, voicemails and calls to return, multi-tasking at least two different urgent issues, putting out countless fires….then 12:00 rolls around and you think, “I’ll just do one more thing,” which turns into two or three things and by the timeRead… Read more »

10 Skills You Need for the Job Market

Last week, we discussed tips to land a last minute Fall position. If you’re still trying to find a job or internship, or even if you already have one, it’s important to make sure you’re equipping yourself with the necessary skills for the job market. According to the 2015 Millennial Majority Workforce Study, hiring managersRead… Read more »

Are Any State Governments in the U.S. NOT Corrupt?

“Are there places in America where the outwardly self-virtuous might be able to act in a not-so-obviously-seen amount of on-the-job mischief, and not get caught? Jorge Martinez-Vasquez admits in his world-acclaimed book, Fighting Corruption in the Public Sector, that “corruption is notoriously hard to measure in a precise way.” Findings presented within this report may… Read more »

An Engagement Bridge to Nowhere

Last month in response to a Congressional request, the General Accounting Office released Report GAO-15-585 under their Federal Workforce section entitled “Additional Analysis and Sharing of Promising Practices Could Improve Employee Engagement and Performance.” The GAO was asked to review how the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was doing in improving federal employee engagement. TheRead… Read more »

Making Bureaucracy Better

Bureaucracy – it’s not a word that inspires a whole lot of positive feelings these days. To the public, it can symbolize government inefficiency and unresponsiveness. To the federal worker, it often represents a rigid structure that stifles their agency’s agility. Bureaucracy can be overwhelming, even painful, but it doesn’t have to be. And forRead… Read more »

OPM’s 99 Problems – And Cyber’s Just One

We all heard about the recent and disastrous cyber breaches in federal government. In April, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) discovered that the personnel data of 4.2 million current and former Federal government employees had been stolen. Birthdays, home addresses, and Social Security numbers all were affected. One of the biggest problems that BethRead… Read more »

The Republican Debate – Will Jeb Bush Play the Performance Management Card?

Virtually across the board, federal agencies are taking a hard look at performance management and recognizing that change is needed. Almost unbelievably, too many agencies are stuck with a pen-to-paper process, with limited or no automation and no analytical data for decision making, accountability and insight. With large workforces spanning hundreds to thousands to tens… Read more »