“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 »
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 »
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 »
What fraction of your paycheck goes to you TSP? 23% say that they do not know. 41% of respondents do not know the maximum their employer will match.
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 »
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 »
Somedays, don’t you just wish you had a magic wand that would make everything better with the people you work with? A magic formula, a secret potion that would make the work go better, and your working relationships run smoother? Guess what? There is! One of the simplest yet most effective practices to improve yourRead… Read more »
We’ve all thrown money away on outlandish purchases. As a freshman in college, I was a student worker earning minimum wage. Naturally, I thought spending a cool $500 on skateboarding sneakers was reasonable. I did not skate, mind you, but that’s beside the point. My supervisor at the time, perhaps sensing a perilous financial future,Read… Read more »
As 2015 graduates enter the workforce this summer, let’s talk about a contentious topic: the unpaid internship. There are a myriad of opinions for and against unpaid internships, and there are compelling arguments for each position. While interns gain industry experience that could possibly result in fulltime employment, the unpaid aspect can seem exploitative. Indeed,Read… Read more »
A lot of people are looking for federal jobs today, and if you’re one of these people it’s important to look before you leap. Before you apply, make sure you scrutinize the announcement like an eagle scrutinizes a rabbit before swooping down to catch it and eat it. Scrutinize all you want, but please don’tRead… Read more »