Leadership

A New Era at OPM – 4 Things the New Director Should Focus On

President Obama nominated Katherine Archuleta to be the next director of the Office of Personnel Management, who took over for John Berry. Archuleta, who has previously served as the national political director for Obama’s re-election campaign and chief of staff at the Labor Department, is the first Latina to head the agency. But she hasRead… Read more »

Learn EEO: 16th Annual EEOC EXCEL Training, Aug. 27-29 in Denver

Experience EXCEL-lence in EEO! The EXCEL Training Conference is sponsored by the EEOC’s Training Institute. In its 16th year, EXCEL is the premier Federal training conference for EEO managers, suervisors, practitioners, HR professionals, attorneys and ADR specialists. EXCEL provides training in topics from ADR to MD-715 and much, much more. New to EXCEL 2013 isRead… Read more »

America at 237: A Guiding Light or A Dimming Beacon?

Having made two trips to Egypt since the Arab Spring to work with current and emerging political leaders, I closely follow its ever-changing political situation. In the past week, the protests that allowed the country to exercise its voice for democracy has turned into ugly battles between the right and left, between those feeling unempoweredRead… Read more »

Gone Digital – How the Smithsonian Plans to Digitize 130 Million Objects

Only about 1% of the Smithsonian’s massive collection of archives is on display at any given time at the museums. That means that 99% of the archives are off limits to the public and scientists alike. “If people can’t access the archives they might as well not exist,” said Gunter Waibel. Waibel is is theRead… Read more »

Telework: Saving Dollars and Making Sense

A recent GAO report reviewed OPM’s 2012 annual report to Congress on the Federal government’s telework programs. While it acknowledges the progress that has been made in agency reporting on this issue, it also makes the interesting point that agencies have not yet focused on assessing the cost savings associated with telework programs. That’s aRead… Read more »

Police in Granada have Twitter handles on their uniforms – three reasons it’s a great idea

I noticed on Twitter last week that in Granada the police officers have the force Twitter handle sewn into their uniforms and it’s also on police cars. Police in Granada have Twitter handles on their uniform pic.twitter.com/xwH2AX8sp4 via @gordonmacmillan #gov20 #ace — Helen Reynolds (@HelReynolds) June 25, 2013 It’s a simple and effective way toRead… Read more »

Seeing the world differently – Sammies Finalist Makes A Difference for Cataract Sufferers

Worldwide cataracts are the leading cause of blindness. Here in the US, every year there are more than 50,000 cataract surgeries performed by the Department of Veterans Affairs alone. But up until last year there had never been a system in place to collect detailed patient outcomes on a national level, in either the privateRead… Read more »

Does Your Organization Have a Social Media Policy for All Generations?

These days, most every orientation handbook has it: the dreaded social media policy. Does your agency have a social media policy for all generations? Some rules can be fairly liberal, like when social media can be used during working hours. Some are more stringent- like how employees use their accounts on their own time. SocialRead… Read more »

Do Furloughs Mean the End of Internships?

In the ongoing war on government budgets there is another victim, the internship. “We’ve seen agencies really dial back their internship programs in the face of these budget cuts,” said Tom Fox. “If you are having furloughs, hiring freezes and pay freezes it’s only natural you would see a decline in internships as well.” FoxRead… Read more »