So President Obama wants to reorganize the government. What president hasn’t at one point or another. So what makes this time different? Well nothing right now but as Joe Davidson points on in his recent Washington Post article this time could turn out different if the President is smart about it.
Employee input important to any reorganization effort
Davidson begins his article with a great quote:
“Presidents have taken to reorganizations the way overweight people take to fad diets – and with about the same results.” – James Q. Wilson
We know the President wants to reorganize gov’t and we know a little bit about how he wants to do it based off his Tuesday speech but there’s definitely a lot more depth to the situation that we don’t realize. But as Davidson points out whatever those plans are they must consider one thing:
Whatever plans Obama and Congress develop, at frequent steps along the way, they should consult with a particular group of experts who have good ideas about how government can improve: federal workers.
The real question shouldn’t be if federal workers should have input in the reorganization but more so where should they put their input as asking every employee individually would be a massive waste of time. I lean towards GOVLOOP but Davidson has another suggestion.
The administration’s labor-management forums would be the ideal place to get workers involved in the process. One question to be considered is what kind of reorganization is needed.
So how should Obama go about getting feds opinions and suggestions for reorganization?