Have you ever heard of a customer comment card-in government? Neither have I, but there is a way to thank your fellow federal govies for their great work. The Partnership for Public Service has once again opened their nominations for the annual Service to America Medals (also known as the Sammies), but hurry because the time to submit nominations is closing soon!
Jim Seymour, Director of Programs and Events at the Partnership for Public Service, sat down with Christopher Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER program to discuss the Sammies overall and how to get started with nominations.
“One of our messages at the Partnership is that good government starts with good people and so we want to put a human face on government service. We want to put a spotlight on the great people working in government,” Seymour said.
Taking the extra step to fill out a nomination is worth the while. “We want the nominations to be the poster stories for the amazing work in our federal government. We want to help inspire people, especially the younger generation, to work for the federal government and to create better awareness and appreciation for the work done by federal employees,” Seymour stated.
Plus, each nominee will receive a letter of gratitude. The letter will thank them for their service and will congratulate them on their accomplishments. “To know that somebody has taken the time to nominate them helps encourage govies to continue their work,” Seymour shared. For the roughly 400 to 500 nominations the Partnership receives, about 30 to 35 will be selected as finalists.
The nomination process itself is as simple as it can get, but there are a few things to remember. Most importantly, only career civilian federal employees can be nominated (individually or as a team). Therefore, any type of federal work done by career civilian federal employees can be showcased as there are seven categories to choose from. The award categories range from Science and Environment to National Security and International Affairs. Past winners have included govies who’ve worked on making transportation systems across America more resilient in the face of natural or manmade disasters, as well as a woman who worked on decreasing the amount of antibiotics found in poultry and other food supplies. To read more about last year’s winners, click here.
However, if you still feel like your nominee could fit in more than one category or you’re unsure of where to place them, choose one and the Partnership will place them in the category they see fit. Another key piece of advice is to help pinpoint specific data points or statistics that highlight your nominee’s work. If you wish to read up on more tips about the nomination process, please read the Partnership’s How to Write a Winning Sammies Nomination.
It is important to highlight the successes whenever possible. “We know that there are some areas of improvement, but we also need to make sure that we are equally and prominently celebrating government successes so we can help replicate them across government,” Seymour said.
So, what are you waiting for? Go nominate a govie now!