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Highlights from the
November/December print issue
BACK TO SCHOOL
It’s graduation week on
the Harvard University campus, the culmination of four years of hard
work for thousands of college students. But just down the street at
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, it’s the first day of
class for 74 mid-career government managers.
THE ROOTS OF LEADERSHIP
When Elizabeth
McDaniel arrived at the National Defense University’s Information
Resources Management College in November 1999 she wasted no time in
making a few waves. One of the first things she did was to press for
change in the faculty hiring system at the college.
EMERGENCY OPERATION
What do you do when
Congress passes controversial legislation that requires you to
jump-start a new systems program that involves multiple government
agencies, but with no business processes in place and a timetable so
tight that pilot programs aren’t viable? You push
forward—quickly.
ONLINE EXTRA | SES PAY FOR PERFORMANCE IS "LOST IN
TRANSLATION"
The Senior Executive Service’s
pay-for-performance system is causing a host of problems, ranging from
lowered morale to a hastening of the retirement wave, according to
survey released.
INSIDE JOB | A NEW MODEL FOR TRAINING
Leaders
are found at every level at the Environmental Protection Agency, from
GS-1 through the Senior Executive Service, said Sharon Ridings,
EPA’s national training manager. That’s why the agency offers
five levels of training and development.
WYATT KASH | VIEWPOINT: EXPECTMORE.GOV
The Web
site, launched last February by the Office of Management and Budget,
hasn’t gotten much attention since its debut. And it has its
detractors. Yet ExpectMore.gov deserves credit for opening a new chapter
on governance in the Internet Age.
PERFORMANCE | THE TRAINING VOID
Ask a federal
executive to make a wish list for his or her agency, and it’s
likely that more training for new managers will appear near the top. But
for years, the likelihood of such an item going from wish to reality has
been slim.
HUMAN CAPITAL | SUCCESSION SUCCESS
At the
Government Accountability Office, workforce issues are a big priority.
GAO was among government agencies singled out in a recent report by
international accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as
having a good plan for executive succession.
ACQUISITION | RISING NUMBERS
The acquisition
workforce is one of new Office of Federal Procurement Policy
administrator Paul Dennett’s main focus areas. He said during his
confirmation hearing in June that he wanted to improve the education of
the acquisition workforce.
WORKFORCE PLANNING | BEST CASE, WORST CASE
Workforce planning isn’t just a matter of identifying impending
skill gaps. Planning also has to be aligned with the direction the work
is going to take, said Rebecca Jones, a human capital analyst for
Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Conn.
SURVIVAL GUIDE | IF YOU GOTTA GO
etween
clearing time on your schedule and weighing the costs of attending a
conference, especially one out of town, you’ve got a tough decision
to make about whether you really, really need to go.
CIVIL DISAGREEMENT
In times of crisis, the
White House, the Congress and the government often turn to
reorganization to fix what has gone wrong. Move the boxes on the
organizational chart. Draw a new schematic.
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