KSAs could be kaput by April

By Alex M. Parker, aparker@govexec.com

The much-maligned essays on federal job applications known as knowledge, skills and abilities statements could be eliminated from the hiring process by April, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said on Tuesday.

Berry said he expects to send President Obama a plan next week outlining immediate hiring reforms, including shifting from KSAs on government applications to a résumé-based system. Obama could sign an executive order implementing the changes as early as April, the OPM chief said during the Federal Managers Association's annual convention in Arlington, Va.

"We'll get the federal system off of its island of KSAs, and onto the résumé base that the rest of the country is on," Berry said. Federal job applicants long have complained that KSAs are cumbersome and inflexible.

During his speech on Tuesday, Berry outlined several hiring and performance management reforms, some of which will be unveiled soon, including another proposal that would allow hiring managers across government to consider rejected job applicants from other departments and agencies. Creating a centralized pool from which managers could cull would require a legislative change.

"This is pretty common-sense stuff," Berry said. "It kind of boggles my mind that it hasn't been done 50 years before. We're going to get it done." OPM also will be pushing for legislation to eliminate the so-called rule of three in which agencies interview the three top candidates for a position.

In addition, Berry outlined some general ideas for reforming federal personnel and performance rating systems across government. He said the core of his approach is to view government from a "results-only" perspective, or judging employees based on how well they achieve results, rather than how well they follow procedure.

"Really, the nut of it is, if we can define results that flow from your strategic plan all the way down to employee performance -- what are the results and outcomes, rather than the processes and inputs -- it will be a dramatic shift," Berry said.

One crucial element of that dramatic shift would be empowering supervisors to be more aggressive about dealing with unproductive employees, Berry said. While he said he did not have specific proposals yet, Berry discussed the idea of giving supervisors the ability to take away cost-of-living increases or other pay raises for subpar workers until they improve their conduct. The OPM chief also suggested establishing three-member panels of Senior Executive Service officials to review and act on suggested terminations, so the employee's supervisor isn't accountable for the final decision.

"I want to make it easier to get rid of dead wood," Berry said. "We all know that we have black holes in our agencies that suck down on energy."

Berry also is looking into reforming the system used to evaluate personnel performance. He echoed a remark made last week by Office of Management and Budget's Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients that too many employees receive top rankings, thus diminishing the evaluation system. Berry joked the federal government was too much like Lake Wobegon from the famous radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," where "all the children are above average." Berry said one option could be limiting the number of employees within a department who receive exceptional ratings.
 

To view this article at its original posting, click here.

Posted by: ccblog on 3/17/2010 at 8:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Etiquette Tip of the Week: The Incident

Think back to your grammar school days. If there was a student who became a little queasy and threw up in class, you can probably still describe the individual and the incident in vivid detail. So too, will people remember you if you have too much too drink in the presence of your co-workers, clients or potential clients.

No one forgets an alcohol incident. You may have to change jobs. You may have to change cities. Moderate, even when the green beer is flowing at Happy Hour on St. Patrick's Day. It is better not to drink alcohol in a business setting and keep a clear head. For safety, do not leave your beverage -- alcohol or no-alcohol -- unattended at any time.
 

For additional etiquette information, go to: http://www.cultureandmanners.com/.

Posted by: ccblog on 3/16/2010 at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Agencies paying more incentives, despite sluggish economy

by Stephen Losey, FederalTimes.com

The federal government paid federal employees more than a quarter-billion dollars in recruitment, retention and relocation incentives in 2008 — a 37 percent increase over the previous year.

Agencies paid 39,511 incentives worth nearly $285 million to employees in calendar year 2008, an average of more than $7,200 per award, according to OPM's report on 2008 incentives, released March 5. In 2007, the government paid 32,484 incentives worth almost $208 million to employees, an average of $6,400.

Last month, OPM Director John Berry told agency leaders he was concerned about the growth in incentive payments, and said he wants the government to do a better job monitoring their use. While unemployment nationwide remains near 10 percent and the private-sector job market is still sluggish, the government may not have to pay so many incentives to attract and retain talented workers, Berry said.

And a closer examination of some of the longer-term trends of various types of incentives shows even greater growth.

Relocation incentives paid to federal employees almost quadrupled between 2006 and 2008. The government paid out $43 million to 3,307 employees in calendar year 2008 — a 270 percent increase over the $11.6 million paid to 1,009 employees in 2006.

Recruitment and retention incentives also increased in 2008.

The Defense, Veterans Affairs, Justice and Agriculture departments made the most use of relocation incentives. Agriculture told OPM it offered incentives to convince employees to fill vacant positions in other states where traditional recruiting efforts failed. Agriculture also used incentives to get senior professionals to relocate, to attract employees to high-cost areas, and to get employees to move to areas that have poor weather or limited housing and medical care.

Defense used relocation incentives to convince employees to accept extended assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan, or other overseas locations where they do not receive locality payments.

VA used relocation incentives to help moving employees who were having difficulty selling their houses during the economic downturn that began in late 2008.

Recruitment incentives increased by 161 percent between 2006 and 2008, from $32.9 million to $86 million. And the number of recruitment incentives handed out nearly tripled during those years, from 3,952 to 11,396.

The amount of retention benefits handed out increased by 23 percent between 2007 and 2008, to $155.8 million. Due to a change in how retention incentives were administered in 2006, OPM could not compare statistics before 2007.
 

To view this article at it's original posting, click here.

Posted by: ccblog on 3/15/2010 at 8:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Passionate Leadership According to James Cameron and Steve Jobs

By Sean Silverthorne

In a recent portrait of Avatar director James Cameron, Rebecca Keegan outlines five leadership rules the director brings to each movie set. Reading it I was struck by how Cameron’s style matches what we’ve learned about Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

But don’t go teaching these traits, which admittedly produce incredible innovation, to MBA students. In fact, following any of these styles will get you fired — unless you have the inspiration genius that can deliver results like Cameron and Jobs.

Here are three areas where the computer and cinema wunderkinds overlap.

Bonding Through Innovation

Cameron. “Breaking new ground is Cameron’s raison d’être — nothing interests this man unless it’s hard to do,” Keegan writes. “But innovation has also become a way of bonding his teams… For Cameron, a sense of exploration isn’t just personally enriching, it’s a crucial tool for motivating and uniting his teams.”

Jobs. When Jobs created the original Macintosh team in the early 1980s, he moved the group to a remote building on the Apple campus, raised a pirate flag above the roof, and moved in a popcorn machine to give his people a sense of esprit de corps. Today, management experts prefer you unite your groups rather than pitting them against each other, but they also love the idea of inspiring your team with sense of purpose they can rally around.

More Perfection, Please

Cameron. On Avatar, Keegan reports, “Hours were spent on the smallest details, like getting alien sap to drip precisely right…. It’s hard to argue with Cameron’s nitpicky style, however, when audiences thrill to immerse themselves in the richly detailed worlds he creates.”

Jobs: Just weeks before launch of the original iPhone, Apple decided to replace the plastic touch screen with optical-quality glass. The change not only delayed the introduction, but caused its screen vendor, Balda, to reconfigure parts of its assembly line “causing a material impact on financials,” according to AppleInsider. For Jobs, however, the aesthetic of the product would have been ruined by an inferior screen.

Inspiration Through Fear

Again, not a great trait you’d teach to MBAs, but both Cameron and Jobs are stern taskmasters who demand the most of their employees, and occasionally cross the line to get it.

Cameron. “Many Cameron alumni will share a story from their first film with him, a day they were sure they were going to be fired, almost hoped for it. But Cameron rarely fires people. ‘Firing is too merciful,’ he says. Instead he tests their endurance for long hours, hard tasks, and harsh criticism. Survivors tend to surprise themselves by turning in the best work of their careers, and signing on for Cameron’s next project.”

Jobs. “”It was probably the best work I ever did,” former Apple designer Corsdell Ratzlaff told Inside Steve’s Brain author Leander Kahaney. “It was exhilratating. It was exciting. Sometimes it was difficult, but he had the ability to pull the best out of people.”

If these men, both brilliant in their own fields, managed by the book, I doubt they would be nearly as successful. What they share is passion for the work, and their management styles both demand and instill passion in the people that work around them.

Have you worked for someone with the passion exhibited by Cameron and Jobs? What was the experience like, and what did you take away from the experience?
 

To view this article at it's original posting, click here.

Posted by: ccblog on 3/12/2010 at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Hot Jobs and Cool Internships

There are thousands of federal jobs out there right now - it is simply a matter of looking in the right place. There is a federal opportunity to match every interest, and this eNewsletter will leave you thinking, "you can do that in government?"

This Week's Hot Job and Cool Internship
Field Economist
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Deadline: March 26, 2010

Centralized Summer Intern
Department of Defense
Deadline: Rolling Application

Hot Jobs and Cool Internships are always available at makingthedifference.org.

Posted by: ccblog on 3/12/2010 at 8:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink