You hear all the time how best practices are supposed to help your agency run more smoothly on less money. But you may be spinning your wheels. Victoria Grady, a George Washington University professor and the co-author of The Pivot Point: Success in Organizational Change, joins In Depth to discuss why best practices don’t always work.

Best Practices Do Not Work (related link)

The General Services Administration’s new Government Wide Acquisition Contract Dashboard has been live for a few weeks now. But already some experts are testing it out and finding some room for improvement. Brand Niemann, a senior data scientist with the Semantic Community and a former senior enterprise architect and data scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency, joins In Depth to discuss the pros and cons of the new system.

The Pros And Cons Of GSA’s Acquisition Contract Dashboard (related link)

The 2012 results are now in for the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,” which ranks the best large, medium and small agencies to work for. While individual agencies made some progress, overall, the survey recorded an across-the-board decline in employee satisfaction.

Jeff Neal, senior vice president at ICF International and the former chief human capital officer at the Homeland Security Department, joins In Depth to discuss the results.

With three days left for Hanukkah and 12 days until Christmas, many federal employees are clearly in the giving season. But your generosity could get you in trouble at work. Bill Bransford, a partner at Shaw Bransford & Roth, joins In Depth to discuss what limits feds face when it comes to gift giving.

Do’s and don’ts for holiday gift giving at federal agencies (related story)