SES

  • OPM will accept nominations for the 2014 Presidential Rank Awards through June 5, according to a memo to the heads of federal agencies from OPM Director Katherine Archuleta. Last year, the Obama administration canceled the awards program, which recognizes members of the Senior Executive Service for extraordinary service, citing tight budgets.

    May 13, 2014
  • More than half of senior executives surveyed by the Senior Executives Association are reporting "low" or "very low" morale with their jobs. The problem lies with a pay-for-performance system where some supervisors make less money than the people they lead. Increasing numbers of senior executive service members are ready to leave the federal government altogether.

    May 02, 2014
  • The House passed the GI Tuition Fairness Act of 2013 on Wednesday that includes an amendment to stop all bonuses for senior executives at the VA for five years. The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says it will instill some much-needed accountability to the department.

    May 01, 2014
  • Eight percent of the Senior Executive Service move to a different agency once while in SES. That's according to new research from the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, which suggests creating a four-tiered SES classification system. Tier four is for executives who have worked at several different agencies and lead government-wide projects. Tier one is an entry level spot for current feds. Bob Tobias, director of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University, explains it all to In Depth with Francis Rose

    April 16, 2014
  • Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association, will discuss the status of the SES, and Nicole Johnson and Andy Medici from the Federal Times will talk about cloud computing and the likelihood that feds will get a pay raise. April 9, 2014

    April 09, 2014
  • The House will soon vote on a measure making it easier for the Veterans Affairs secretary to fire or demote senior career executives at the department, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a Capitol Hill briefing Thursday. The VA Management Accountability Act allows the VA secretary to remove or demote members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) based on their performance.

    April 03, 2014
  • Proposals to make it much easier to discipline, demote or fire your career boss are rattling the top rank of the government, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.

    February 20, 2014
  • Senior Executives Association President Carol Bonosaro, and Federal Timres reporters Sean Reilly and Andy Medici, will discuss legislation introduced in the U.S. House, that would make it easier for agency leaders to fire senior executives. February 19, 2014

    February 19, 2014
  • Would your life be better off if your top career boss had a little less job security? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey asks. Or would that put you between a political rock and a hard place?

    February 19, 2014
  • Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) is the author of new legislation that would make it easier for the Veterans Affairs Department to fire its senior executives. Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, says the agency is too shy about cutting loose middle managers who are performing poorly.

    February 17, 2014
  • The VA Management Accountability Act would give VA Secretary Eric Shinseki broad authority to remove Senior Executives Service (SES) members "if the secretary determines the performance of the individual warrants such removal," according to the bill. In addition to outright removal, the bill would allow the VA secretary to bump SES members down to the General Schedule at any grade level the secretary deems appropriate according to the bill.

    February 12, 2014
  • The Transportation Department is using 360-degree reviews and executive coaching to help members of the Senior Executive Service become better leaders. DoT is focusing on leadership, in part, because it was one of the areas of improvement highlighted in the Employee Viewpoint Survey.

    January 22, 2014
  • Last spring, as across-the-board budget cuts roiled through agencies across government, the White House decided to cancel the monetary portion of the Presidential Rank Awards, which granted recipients as much as 35 percent of their salary in a one-time bonus. But the White House maintained it was "focused on finding means to acknowledge excellence in non-monetary ways." The Senior Executives Association (SEA), in a statement released Monday said it still hasn't heard from President Barack Obama on those alternatives.

    January 13, 2014
  • The Senior Executives Association sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Dec. 5 criticizing recently released guidance that reduced pay pool amounts for the Fiscal Year 2013 performance awards for members of the Senior Executives Service.

    December 10, 2013