Workforce Rights/Governance
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More than three years after the General Services Administration’s infamous Las Vegas conference featuring clowns, mind readers and bike-building morale exercises, federal employees are still feeling the effects of strict policies designed to prevent a repeat. In many cases, those policies mean several layers of agency approval before feds are allowed to attend any conference. Several science and technology organizations are telling agency leaders and Congress that those policies are a serious overcorrection to over-the-top agency conferences of years gone by, and they’re hindering the careers of federal scientists and other professionals. Dr. Sandra Magnus, executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, talked with Jared Serbu on Federal Drive with Tom Temin about the dropoff in conference attendance by federal employee and why she thinks the oversight pendulum has swung too far.
December 18, 2015 -
The agency has been at the forefront of teleworking since it consolidated its headquarters in 2011 — moving to Fort Meade, Maryland. But a new director is in charge now and wants to shake things up in a way that DISA employees are pretty unnerved about. Federal News Radio reporter Scott Maucione got the scoop on the forthcoming changes to DISA's telework rules and he joined Jared Serbu on Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about it. Read Scott's exclusive story.
December 16, 2015 -
Maj. Gen. Linda Urrutia-Varhall is the Air Force's assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. She's one of the most senior female officers in the U.S military and throughout her career, she's been the first woman in most of the jobs she held as she rose though the ranks of the Air Force. But Urrutia-Varhall said that particular distinction wasn't something she paid much attention to over the last 30 years. In a recent appearance on Federal News Radio’s Women of Washington, Urritia-Varhall talked about her career and why many women in the military opt-out of career paths that could lead to high-ranking jobs like the one she holds now.
December 16, 2015 -
Federal employees are a bit happier with their jobs than a year ago. A bit. The latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey shows a 1 percent increase. Tim McManus is vice president for education and outreach at the Partnership for Public Service, which compiled the numbers. He told Federal Drive with Tom Temin not to discount that importance of 1 percent, even if there's still a long way to go.
December 14, 2015 -
Lots of members of Congress and even some in the Pentagon look at that big north parking lot and think one thing: What a payroll. The question of bloated headquarters staff seems resistent to efforts to cut it. But now the 2016 Defense Authorization bill calls on DoD to cut 30 percent of its staff over the next four years. Federal News Radio's Scott Maucione shares more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
December 14, 2015 -
Based on the work of two study groups, the Pentagon is likely to ask Congress to revise two key statutes underlying its personnel management system for military officers: the Goldwater-Nichols Act and the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act.
December 10, 2015 -
While a continuing resolution seems likely in the waning days of the short-term spending bill the government is currently operating under, federal employees once again have found themselves looking over their shoulders for any sign of a shutdown.
December 10, 2015 -
The Congressional Budget Office has found, the Defense Department could save billions by replacing uniformed people with civilian or contractors in certain non-combat, support jobs. But should it? Nora Bensahel, a military analyst and scholar in residence at American University, shared her analysis of the CBO report on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
December 09, 2015 -
Agencies improved their overall employee satisfaction and commitment scores for the for the first time in four years. As we reported, the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte released the 2015 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings this week. Federal News Radio's Nicole Ogrysko shared more on the rankings on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
December 09, 2015 -
The Department of Housing and Urban Development jumped 8 points in the annual Best Places to Work survey. It was the largest increase by any mid-sized or large agency in the rankings. While HUD still has a long way to go to fix employee engagement, officials believe the battleship is indeed turning in the right direction. Nani Coloretti is the HUD deputy secretary. She tells executive editor Jason Miller on Federal Drive with Tom Temin about how HUD made progress and where it’s heading next.
December 09, 2015 -
Service members have the same rights as every other citizen when it comes to voting, financial services and employment. But it can be harder for them to exercise those rights. The Justice Department is asking Congress for stronger sanctions against rogue companies that target service members. Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery told Federal Drive with Tom Temin more about the legislative proposal.
December 09, 2015 -
They're out. The annual rankings of best places to work among federal agencies. Overall, things are looking up compared to last year. NASA is still the top-rated agency. But some at the lower end came up in the rankings, as did overall employee satisfaction. The survey is by the Office of Personnel Management, the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte put together the rankings. For the 2015 results, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Mallory Barg Bulman, research director at the Partnership.
December 08, 2015 The Congressional Budget Office raises the question: Do we have too many uniformed military personnel performing office work?
December 07, 2015-
Recent bills introduced by Republican lawmakers aim to address what they believe are long-term, systemic issues at the senior executive level, but some worry the legislation is an overreach.
December 04, 2015 Fred Burton, vice president of Intelligence for Stratfor, joins host Derrick Dortch to discuss the increase in domestic and international terrorism incidents, and what you can do to protect yourself from a terrorist attack. December 5, 2015
December 03, 2015