Federal News Radio's survey of agency chief human capital officers and deputy CHCOs finds that employee engagement and supervisor training are among the most common ways they are improving the morale of the workforce. NASA CHCO Jeri Buchholz said training of these supervisors is key to making agencies run more smoothly.
NASA Chief Human Capital Officer Jeri Buchholz joins Federal News Radio for a free online chat. View an archived version of the discussion now.
Telework and a strong technology infrastructure could be the best way to find and keep talented employees at your agency. That's according to a Federal News Radio survey of chief human capital officers across the federal government. Jeri Buchholz, NASA's chief human capital officer, joined Federal News Radio's Jason Miller and Francis Rose to discuss the results of the survey and NASA's new culture strategy to tackle those challenges. Read Jason's related article and view the full survey results.
Avue Technologies Co-CEO Linda Rix will discuss some ideas on how to make the federal government a more attractive option for job seekers. March 28,2014 (Encore presentation April 4, 2014)
In the wake of across-the-board budget cuts, furloughs and slim -- or no -- annual pay raises, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee says he's concerned about a nose-dive in federal-employee morale. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) is now asking the Government Accountability Office to look into recent trends in feds' job satisfaction. The lawmakers are concerned declining satisfaction "may be compromising the federal government's ability to serve the American people."
Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta says she wants to keep premium increases for federal employees' health coverage "in check." In a keynote speech at the annual FEHB Program Carrier Conference in Arlington, Va., Thursday Archuleta also called on insurance carriers to make prescription drugs more affordable and urged more federal employees to sign up for wellness programs.
The Office of Personnel Management is making tweaks to how agencies report time-to-hire data. But experts who spoke to Federal News Radio say they don't think OPM is giving up on the idea of improving the federal hiring process. Instead, they say, it appears OPM may be shifting its focus to measuring the quality of new federal hires.
Two Republican members of the House want to know how many hours federal employees are spending on union-related business while on the job. Reps. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) wrote to Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta urging the agency to release updated data on employees' use of "official time." The most recent year for which data is available is from 2011.
The National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations is getting ready to launch new tools to help partnerships between agency management and federal-employee unions better measure their effectiveness. A handful of agencies are months late in compiling metrics on the use and effectiveness of the forums, according to a report presented at a meeting of the labor-management council Wednesday. Unions are frustrated with the haphazard data collection.
Six months after 34-year-old IT contractor Aaron Alexis opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard killing 12 people, concerns about missed red flags in his background and gaps in the security clearance process are now turning into action. The Obama administration released the findings of a interagency review of the federal security clearance process Tuesday. Among the 13 recommendations for shoring up the system are continuously evaluating clearance holders rather than relying on infrequent check-ups and improving investigators' access to state and local police records.
Federal offices in the Washington D.C. area are closed Monday. Emergency and telework-ready employees required to work will follow their agency's policies.
More changes coming to OPM's IT organization.
The Office of Personnel Management will focus its efforts around six pillars and a series of initiatives to improve how it uses and delivers technology services. OPM Director Katherine Archuleta said the plan helps reinforce the collaborative approach needed to implement IT systems.
CBS MoneyWatch Columnist Allan Roth discusses what you can do to maximize your TSP investments, and Nicole Johnson from the Federal Times discusses OPM's plans to reform its IT systems. March 12, 2014
The Obama administration is calling on agencies to get smarter about tracking employee morale and engagement. The administration plans to roll out an "engagement dashboard" this year that agency supervisors can use to track the mood of their workforces. It's just one part of a planned overhaul of federal management called for in President Barack Obama's fiscal 2015 budget blueprint. Other initiatives include a revamp of the General Schedule personnel system, real-time performance reviews of management efforts and enhanced training for senior executives.