I work for the government and I am NOT the enemy

Comment

Comment by Anita Arile on March 9, 2010 at 3:48pm

I agree with Mr. R. Clarke comment a few minutes earlier, "This is not unique to your public service - this is a more general attitude that stretches around the world."

He really hit the nail-on-the-head with this... I'm on Guam and I feel-for-you too! I think i commented that there is a merit system in place on Guam, but because it is an island, everyone is connected to someone somehow and quite close too! I have to keep my lip closed and restrain from throwing a fit whenever I see an employee get promoted just by being clever enough to "mold" their application to qualify for a position (based on the Position Description)! It's quite appalling to know that the bad apples of a barrel are those public servants who act like they're "above the law" and "better than the public" of whom they are employed to serve.

So, to change the perception of a government employee as the enemy - first we must ensure that the employee is REALLY qualified for the position. The merit system MUST be revised to ensure background checks on an individual's qualifications. Thus, ensuring that the public confidence is cushioned from the bad perceptions of the few "bad apples".

Comment by Philip L. Hoffman on March 9, 2010 at 3:29pm

The whole "If they were worth anything they'd be in the private sector" canard really biols me. I'm a fisheries oceanographer - I love my job - and there aren't a lot of private sector job opportunities in my field. My colleagues and me work in the government and academia because this is important work to us, and becaue Booz Allen doesn't hire our like.

And I agree whole heartedly that excelletn customer service can help - for those owrking in such jobs or agencies.

Comment by Timothy Power on March 9, 2010 at 3:24pm

I am an attorney representing federal government contractors so I regularly work with government employees, contracting officers, attorneys, and technical experts. I used to work at a firm whose attitude was that all federal employees were either stupid, incompetent, or lazy. If they were not they would be working in the private sector. I found this a false and imprudent approach. I prefer to think that all federal employees I deal with are competent and results oriented. When they are it forms the basis for a good relationship. When they aren't I change my approach. My point is that there is only so much a federal employee can do to change public perception. The public perception can overcome all the good a federal employee does. Perhaps federal employees need to work on a person-by-person basis and assume that those they deal with in the public will have a good perception or can be educated on the good work federal employees perform. We all need to see each others as individuals and not just cogs in a giant machine. I wish I had a better comment on how to help these misperceptions.

Comment by Richard Clarke on March 9, 2010 at 3:24pm

This is not unique to your public service - this is a more general attitude that streaches around the world. It is complex and there are many factors at play - many beyond the control of public servnats themselves but not all. One thing we can all do is try to do better than our clients expectations each and every time we serve them. I like you have been a public servant a long time - I try to remember that every dollar I spend at work as been take out of someone's back pocket and so it is incumbent on me to use it very wisely.

I think if we provided excpetional service all the time and we can do that regardless of the role - we could retain the trust and confidence of the public that pay our salaires

Comment by Hannah Zerphey on March 9, 2010 at 3:00pm

There are several things at play here:

1. Government managers have to work with two hands tied behind their back. It is all but impossible to fire incompetent workers and to reward those that go above and beyond. This inevitably leads to low morale and government workers that fulfill these stereotypes.

2. Government workers have to learn to support one another. I've read too many comments from staff that have worked for the Feds for several decades complaining that a young person with less "experience" (typically meaning time) has a higher position than they do. On the flip side, I've seen younger workers get frustrated with older co-workers because they don't think alike (I'm to blame for some of this myself). This approach doesn't do anything to help our plight as a workforce on the whole. We have to learn to support our co-workers, young and old alike; we are all government workers together and without internal support how are we to fight public misconceptions.

3. As other commenters have pointed out, the public sees "government" as Capitol Hill, the Presidency, and elected officials. How are we to fight that perception? Additionally, the only time government workers are mentioned in the media is when one us is caught for some sort of unethical behavior. We need to work with the media to show that not all of us are corrupt and out to screw the taxpayer; in fact 99.9% of us are here to help support the taxpayer.

So what can we do to help:

1. OPM reforms that allow for easier hiring and firing and enable managers to actually manage their staff.

2. Begin working toward a more cohesive workforce where young and old, experienced and not, work together to fight the common battles.

3. Continue to put a good face on bureaucracy by engaging in social media and streamlining our actions to fit the 21st century. We need to prove to the people that we are capable of change and that we, as government workers, want change as much (if not more than) as the public.

Comment by Jude Schiavone on March 9, 2010 at 2:23pm

Get the media to focus on what's good and instead of the old "F*ck up and move up" way of doing things, hold people responsible, penalize, prosecute and publicize what we do to make things better. Too many "TMZ" moments. The IRS is an easy target since Cabinet appointees and Agency heads can go years without paying taxes then suddenly get a 'do-over and wipe the slate clean'. Jest Plain Folks get salary garnishments and liens on property-

Comment by Philip L. Hoffman on March 9, 2010 at 2:08pm

The fundamental issue is nationally elected politicians who claim to stand outside "government" even though the Constitution enshrines their existance just as much as ours. When I hear a Senator saying "Government in the problem" he is, usually, trying to indict us. The probelm is, he is also indicting himself. I think we need to repeatedly point this out in the public square.

Comment by Samantha Donaldson on March 9, 2010 at 2:01pm

Thanks so much for the great discussion around this important topic! I thought you would be interested in listening to Partnership for Public Service's President and CEO Max Stier's Stop Blaming Federal Workers commentary that aired yesterday on WAMU. To listen, please click here.

Comment by john f penrose on March 9, 2010 at 1:52pm

To improve the current perception of government employees, we must first identify how it came to be so bad. I was in DOJ from 1970 to 1991 and observed first hand the sea change wrought by Ronald Reagan ("government is the problem, not the solution") and his "starve the beast" mentality. Government service is an honorable and important calling, but until another president makes that a central theme, often communicated to the public, the ghost of Reagan will continue to walk among us.

Comment by Jeremy Michael Long on March 9, 2010 at 12:17pm

I hear you man, were not the enemy that a lot of people think that we are, were also not lazy and overpaid. Like you say, we're just regular everyday hard-working American men and women who work for the public sector, in this case the Federal Government, who work hard, do their jobs and get fair pay for it. I've been working for the Federal Government for a combined four years and am very proud of it. I couldn't ask for anything better, especially with all of the benifits you can get, including healthcare and retirement. You don't get all these benefits working with the private sector. With the private sector, its usually an either/or type of routine. With the public sector, you have it all. And what really annoys me more than anything is that comment about the guy who crashed his plane into the IRS building, like you mentioned, the people who say "Yeah, but I understand his frustrations" and his daughter calling him a "HERO?" In my opinion, this guy is in fact, nothing but a low-down coward and also a murderer because when he crashed his plane into that building, he claimed the life of an IRS employee as well. And with people understanding his frustrations, that's just a classic example of what Steve Wilkos (The Steve Wilkos Show) calls "Comforting the Monster." In this case comforting the monster who, first of all, sets his own house ablaze and then crashes his plane into a building, thus killing an IRS employee in the process. In my opinion, cowards such as Mr. Stack deserve to "Rot in Hell" for their grusome and horrifying actions. I know that must have been a horrifying act for those who actually witnessed it, especially those motorists who were driving along the adjacent interstate highway there in Austin, Texas. While we hear about waistful practices in Congress and in the Government, I'm quite happy to say that there are also lots of areas within the Federal Government, such as us here at the FDA's Division of Dockets Management, who are trying to set a good example for the waistful ones and show them instead, how to "Go Green!"

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