Career

Motivating Employees is Pretentious

People honestly believe they have the ability to motivate others. That’s always sounded pretentious to me. But, successful training firms have thrived on this belief and have sold training to many employers to teach their supervisors the motivational techniques that employers think their supervisors need to succeed. Employers have also spent hundreds of thousands ofRead… Read more »

Your Input is Requested – NMCI CLIN23 Survey

In efforts to determine what Engineering/CAD/Design software functionality is most needed through NMCI, we’d like to get your feedback pertaining to product, training and support needs. After talking with your colleagues, we came up with this short 11-question survey to find out what would benefit you. The input we receive from you will be helpfulRead… Read more »

Coolest Canadian Ever: Nick Charney’s Path to Public Service

Nick Charney up now: Background – Gave up his career in NHL while his team was on clear path to Stanley Cup – Outlined the STARK contrast between former and current career (awesome Prezi slides forthcoming) Tips – Be introspective, get perspective – Fight back, but there’s a difference b/t raising your fist in protestRead… Read more »

Reading tea leaves at OMB when what’s needed are answers

By David Perera The White House recently warned agencies that they should be cooperating with Office of Management Budget efforts to review agency information technology programs. Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra began such reviews in January under the rubric of “TechStat,” but background sources have told FierceGovermentIT that agency willingness to participate in thoseRead… Read more »

Career Advice? Get Back To Basics!

I was reading Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World, when I realized that Ghandi really knew how to give great career advice! Who thought that his virtues might also serve us well in our careers? How often have you discovered that some level of cynicism has crept into your way of approaching your career,Read… Read more »

The Federal Coach: David McClure – Nine lives of gov 2.0

In this week’s interview I talked with David McClure, the associate administrator of the General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, who leads the government’s outreach to the public through social networking tools and websites including USA.gov. My conversation with David covered topics ranging from what is his favorite government app toRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: Report: Ex-Postal Service official violated policies

The former third-ranking official at the U.S. Postal Service improperly used his office to conduct personal business, awarded millions of dollars in noncompetitive contracts to former colleagues and failed to disclose stock holdings in a company conducting business negotiations with the mail agency, according to a new watchdog report. Robert F. Bernstock stepped down inRead… Read more »

Employee Retention or Employee Loyalty?

Reprinted from: Success Performance Solutions by Ira Wolfe | June 23, 2010 Which is better: employee retention or loyalty? The answer isn’t as obvious as you think. These are some common remarks shared by disgruntled, long-term employees: · “All the owners care about is the money.” · “They’ll never pay me what I deserve anyway.”Read… Read more »

Telecommuting’s role in Community Evolution

Telecommuting’s role in Community Evolution After thousands of years of centralizing human activities, society now has the option to de-centralize as the concept of virtualization expands. Crowded freeways every Friday during the summer is but one indication that many want, or at least enjoy, an alternate place to visit. The number of people with vacationRead… Read more »

McChrystal, Guns and Rock n’ Roll: A Cautionary Tale of Off-the-Cuff and On-the-Record

When your mission is on the line there is no such thing as “off-the-record,” and “deep background” can be nothing more than a description of the harmonies on a Beach Boys album. If you want to play with leaks and don’t think you’ll get wet, hand in your gold stars and go to plumbing school.Read… Read more »