Sometimes I wonder why good people suffer so in organizational life. For example: Messengers of doom are punished or ignored rather than rewarded. Computer glitches, safety lapses, ineffective leadership; employees who show every sign of endangering the workplace. All of these are routinely reported by attentive people, and frequently just as swiftly disregarded. StrategicRead… Read more »
DO YOU THINK YOU CAN’T GET FIRED? Don’t tell me that it’s never crossed your mind. When you become a tenured government employee, after around five years of service in most agencies, it’s natural to heave a great sigh of relief that you won’t be cashing unemployment checks any time soon. Urban legend says it’s impossibleRead… Read more »
Every year on October 1st the Federal performance cycle resets itself. Combined with the Jewish High Holidays (Yom Kippur and the accompanying fast just ended) the amount of navel-gazing can literally make your stomach hurt, as well as your eyes. But it also helps you to grow. So, here’s to distilling some simple things-you-already-knew fromRead… Read more »
Job descriptions are one of the most shared documents among organizations. Have you ever wondered how complex organizations with unique needs and circumstances can all require basically the same job duties? Fact is, they can’t. Take a good look at your organization and you will find that many of the employees work in the “otherRead… Read more »
In March, top Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the causes of federal employees’ low morale. The last few years have been challenging for federal employees and leadership. With a three-year freeze on basic federal pay rates, multiple government shutdowns, and unpaid furlough daysRead… Read more »
Employee engagement is one of the biggest challenges facing the public sector. As agencies’ missions continue to grow increasingly complex and many senior staff prepare for retirement, the public sector must place an emphasis on recruiting and retaining the next generation of public leaders. This crucial topic was the basis of Tuesday’s Governing webinar, Engage,Read… Read more »
It’s not rocket science. When we feel like our work is appreciated, we work harder and give our best – but when we feel like no one notices our efforts, we start not to care too much about our jobs. As a manager, you have a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of this basic humanRead… Read more »
Like fantasy football, achieving federal goals in your organization starts with a draft. The success of your mission depends on hiring the right employees, creating an intentional strategy, and knowing when to trade. A weak team will lower productivity and end an otherwise promising fiscal season. But, how do you build a team that willRead… Read more »
Especially in government, we constantly talk about doing more with less. But most often, those conversations focus on physical resources like office supplies, amenities, or space. And when we do think about the human element, it’s often in detached terms like ‘labor hours’ or ‘workforce supply’. However, if you manage an overburdened team, you areRead… Read more »
Hey there. I’m Christopher Dorobek — the DorobekINSIDER — and welcome GovLoop’s DorobekINSIDER… where we focus on six words: Helping government do its job better. On GovLoop’s DorobekINSIDER: SAMMIES 2014 — lessons learned from the government’s best and brightest: From Tom Fox from the Partnership for Public Service: Once you hear from the Sammies winners and the finalists,Read… Read more »