Millennials are a tough generation. They have the privilege to be the first generation to live their formative years under terror threats and two controversial wars. They ushered in a new era of school violence with the Columbine shooting. They witnessed firsthand hand domestic terrorism with the Oklahoma City bombing. They had to get comfortableRead… Read more »
Mandates for better federal customer experience (CX) have been piling up for more than 20 years. The trend began way back in 1993, when Executive Order #12862 required federal agencies to create basic CX standards. The strongest and most recent mandate is last year’s “customer service” cross-agency priority goal, which requires federal agencies to provide theRead… Read more »
Leaders teach more than they tell, and they pay knowledge forward without hoarding information. Effective leaders stand in front of their teams and demonstrate the organization’s desired norms.
Internal customer surveys are a good way to find out how support services are functioning, and they can yield valuable insights that promote innovation, help retain talent, increase job satisfaction and encourage continuous improvement. They can also increase the overall performance of the government, because an organization that cares about its employees’ opinions and acts… Read more »
Perceptions When you think of New Zealand, what probably comes to mind is what you’ve seen in movies like The Hobbit trilogy: lots of wide, green vistas and many, many sheep. Which is true for the most part, especially the bit about the sheep. But no orcs. Maybe you’ve come here on vacation. After all,Read… Read more »
If you’ve ever come back from vacation and thought it would have been less stressful just to have stayed at work, you’re not alone. According to a survey by Glassdoor and Harris last year, employees are on average only taking 51% of their available time off – and 61% of those who took a vacation reportedRead… Read more »
It’s National Volunteer Week and as a former AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps member, that makes it a pretty special time for me. I donated ten months of my life right after college to national service. From August 2013 to May 2014, I got to travel the country while experiencing what working for a government agencyRead… Read more »
Capturing the value of ‘Big Data’ has emerged through the alliterative measures of “v.’ The growth of “v’s” usually has applied to “Big Data” but applies to all data. As in cosmology, questions arise how big “Big Data” is and can there be a limit to how much it can expand. So far, the gravityRead… Read more »
The GAO released a report last month calling for better management of substandard employees. According to the report, the government could benefit from better performance management training and use of tools to address underperforming individuals. Dealing with underperforming employees can be difficult, and can lead to some awkward conversations. Here are some of my favorite tipsRead… Read more »
Originally posted on the GovDelivery blog. “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress…” – Kofi Annan As a government agency, your job begins and ends with being a purveyor of knowledge for the audience you serve. From informing the public about a disease outbreak, weather emergency, a newly enacted law, orRead… Read more »