Management

The 3 duties of public servants

COMMENTARY | With all that’s going on in Washington these days, public officials have three fundamental duties that they cannot shirk.

Pay & Benefits

Bill to alleviate federal pay compression introduced by House Dems

The Pay Compression Relief Act would effectively allow General Schedule employees to receive annual increases to both basic and locality pay, even if they have already hit the federal pay cap.

Management

How can senior government leaders best leverage the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey?

COMMENTARY | A lower-than-average employee engagement score may tempt leadership to implement new activities intended to make employees feel happier at work. They should resist this temptation, says one federal executive coach.

Pay & Benefits

Pay Caps: Fed Exec Lobby Group Says Reform Is Past Due

“We are stuck with a personnel system mostly put together too many decades ago,” says a policy chief for the Senior Executives Association.

Workforce

OPM Launches a Toolkit to Attract More Women to the SES

The effort to recruit more women into the cadre of career government executives builds upon a 2014 program and comes amid news that, unlike the rest of the federal government, there is no gender pay gap in the Senior Executive Service.

Workforce

FEC Recommends Top Leaders Be Eligible for Senior Executive Service

The Senior Executive Association’s initial review says the proposal “makes sense on its face.”

Pay & Benefits

Biden Administration Brings Back Presidential Rank Awards

The Office of Personnel Management is fielding nominations for the annual awards for senior federal workers, after last year’s iteration of the program was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Management

OPM Issues Post-Election SES Hiring Freeze Weeks Later than Previous Administrations

The moratorium on senior executive appointments comes more than a month later than it did when Obama was leaving office.

Management

From Intern to Chief Human Capital Officer: Miriam Cohen Reflects on a Federal Career

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s outgoing top HR executive spent more than three decades in government service.

Oversight

OPM Isn’t Doing Enough to Prevent Political Meddling in Reassignments of Senior Executives, Watchdog Finds

GAO reports that several agencies have made efforts to ensure that they comply with rules designed to prevent capricious reassignment of senior executives by political appointees, but gaps remain and OPM is unwilling to conduct oversight.

Pay & Benefits

Senate Passes Bill to Provide Higher Pay to VA Execs

Measure also prevents department from having to collect compensation it already paid out.

Management

Agencies With Acting Leaders Can Now Fill Top Career Ranks, OPM Says

Some worry the administration is normalizing its proclivity for circumventing the confirmation process.