How's about holding a weekly chat like your predecessor did hoss!

Hopefully Obama and his crew of fools wont
destroy govt agencies like Clinton and his lets run DSS like a business policy wonks at DOD did.

DOD and DOD security clearances are finally recovering from this folly after 12 years.

Obama would do well to acknowledge that the federal workforce is a partner and not the enemy. Republicans never seem to understand that dissing the federal employee is not a good way to gain support and high levels of performance. A little respect will go a long way.

Getting out of this mess will take an effort from everyone, he will need all the support he can muster.

I looked at the report. It frames the question this way: "'You have a few minutes in an elevator with the new president. What do you tell him about
federal human capital?'”

Yet I've never met a civil servant who likes the term "human capital." Maybe I'm not talking to a representative sample. But the people I know just cringe at the term.

The report offers some well-intended advice but has limitations due to the fact that it relies on a survey of Chief Human Capital Officers rather than 360 feedback. These issues need to be looked at from varying perspectives and levels. Previous efforts to "reform" the federal government have resulted in stumbles. A one size all approach rarely works.

For example, the 1990s-era National Performance review resulted in the across the board flattening of some federal agencies' hierarchies. This didn't take into account the fact that some middle managers actually performed useful functions. In some instances, from what I've heard regarding the National Archives, working level staff were left to deal with issues on their own as high level managers lacked the time to focus on some issues. This didn't always work out well. The middle managers, who had had an ear to the ground and who served as go-betweens or facilitators, providing guidance to staff below them and explaining emerging issues to officials above them, no longer were around to help. In some units, they were wiped out. This didn't enhance carrying out the agency's mission but the Archives had no choice. The powers that be had worked out "optimimum" staff-to-manager ratios and the agency was compelled to apply them, whether it made sense or not.

It's hard to come up with reform initiatives, articulte a "vision" and still take into account the need for some flexibility. The real world and the ideal world sometimes collide. That's why you need a 360 view, not just the perspective of the CHCOs. Finally, these issues need to be presented by groups such as the Parnership with minimum reliance on distancing jargon.