THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010


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S THE FEDERAL WORKER Remembering Robert C. Byrd


FEDERAL DIARY Joe Davidson


U.S. needs to work on telecommuting, report says I


t’s not exactly a case of all hat and no cattle, but when it comes to teleworking, Uncle Sam needs to put more action where his mouth is. That’s one conclusion of a


report on government teleworking efforts that the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton planned to issue Thursday. The partnership, a nonprofit organization that focuses on federal workplace issues, and the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm welcome efforts by the Obama administration and Congress to promote teleworking. “Yet, to date, all of the talk about the desirability of telework in government has led to insufficient progress and action,” the report says. It urges the government to be much more aggressive about implementing telework “and not be satisfied with small incremental advances.” Justin Johnson, the Office of Personnel Management’s deputy chief of staff, said the agency’s “efforts to promote telework are making a difference.” The partnership and Booz


LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST


White roses occupied the place where Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) would have sat during a Senate hearing this week. Byrd, the nation’s longest-serving senator, died Monday at 92. His body is to lie in repose in the Senate chamber Thursday before being taken by plane to West Virginia for a memorial service Friday. The hearse is scheduled to arrive at the U.S. Capitol about 9:45 a.m. From 10:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., the Senate’s public galleries will be open to all those who wish to pay their respects.


Postal official improperly used office


3rd-ranking supervisor conducted personal business, report finds


by Ed O’Keefe The former third-ranking offi-


cial at the U.S. Postal Service im- properly used his office to con- duct personal business, awarded millions of dollars in noncom- petitive contracts to former col- leagues and failed to disclose stock holdings in a company con- ducting business negotiations with the mail agency, according to a new watchdog report. A 64-page report by the Postal


Service Office of Inspector Gen- eral found that Robert F. Bern- stock, former president of mail- ing and shipping services, clashed with Postal Service attor- neys over whether he could con- duct outside business by using agency computers, e-mail and staff. Postmaster General John E. Potter later permitted him to for- ward a limited number of e-mails from his personal accounts to his agency e-mail, the report said. Bernstock also used office tele- phones to conduct teleconferenc- es and other meetings related to his private business holdings and


instructed staffers to conduct private work for him, investiga- tors found. He resigned in June after less


than two years on the job. A for- mer executive at several top re- tail brands, including Campbell’s Soup, Scott’s Miracle-Gro and Vlasic Foods, Bernstock had a $232,500 salary and managed the Postal Service’s product man- agement and development, retail operations and commercial ser- vices and sales. He received an $85,000 hiring bonus when he joined the agency in June 2008 and an $85,000 re- tention bonus for fiscal 2009. Potter permitted him to continue serving on five private and public company boards, including Nu- trisystem and City Barbeque, a company he co-owned. Bern- stock made more than $270,000 in cash and other compensation from the boards in 2008. In an interview Wednesday, Bernstock said: “I tried to behave in a lawful, ethical manner. There are differences, but my intent was to always behave according to the higher standards of ethics and always obey the law.” Asked to comment on the ac-


curacy of the report’s findings, Bernstock said, “I’ve moved on, and the Postal Service has moved on, and it’s best to live in the fu-


ON WASHINGTONPOST.COM Getting into a new agency after retirement Federal careers expert Derrick


T. Dortch recently answered ques- tions on washingtonpost.com. The following is a brief excerpt of his chat. Q. I retired in 2006 but, at age 60, am considering a return to work. What impediments would I face in seeking a return to the federal workforce in a different agency from the one I retired from? A. Let me recommend you take a look at jobs that are coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Many agencies that have received fund- ing from the ARRA and are work- ing on projects love to bring back retired federal workers to take on positions. Do a search under


The Influence Industry


Dan Eggen has the buzz on efforts by U.S. honey producers, competing with cheap imports from China, and lawmakers to get the Food and Drug Administration to establish a national purity standard for the product. A13


ARRA on USAJobs.gov or look at agencies that have received ARRA dollars and target them. Other agencies also like to use former civil servants, sometimes in temporary or NTE (Not to Ex- ceed) positions or as PSCs (Per- sonnel Service Contractors). Take a look at all of these things. I really do not see any impedi- ments to you going back in. I think you just have to find the right opportunity that matches your skills, experience, educa- tion/training and qualifications (SEEQ), then put together the right package and begin a target- ed application strategy as well as a networking strategy. Tap into who you know. Also make sure you develop a good package (fed-


eral résumé, KSA essays if neces- sary, etc.). I do find that one weakness that many federal workers have is that they do not know how to sell themselves very well. This is especially the case if they have been in one agency for a long time and have been pro- moted through the ranks without having to interview for new posi- tions. This happens often, and it causes people to forget how to sell themselves for new positions. If you have some skills and


qualifications that are easily transferable, you should not have too many problems if you want to go to another agency.


To read the entire chat go to washingtonpost.com/jobs.


ture.”


Bernstock praised Potter and his team. “The thing I feel most strongly about is that Jack Potter has done a fabulous job; he has a tremen- dous team,” Bernstock said. Bern- stock helped develop the agen- cy’s “If it fits, it ships” marketing campaign for its Priority Mail flat-rate boxes and orchestrated the rollout of greeting card sales in a limited number of post offic- es. But his tenure coincided with record financial losses for the Postal Service as mail volume plummeted to historic lows. The report also details how Bernstock awarded noncompeti- tive contracts to former business associates and a $1.5 million con- sultant deal with Goldman Sachs. He also violated company policy by negotiating a holiday bulk stamp sale agreement with Costco while owning $30,000 in company stock. The Postal Serv- ice requires officials owning more than $15,000 in a com- pany’s stock to recuse themselves from any official dealings with the company. The Postal Service would not comment on the report because Bernstock is no longer with the agency. ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.com


Allen Hamilton would like to see 600,000 workers teleworking by 2014. Now, “less than 6 percent of all full-time federal workers telework even one day a month,” according to the report, citing Office of Personnel Management data. But OPM said 400,000 employees now telework “some,” meaning less than one full day a week. Management resistance is one big reason telework is not used more. That “was the most common barrier,” the researchers found. To dig deeper into that resistance, they held focus groups with agency executives and members of the Senior Executives Association. “All expressed concerns about the impact of workplace flexibility on mission, including limited


productivity of teleworkers,” the report says. Managers aren’t opposed to


telework, Senior Executives Association President Carol A. Bonosaro told the Federal Diary. She said they want “an effective means for measuring performance” and a system to ensure “that employees are held accountable for performing their duties when off-site. “These concerns will be


mitigated,” she added in an e-mail, “when OPM and agencies offer a clear set of expectations for managers and employees re: flexible work arrangements and provide training for managers in the implementation of flexwork policies.” The excuse that “I can’t


manage performance that I can’t see” is one of five “myths” about telework that the report seeks to bust. “People must be measured on the basis of their results and not on the basis of face time,” it says. This really points to the


government’s larger problems with performance management. Some managers might be unable to effectively measure the performance of staff members stationed a few feet away. “The performance


management challenge goes beyond flexible work arrangements and must be addressed more broadly to make federal performance measurement more results-based,” the report says. Max Stier, the Partnership for


Public Service’s president and chief executive, said some managers “use physical presence as a proxy for working.” (The partnership and The Post have print and online content-sharing collaborations.) Stier said managers need more


training in areas such as the Result Only Work Environment (ROWE) pilot project that OPM Director John Berry started in his agency. ROWE allows employees to work when and where they


ON WASHINGTONPOST.COM


Has the image of federal workers improved or worsened? Do you know of any young people who believe that working for the federal government would be a “cool” experience — a goal of the Obama administration as it sets out


to bolster the image of federal employment? E-mail your answer to federaleye@washingtonpost.com, and include your full name, home town and the agency for which you work. We might include your response in Friday’s Washington Post.


want, as long as they get the job done. Berry has made telework a


priority and OPM has an attractive, informative Web site, telework.gov. The Senate approved legislation in May that would promote teleworking in the government and the House probably will pass a bill soon. Nonetheless, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), a sponsor of the legislation, answered with a firm no when asked whether the government is moving aggressively enough on implementing telework. “While we all say we support telework, it remains an aspirational goal,” he said.


Once that goal is realized, the


government will benefit from improved recruitment and retention of employees and improved service to customers, through changes such as extended hours of operation, said Abe Zwany, a Booz Allen Hamilton senior vice president. If government offices must close because of a terrorist attack or snowstorms, as happened this year, telework would allow government functions to continue.


But only 56 percent of federal


agencies have integrated telework in their formal continuity of operations plans, athe report says. The bright light is this cloudy


picture is the Patent and Trademark Office, where 82.7 percent of its employees are eligible to telework, government figures show. Nearly half do so at least once a week and more than a third use it three days a week. “Telework has enabled the PTO


to avoid spending an additional $11 million in the purchase of new office space,” the report says. That’s probably an incentive any manager can appreciate. federaldiary@washpost.com


The report is available at the Partnership’s Web site, www. ourpublicservice.org.


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