WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
KLMNO
S THE FEDERAL WORKER
On Leadership
6views.washingtonpost.com/leadership
Here are two responses to the question from members of The
Washington Post’s On Leadership site. To read other comments from the panel of leadership experts, go to
views.washingtonpost.com/leadership.
Q. One of the key findings of the 2010 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey is that worker satisfaction is more profoundly affected by perceptions of top management than by immediate supervisors.
What lessons can top leaders in the public and private sectors glean from this?
“ John R. Ryan Sally Blount
Dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. An internationally recognized expert in the fields of negotiation and behavioral decision-making, she has more than 20 years of experience in higher education. What this finding reinforces for me is that people in organizations are hungry for meaning, for understanding of how what they do each day contributes to a greater purpose, a greater mission. This is particularly true for people drawn to work in the governmental and not-for-profit sectors, where pay is not a primary motivator in job choice. A primary job of leaders in these organizations is to provide a sense of purpose, a narrative for what that organization stands for and how it contributes to making the world a better place. Their job is to help give organizational members something to believe in when they come to work each day. What these findings should remind all of us of, regardless of which sector we inhabit, is the power of meaning in making work fulfilling. This is true at every layer of our organizations. Compensation systems and day-to-day supervision are the traditional levers of good job design, but it’s culture and mission that are the truly powerful tools in moving people toward common action and heightening dedication to our work. Meaning matters. Top leaders understand and reify that. They provide this meaning through carefully chosen words, vivid images and stories, and by affirming employees who exemplify the organization’s values.
washingtonpost.com Q.
How would you rate your supervisor? Would he or she get high marks for strong leadership? Tell us why. Or, if you have a supervisor who comes up short, what suggestions would you offer?
E-mail your answer to
federalworker@washpost.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. When answers are particularly sensitive, we will consider a respondent’s request to withhold full identification.
President of the nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked, global provider of executive education. At the Center for Creative
Leadership (CCL), however, various research projects over the years confirm that immediate supervisors also have a major influence on employee satisfaction and engagement. Most recently, a study CCL
conducted in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton revealed that among workers who strongly agreed that they work for a manager who cares about their well-being, 94 percent said they intend to stay with their current employer. Of those who strongly disagreed that their manager cared about their well-being, just 43 percent planned to stick around. Additionally, data from CCL’s
Lessons of Experience research project, which started in the 1980s, have documented the powerful impact that immediate bosses have on the satisfaction — and, ultimately, the development and retention — of employees. But rather than spending too much time debating which level of management matters most in furthering employee satisfaction, we are perhaps wiser to remember this instead: The most effective way to keep our men and women engaged and satisfied over the long term is to improve the quality of managers at every level of our organizations.
An in-depth study CCL did with leaders in the United States, Singapore and India from 2006 to 2008 determined the four most important leadership skills for the future: 1. leading people, which means knowing how to direct and motivate them; 2. strategic planning, defined as the ability to translate vision into realistic business strategies; 3. inspiring commitment, which involves recognizing and rewarding employee achievements; and 4. managing change, which calls for adapting to new external pressures and helping employees do the same. It turns out that most of today’s managers are not adept at these four skills, creating what we call the leadership gap. Closing that gap calls for
developing these four skills with leaders throughout our organizations, from top leadership all the way down to first-time managers. When that happens, employee satisfaction will flourish and organizations will accelerate their strategy and results.
JOE DAVIDSON Federal Diary
Little known in the best of times, it was understaffed, underfunded and underachieving. Employee morale was in the pits. The agency had lost its way and its calling. Bush administration policies left the organization stagnant and malnourished. Its mission of promoting strong labor-manage- ment relations in the federal government, in part by resolving complaints of unfair labor practices and negotiation stalemates, was largely unfulfilled.
N But things have changed. On
Wednesday, the FLRA is being celebrated as the most improved agency on the list of Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,, published by the Partnership for Public Service and American University’s School of Public Affairs. This year,
the agency’s score jumped 2.5 times. Last year, it was a true bottom feeder, coming in last among all small agencies. It now ranks 20 out of 34, still far from the top but a great improvement nonetheless. “We need to be mindful of the
ot long ago, the Federal Labor Relations Authority was a real backwater.
Morale mission accomplished at the Labor Relations Authority Most and least improved workplaces
Agencies that improved or fell the most between 2009 and 2010 in the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” rankings: Percentage
Most improved Large agencies
Transportation Department Treasury Department Interior Department
Small agencies
Federal Labor Relations Authority Federal Communications Commission National Endowment for the Humanities
Subcomponents National Drug Intelligence Center (Justice Department) Office of the Inspector General (Treasury Department) Defense Contract Management Agency (Defense Department)
Least improved
Large agencies Securities and Exchange Commission Veterans Affairs Department Intelligence Community
Small agencies Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Office of Management and Budget Agency for International Development
Subcomponents Office of Postsecondary Education (Education Department) Departmental Administration (USDA) U.S. Army Reserve Command (Army)
Thomas M. Beck found a “beleaguered” agency when he arrived in 2008.
6.4 3.6 2.6
22.6 16.0 11.7
16.4 15.1 14.5
NOTE: Based on a survey of more than 263,000 federal government employees. Te scores reflect the weighted average of the percentage of employees who responded favorably to three questions: Are you satisfied with your job? How satisfied are you with your organization? Would you recommend your organization as a good place to work?
SOURCE: Partnership for Public Service
fact that when you’re so close to rock bottom, you have one way to go and that’s up,” said Thomas M. Beck, a member of the agency and its immediate past chairman. Overwhelmingly, the driving
factor in the agency’s improved standing was the 418 percent surge in the score employees gave the agency’s senior leadership. That’s in keeping with the findings of the best places survey across government: “The 2010 survey for the fifth time in a row showed the primary driver in the federal space is effective leadership, and in particular, senior leadership.” The lesson the FLRA
experience has for top government managers? “There are things that you can do that
Ranking the workplace
Best and worst federal workplaces Te top and bottom 10 agencies in the Best Places to Work in Federal Government rankings.
Rank
Top 10 1 Nuclear Regulatory Commission
2 Government Accountability Office 3 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 4 Smithsonian Institute 5 NASA
6 Social Security Admin. 7 Dept. of State
8 General Services Admin. 9 Dept. of Justice
10 Intelligence Community
Bottom 10 23 Dept. of Labor
24 Securities and Exchange Commission 24 Dept. of Agriculture 26 Dept. of Transportation
Score
(out of 100) 81.8 81.6 79.2 76.2 74.2 71.6 70.8 69.8 69.3 69.0
62.3 62.0 62.0 60.4
27 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 60.2 28 Dept. of Homeland Security 29 Small Business Administration 30 Dept. of Education
31 Dept. of Housing and Urban Development 31 National Archives and Records Admin.
58.6 57.7 57.3 57.1 57.1
2009
Ranking 1
2
n/a n/a 3 9 5 8 7 4
18 11
23 30 25 28 26 27 24 29
NOTE: Based on a survey of more than 263,000 federal government employees. Te scores reflect the weighted average of the percentage of employees who responded favorably to three questions: Are you satisfied with your job? How satisfied are you with your organization? Would you recommend your organization as a good place to work?
SOURCE: Partnership for Public Service THE WASHINGTON POST
Wonder whether your federal agency is as good a place to work as the next one? Nonpartisan think tank the Partnership for Public Service has revealed the results from its fifth annual survey. Story, Page One
This site calculates premium and benefit amounts under various options, as well as potential changes after retirement.
Online federal benefits calculators
Federal retirement: www.
opm.gov/retire/tools/calculators/ ballpark/
menu.asp This calculator projects
retirement benefits under federal retirement systems. It also has links for calculating how much of an annuity will be tax-free and how much tax to have withheld.
Social Security: www.ssa. gov/planners/
calculators.htm This site features a Social
Security benefit estimator for those who will be eligible under that system, which includes most current federal employees. It also has links to other calculators.
Thrift Savings Plan: www.tsp. gov/calc This site has calculators allowing participants in the 401(k)-style retirement savings program to project future account balances; based on differing investment levels and rates of return; to determine loan payments if they borrow against their accounts; and to see how an account balance would translate into income after separation, among various other functions.
Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance:
www.opm.gov/calculator/ worksheet.asp
Other benefits: www.opm. gov/insure This site has links to calculate premiums under the options available in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (click on "Long Term Care," then "Program Information," then "Cost Information") and to determine the potential tax savings of flexible spending accounts. It also has links to compare premiums and other features of plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and the Federal Dental and Vision Insurance Program.
Note: Eligible employees can enroll or make changes in the TSP or FLTCIP programs anytime, but other programs have restrictions on enrollment and changing coverage. — Eric Yoder
Chairmen of key House panels ask MetLife to explain payout practices
Two members of Congress who are influential on federal work- force issues are questioning the practices of the insurance com- pany that provides life insurance for federal employees. Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.), sent a letterto MetLife chief exec- utive Robert Henrikson, asking him to explain his company’s use of “retained asset accounts.” Met- life is the only provider of life in- surance for civilian federal em- ployees through the Federal Em- ployees’ Group Life Insurance program.
When a covered employee dies, the company places the insur- ance payment in one of the ac-
counts, rather than providing a lump-sum payment to the benefi- ciary. The beneficiary can make withdrawals from the account as the money is needed. But here’s the catch: MetLife earns more than 4 percent on funds in the accounts and pays beneficiaries 1 percent, according to Towns, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Lynch, chairman of the subcommittee on the federal workforce, Postal Service and the District of Colum- bia.
Also, they said the accounts are not insured by the Federal Depos- it Insurance Corp. Towns and Lynch said they are
“concerned that some beneficia- ries may not fully understand their right to obtain immediate, lump-sum payment of their ben- efits,” and they asked Henrikson to respond to a detailed list of 37 questions. John Calagna, a spokesman for
MetLife, said Tuesday, “We are in receipt of the letter from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and will ful- ly comply with their request.” — Joe Davidson
on
washingtonpost.com
To read the letter, go to
washingtonpost.com/fedpage.
make a difference in how committed and how engaged your employees are,” said John Palguta, the Partnership for Public Service’s vice president for policy, and those things have an impact on the agency’s performance. (The Washington Post and Palguta’s group collaborate on print and online projects). Lisa Vandenberg, president of the FLRA’s Union of Authority Employees, put it this way: “Our program and our mission are once again of significance and importance to people who are leading the agency. We are back on track in carrying out our mission.” It’s impressive how often
federal employees refer to their sense of mission when talking about their agencies. They want their service to count. In the case of the FLRA, statistics show tat the job is now getting done: In fiscal 2009, the agency
THE WASHINGTON POST
issued 215 decisions. That’s nearly twice as many as from the two previous years combined. The pending case inventory has dropped more than 40 percent since February 2009, and the average waiting time of a pending case is down 35 percent. Staffing is up 10 percent from its lowest level of 118 in fiscal 2008, and the agency’s budget is growing. But stats, impressive though
they may be, never tell the whole story. It’s the people side of the equation that makes the difference. Making things different for employees didn’t happen by chance. It never does. Among other things, Carol
Waller Pope, the FLRA chairman, visited Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials to learn why that agency rates so high year after year. For the third consecutive year, the NRC tops the large-agency list. “It’s what we all know: communication, empowering
Seeking changes, Carol Waller Pope took cues from another agency.
250.4 23.6 22.2
29.2 23.3 21.0
change from ’09 15.8%
8.2 7.0
employees, getting the mission done, making employees proud of what they do,” Pope said. In concrete terms, that meant
Pope did things like starting a weekly, electronic newsletter; honoring retirees; routinely meeting with senior career employees and political appointees; and holding the first national all-staff town meeting, with video conferencing for those outside of Washington. And don’t forget the softball team. “If you don’t like your work, you don’t like your boss, you don’t like your environment, you’re going to drag yourself to work every day,” Palguta said, “but you are not going to do your best work.” Pope also
made structural changes. “We have an internal HR shop again,” she said,
“which we did not have for a number of
years. It was contracted out.” Better technology
“exponentially increased” her shop’s ability to serve customers, she said, by allowing them to more easily search its Web site for decisions, which are now posted within 24 hours. She gave managers greater decision-making authority. Increased teleworking helped improve the work-life balance for employees. More effective management of the FLRA staff was added to performance goals listed with the Office of Management and Budget. Key vacancies were filled, and
that improved both performance and morale. The chief information officer was recruited from the White House. The HR director came over from the Government Printing Office. The budget director was lured back to the FLRA from the Merit Systems Protection Board. The FLRA has become “a place where people enjoy working and where people want to come to work,” Pope said. She shares credit for that with Beck: The “turnaround did begin with him.” When he arrived in October 2008, Beck found that “the agency was so beleaguered.” But he also discovered a group of employees dedicated to its mission and committed to again making it a proud place. “Now,” he said, “the agency is beginning to come into full flower.”
federaldiary@washpost.com
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