Tag: Public Administration

Dear Bureaucrat,

I was hired as a GS-11 on a salary ladder to GS-13.  I’m currently a GS-12, and just finished my second annual performance review, with my two-year anniversary coming up in a couple months.  Even though I was rated “Exceed Expectations” both overall and in all performance categories except one (where I was rated “Outstanding”), my supervisor told me that I’m not performing at the GS-13 level, so I shouldn’t expect a promotion at the two-year anniversary.  How normal is this fact pattern, how bothered should I be, and how should I think about my next steps?

Signed,
What Next?

Dear What,

Federal agencies vary in how they handle career ladder promotions. It may not be unusual in your agency to deny promotion when you first reach the required time in grade, but it is a bad sign. Do not assume everything will work out. Take action.

STEP 1. …Read the rest in Federal Times https://www.federaltimes.com/your-career/the-bureaucrat/2019/11/26/dear-bureaucrat-im-frozen-on-the-salary-ladder/

Dear Bureaucrat,

I know there’s somebody in every agency doing the exact same work I do, but I don’t know them. I’d like to see if other people have better ways to do the job, and I wouldn’t mind sharing (showing off) some solutions I’ve worked out. I found an online group for people who do the same work as me, but there hadn’t been any postings to it for years, and when I posted introducing myself nobody replied. I could put in the effort to try to find people doing my job in other agencies and build community, but I don’t want to waste my time if people aren’t going to participate. What makes a professional community work?

Signed,
Vox Clamantis in Deserto

Dear Vox,

The abandoned online group you found is not unusual. There is lots of free and easy-to-use technology for groups, ranging from old fashioned email lists to social media. But if members don’t post questions and information that others are interested in, then the community fades into inactivity. Go ahead with your impulse to revive your professional community. There are some research findings that can help you make it a success.

Binz-Scharf, Lazer and Mergel examined why public sector workers do or don’t participate in a network of practice. They found that… Read the rest in Federal Times https://www.federaltimes.com/your-career/the-bureaucrat/2019/11/07/dear-bureaucrat-where-is-my-tribe/

Thank you so much for your thought-provoking piece of 2 October [Dear Bureaucrat, How can I win arguments against lawyers?]. I saw much to remind me of the need for “judicial restraint” and active listening when counseling clients.

If I may take exception to one small point – lawyers recoil when a client argues, “But we have always done it that way,” or the milder version, “No one complained last time.” Indeed, even if the individual advancing this (specious) argument is an attorney, it sets my spidey-sense tingling.

If I must say “what the law is,” I must acknowledge the fluid (i.e. living) nature of jurisprudence and law. That is, what may have passed muster on previous occasions may not this time. I also can affirm that lawyers, like everyone else, are willing to accept certain levels of risky behavior. We want to align with our client in some instances and other times we steer him or her away from even the perception of malfeasance.

Thank you once again for your column. I frequently share it with colleagues and clients alike.

Elliot S. Avidan

Dear Bureaucrat,

Lots of the people I deal with at work are lawyers. I’m not; I have an MPA and experience in government. But whenever there’s an issue about how to handle something in our agency, the bosses always side with the lawyers. It’s like they see the lawyers as adult supervision for the rest of us. How can I convince the bosses what’s best for our mission when the lawyer at the table is raising trivial objections?

Signed,
Dick from Blackheath

Dear Dick,

The boss has three reasons to side with the lawyer. First… [Read the rest in Federal Times https://www.federaltimes.com/your-career/the-bureaucrat/2019/10/02/dear-bureaucrat-how-can-i-win-arguments-against-lawyers/ ]

Dear Bureaucrat,

I am a civilian employee of the Department of the Army, in the electronics shop as an electronic mechanic. When we changed commands, my mission went away. Our command says we no longer work on that equipment. I now essentially have no mission, no job. However my leadership wants to be able to move me around and work in shops that need help. For instance, they would like me to work in a small arms shop for the next year to cover for a mission.

Do I have any rights to refuse them pushing me into work that is not on my position description and not related to what I was hired for? I don’t even care if they decide to get rid of me as long as they have to pay me severance (which I’m eligible for with 16 years service). I also have concerns over the repetitive work in small arms as I am a disabled veteran.

What rights do I have to refuse the work they want to assign me that is completely outside of my position?

Signed,
Unwilling Utility Infielder

Dear Infielder,

I suggest you talk to your union. In federal workplaces, unions represent all workers who are eligible to join, whether or not you are a union member. They might have some inside information on what your command is willing to do. As to what an employee’s rights are, I asked expert federal employment lawyer Elaine L. Fitch from Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch, P.C. She gave the following as education for all of us, not legal advice on a particular matter:
[Read the rest at https://www.federaltimes.com/your-career/the-bureaucrat/2019/09/19/dear-bureaucrat-do-i-have-to-do-work-i-wasnt-hired-for/ ]

Dear Bureaucrat,

Is it worth the hassle to apply for government jobs? I used to think working in government would be a way to do good in the world, have financial security, and get ahead. But the news is full of government doing terrible things, and people quitting so they won’t have to do terrible things, or being reassigned to force them to quit. I see people on social media bragging about how exciting their government jobs are, but nobody I know personally feels that way. Should I even bother trying to get in?

Signed,
Not Winston Smith

Dear Not Winston,

There is an old image of what a government career can be: join an agency whose mission you believe in, get trained and advance within the agency, maybe to a top job, and retire with a pension and pride in a job well done. Even in the heyday of the civil service, most careers fell short of that ideal. But now it is even less realistic.

Most government work is now done by people who [Read the rest in Federal Times: https://www.federaltimes.com/your-career/the-bureaucrat/2019/09/05/dear-bureaucrat-is-a-government-job-worth-getting/ ]