Federal Daily - July 23, 2010
MSPB Report Says Agencies Value Technical Skills Over Leadership Abilities
Agencies hire too many front-line managers based on their technical skills and should instead focus on promoting those with good leaderships skills who can motivate the federal employees they supervise, according to a new Merit System Protection Board report.
The MSPB report, released July 21, said that highly skilled technical candidates—many with no interest in or aptitude for leadership—often get supervisory jobs because agency selection criteria are heavily weighted toward technical expertise. And because most federal career paths do not provide increased status and pay for technical experts, many of these experts are drawn into seeking the higher grade supervisory positions, the report said.
Other agency policies and practices may be making things worse, as well, the report said. For example, when filling supervisory positions, federal agencies often provide minimal or no information about supervisory responsibilities in job advertisements, give insufficient weight to “people management” skills, or use ineffective assessment methods to gauge skills and refer candidates.
In addition, many federal supervisors reported that their training and development has been inadequate, and that they do not receive the information, support, or feedback they need to discharge their day-to-day responsibilities effectively.
The panel suggested that Congress provide funding to the Office of Personnel Management to develop better candidate selection tools. It also recommended that OPM update its hiring guidance to include leadership skills, and create alternative career opportunities for technical experts.
“Federal agencies cannot afford to leave the success of their first-level supervisors to chance,” said MSPB Chairman Susan Tsui Grundmann. “The first and most important step is for agency leaders to recognize that first-level supervisors are, first and foremost, supervisors—and that they should pay special attention to how they select and develop employees for this role.”
To see more, go to: www.mspb.gov/netsearch/viewdocs.aspx?docnumber=516534
&version=517986&application=ACROBAT
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Unions Call for More Attention to Workplace Safety
Representatives of employee organizations testifying July 21 at a House hearing on federal workplace safety charged that some agencies do not do enough to protect their employees, and often fail to properly serve sick or injured workers.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, chaired by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., looked at federal workplace safety and administration of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the law that provides workers’ compensation coverage for federal employees.
Milly Rodriguez, an occupational health and safety specialist with the American Federation of Government Employees, testified about concerns raised by Transportation Security Administration baggage screeners over workplace exposure to ionizing radiation from TSA X-ray machines. Rodriguez said TSA refuses to allow AFGE to conduct an independent study of radiation emissions or to purchase dosimeters (which measure exposure to radiation) for baggage screeners. TSA also refuses to allow screeners to wear dosimeters not issued by TSA, she said.
“While TSA may have done the testing necessary to show that the levels of radiation emitted from the screening equipment are below action levels, their lack of response and their failure to address employee concerns beg the question, what are they hiding?” Rodriguez said.
Obtaining sick leave is another problem area for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), a National Treasury Employees Union representative testified. For example, TSA managers at Los Angeles International Airport attempted to institute a restrictive leave policy until congressional pressure forced them to abandon it, NTEU said.
Inefficient Safety Net—Often, valid claims of sick or injured feds can be buried by the system tasked with processing them, one witness said.
Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, testified about the experiences of Secret Service Special Agent Mike Vaiani, who ran into the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11 attacks attempting to rescue those inside. He seriously injured his neck, shoulders and back in the process.
After the Labor Department’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs lost his file, Vaiani started receiving collection notices for unpaid medical bills. “After enduring this miserable process,” Adler told the panel, “Vaiani stated, ‘I would rather run back into the tower while it’s on fire than have to deal with the Department of Labor.’”
To see more, go to: http://tinyurl.com/22qygv4.
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House Panel Approves Bills on Supervisor Training, USPS Pension Obligations
A House subcommittee on July 21 approved a bill to mandate training for all new federal supervisors, and another measure to change the way payments are calculated for some Postal Service pension payments.
The first bill cleared by the panel, the 2010 Federal Supervisor Training Act (H.R. 5522), introduced by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., would establish a program to educate supervisors on a range of managerial issues. Under the bill, supervisors also would receive training on prohibited personnel practices, employee collective bargaining and union participation rights. Currently, several agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Justice and Energy, voluntarily provide supervisor training, but are not required to do so. The measure also would require on-going training at least once every three years for all supervisors and would establish a mentoring program for brand-new supervisors.
The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass., also approved another measure, the U.S. Postal Service’s CSRS Obligation Modification Act of 2010 (H.R. 5746), that would require the use of a different method to calculate certain payments by USPS to the Civil Service Retirement System. Internal audits showed that the USPS may have overpaid anywhere from $55 billion to $75 billion into the Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
To see more, go to: http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&
view=article&id=4446&Itemid=19
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End of Payroll Deductions for Paper U.S. Savings Bonds Approaching
Deadlines are drawing near for feds and military servicemembers who currently purchase paper U.S. Savings Bonds through payroll deductions to transition to the new, all-electronic system.
The Treasury Department announced in April that it would end the payroll deduction savings program for paper bonds. The paper bonds will continue to be available through financial institutions.
Current participants in the paper bond program should first contact their payroll officer to get copies of the necessary paperwork to handle the transition. Participants then can continue to purchase savings bonds—as well as other Treasury securities—by creating an account on TreasuryDirect.gov, and arranging for regular payroll contributions via direct deposit.
Military servicemembers and retirees have until July 31 to arrange the changeover. Civilians paid by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service have until Aug. 31. All other government employees are required to complete the transition by Sept. 30. The program will cease in the private sector at the end of the year.
A complete question-and-answer page on the transition is available on the TreasuryDirect Web site at www.treasurydirect.gov/news/news_elimination_
paperpayrollqa.htm#fedemployees/.
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