Articles by Phil Varnak
Revisiting the Probationary Period
Third-party decisions have changed the practices of OPM and MSPB with regard to probationary employees and will surely change the practices at all Federal agencies concerning probationary period determinations.
Posted: March 23, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
Using the Probationary Period Effectively
"If you perform your responsibility to train and develop the employee and the employee fails, you have acted as a proactive manager and the removal of the employee from federal employment is in the best interest of the organization."
Posted: March 16, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
Counseling Checklists
Checklists to use when conducting disciplinary and performance counseling. The checklists are different because you are dealing with distinctly different processes.
Posted: March 1, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
Are You An Effective Counselor? (Part Two)
There are different approaches to take in a counseling session with an employee. Here are characteristics of these approaches as well as advanced counseling skills that should be useful for a federal manager or supervisor when the need arises for a counseling session.
Posted: March 1, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
Are You An Effective Counselor?
Being a good supervisor may require you to know how to counsel an employee who has discipline or performance problems. Here is practical advice on how to be an effective counselor.
Posted: February 25, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
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Philip A. Varnak is a human resource management consultant with over 40 years experience working with federal agencies. Most of that experience is as a federal manager working for the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation and several medical centers within the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He served as Human Resource Director for two VA Medical Centers, Pittsburgh and Denver. Phil has led the consulting firm of Phil Varnak Associates, Inc. since his retirement from the Department of the Interior in 1997.
Phil’s background is in all aspects of federal human resources management, although labor and employee relations were his specialties over the last 12 years with the Bureau of Reclamation. He was responsible for overseeing the administration of 34 labor management contracts with six national unions and implementing all aspects of the agency-wide employee relations program.
He graduated from the University of West Virginia with a degree in education and received an advanced diploma in health care administration from the Armed Forces Graduate School. He is an experienced mediator and facilitator, has been a guest lecturer for the University of Denver, continues to provide training courses for Federal agencies, and is internationally certified as a Senior Professional In Human Resources (SPHR) by the Society for Human Resources Management. He is qualified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) and has the following books published, The Bargaining Book, The Desktop Guide to Unfair Labor Practices, Employee Relations for Supervisors and Managers, and Labor Relations for Supervisors and Managers (to be released this Spring).
Phil is available to present courses for organizations (labor or management). You can contact Phil via the form below.
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