National Guard Technicians are, with a few exceptions in every state, members of an “excepted service”. While that term applies to many categories of Feds, Title 32 is unique to the Guard and reserves. The author offers some details on what this means.
The author offers his suggestions for Katherine Archuleta, the president’s nominee for OPM Director, and invites FedSmith.com users to share their suggestions as well.
The author says that some of the most talented employees in government are looking away from it as a potential employer when they are needed more than ever.
Will a person’s behavior change when getting a written reprimand? The author analyzes the disciplinary process and offers suggestions for those who may be involved in a disciplinary situation.
The voters in Washington state recently legalized marijuana. The author, who is a resident of Washington, discusses the new law and what it might mean for federal employees who live or work there.
The author says that many people don’t consider the possibility of having performance appraisals that actually improve performance. He says that having a system designed to improve performance would be an appraisal system actually worth having instead of being just about the performance rating.
The author discusses performance standards and what he believes is a fundamental law of performance evaluations and the most common reason appraisals have failed in the past.
The author says that performance appraisals should serve to improve performance rather than just rate it.
The MSPB recently overturned the removal of a DoD employee for unacceptable performance. The author analyzes the circumstances surrounding the case.
The author says that a recent MSPB decision highlights something he believes has gone wrong in government, that being an unwillingness or inability to effectively deal with poor performing employees.
