Agencies Are Communities

I haven't heard a lot of discussion about this, but I often wonder if folks don't apply for government jobs not just because the process is confusing and faceless, but because they're worried about getting lost in an agency and not finding a community. Events like this memorial to the late Sam Hamilton, a 30-year fed who became head of the Fish and Wildlife Service, are a welcome corrective to that:

A number of other co-workers also recalled Hamilton's devotion to his work and family. Dan Ashe, Fish and Wildlife deputy director, recounted how Hamilton kept a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread in his desk so he could "eat on the run," and how he rejoiced when he learned a federal training center had a laundry room where he could wash and iron his shirts.

Corky Pugh, who directs the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, described how he and Hamilton had hunted wild turkeys together many times. They had been scheduled to hunt again Friday.

An after-action report on a meeting of top HR leaders in October reinforced the idea that the best recruiters for any company or organization are people who do the agency's core work. People like Sam Hamilton are what federal agencies should hope the public thinks of when they think of federal service.