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Return to Article: Fixing the Future

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  This article states: [The government will face "a crisis of competence" ?? as the baby boom workforce retires. Over the next decade, 60 percent of all federal employees and 90 percent of senior executives will become eligible for retirement.] I say, "GOOD, let us get newly motivated, educated, professional people in those positions and the "old school way" out of Govt."

  Pat Thomas Posted March 5, 2008 7:57 PM
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  I couldn't agree more with Glenn. NSPS, envisioned to inject performance appraisal process fairness/collaboration actually makes things worse. I heard comments at its inception that it would only work for you if you were the "friend" of someone in power, someone running the pay pool. If you were an enemy or like many others, neither friend nor enemy, you wouldn't get the same consideration that the "friends" received no matter how good you were at your job.

  Furthermore, it's sheer madness to mandate that a Level 5 this year means you don't deserve a Level 5 the next year working at the same performance level. Excuse me?! The simplest math says a 5 is a 5 is a 5 no matter which year you work in. ... Not "fuzzy math!" And what gets me is that those in power tell you this crap expecting you to "lemming" it. Sorry, I threw away my "lemming" pills long ago! It also assumes that problems have short term solutions.

  Who's above the NSPS malaise? Political appointees, those revolving door double agents that come in, secure lucrative contracts for their former employers or some other company in the industry that will take on their former employers as major subs, then jump back out to private industry and benefit handsomely from their skullduggery inside government (what an incestuous relationship!). (By the way, the description above is the beginning of the lead system integrator concept). If the political candidates want to solve any problems in the federal system, they should eliminate these two - NSPS and the revolving door.

  Lastly, let's talk about the huge number of baby boomer generation retirements. First, it's a farce! Second, retirements are retirements are retirements, no matter when they happen. It's like comparing autos numbers now to those of 1920. The next administration should start to fix the future now by planning a smooth workforce transition, which means hiring younger workers at a constant pace while some of the resident knowledge of the generation that's leaving still exists. They should offer early out retirements to control the number of employees and not explode the budget. Older workers are more expensive, allow them to leave early and recapture the small portion of their retirement they're willing to leave behind and the differential between the salaries of older and younger workers. If they don't, it will only get worse.

  FedGuy Posted January 23, 2008 10:59 AM
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  The fix for six would be to eliminate all earmarks and return the money to the treasury

  dan ketter Posted January 22, 2008 10:51 AM
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  The government has a bad case of split personality when it comes to managing its human capital. On one side OPM is decrying the loss of thousands of trained and experianced professional to retirement while on the other DOD institutes NSPS which drives these same people into retirement.

  Glenn Posted January 16, 2008 3:49 PM
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  Here's an obvious solution to item 6: Raise taxes on the wealthy. These health and retirement programs are keeping us from turning into a third world country with a gigantic mass of desperately poor people and a tiny minority of disgustingly wealthy people, i.e. America before the New Deal. An answer to items 1 through 5: Reduce the number of private contractors and increase the number of direct government employees. Government employees care about doing good job throughout their work careers. The unsupervised owners of private contracting companies only care about making a lot of money quick.

  Alfred Molison Posted January 16, 2008 1:37 PM
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  Hi, excellent article. I couldn't agree more. However, I would have also addressed the long over due need to enforce accountability at the very highest levels, especially for those elected into positions at the executive departments, deputy secretaries and supposedly are responsible as the Chief Operating Officers. This is one position in the federal gov, that definitely needs to be converted to career. Thanks Ron

  Ron Lester Posted January 16, 2008 10:15 AM