Return to Article: Homeland Security drops proposed labor relations plans
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42252
Ketter, the fact that you said "Customs only function was to harass US citizens" shows just how ignorant you are on this issue, and how little credibility you have. Anyone who makes a stupid comment like that obviously has nothing worthwhile to add to this discussion, which I've noticed is true of most of your anti-Federal employee postings on Gov Exec. You have freedom to speak thanks to our Constitution, but that doesn't mean anyone has to pay any attention at all to the nonsense that comes out of your mouth!
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42202
I have been retired for about 7 months now, and see that nothing has changed regarding the morale and leadership at DHS/ICE, what a shame I thought it would get better once I left being legacy INS it was one more out of thier way, to all my partners on the job or retired, there is light at the end of the tunnel it's called Goverment contracting, put those skills to work for a contractor that does care,pays better, and at the same time still serves the country and the american people.
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42059
The other problem is that with all the good people jumping ship the employees that don't know what they are doing will get promoted because there isn't anyone to compete against. I've seen it before. An agency give a bad employee a rave review to get rid of them and at the new agency everyone is jumping ship so the inept get promoted then good employees come back in when the dust has settled and they complain because of their manager. It's how boot lickers survive and thrive.
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42010
Yes, the post 9/11 world is different which, by extension means the PRE-9/11 world was different. Yes, there is an increased need for vigilence and security- however, no one (and I mean NO ONE) has articulated how NSPS or DHS' unlamented personnel program makes us one IOTA safer or more secure. The simple truth is this (and I'm pointing this out for Mssrs Ketter and Jeremiah): The problem with the GS system is NOT that it has no capability for eliminating bad employees. Government managers have ALWAYS had the ability to manage, provided that the do the one thing that they have been unwilling to do- THEIR JOBS. I am a firm believer that employees (public and private sector) will work DOWN to the level of expectation set by management. If the government has its share of slackers and lay abouts it's because the MANAGERS didn't do their jobs properly. They didn't set goals, didn't communicate expectations, didn't follow up with performance evalutions, didn't properly counsel employees, and didn't DOCUMENT the findings. They didn't remove substandard employees when it was easiest to do so... during the one year PROBATION.
The odd thing is that this wouldn't change under the new personnel systems. If you actually read the comments by experienced managers under the NSPS system, their time spent on theses functions is supposed to INCREASE, yet no one has answered the question: If they couldn't or wouldn't do these things under the GS system, why would anyone believe that they would do so under the new systems? The answer is that the bad managers wouldn't, and the good managers would be quickly overwhelmed and demoralized. What, then, really changes? What changes is that the employees have less protection from cronyism, favoritism, prejudice, and arbitrary decisions by management. This, in turn, would destroy unit cohesion and morale making the government LESS efficient, not more so.
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41990
CBP was a bad agency right from its creation. Their training is centered on quantity graduating; as a result Immigration Law training fell by the wayside and was replaced by Agriculture Fundamentals to look for fruits, bugs and plants in the name of preventing agricultural terrorism. As a result most of CBP training became non-transferable.
CBP management thrives on employee favoritism and seizures of shopping carts, counterfeit jackets. The only way to solve the morale problem is to reorganize agency by separating immigration function from customs and agriculture and ditch all of the Bumper Sticker Statements which confuse everyone.
CBP hires its personnel through Federal Career Intern Program designed to attract the best talent but its gs-5 entry level position requires a GED while rank and file lack college degrees.
As long as legacy customs personnel is going to be in charge the morale will remain dismal, regardless of journeyman gs-12 promotions, law enforcement status or anything else.
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41978
Ketter, what's up with all your hate gainst federal employees. If you and Jeremiah are political appointees, you will very pronto be on notice to start looking for another job.
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41968
I am one of the managers who will retire as soon as I can. I do not even want to finnish out the pay period. I have waited for things to get better but they are not. The upper Management keeps declining in it decisions instead of getting better. They keep taking new surveys in hopes of getting the answers that will make them look better but that will not happen until they start treating the staff at CBP better. I will retire on my 55th birthday after 33 years of service with 25 as a manager and will not work one more day than I have to for this the "Worst Agency" in the U S Government.
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41966
The DHS personnel system allowed all the customs people promoted to management to declare war on the INS people they managed and any other employees who tried to point out the customs' management failings and mistakes. I believe CBP and ICE will not be satisfied until they've gotten rid of all legacy INS employees.
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41963
I just love these "lets return to the good old days" cretions. The good old days gave us 9/11, drugs and illegals. The old system doesn't work and hasn't for years. Customs only function was to harass US citizens. Jeff says the WWII era was more difficult. Hardly we had internment camps for the Japanese and Germans that minimized their impact. As to the morale parties who cares if morale is bad? Happiness is relative and if your not happy in your work than quit, these aren't high skilled jobs so its not as if loosing you makes the slightest bit of diffenerce
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41932
Well this is only four years too late. If you come to our port and see anyone that has been there for more than two years, it's like seeing a ghost. Now our port is even trying to cut out leave because it might cost overtime. Does anyone read this site? Can it get any worse working for CBP or should I say Customs? There are no rules or federal regulations followed by this agency and the worst part is that CBP is being run like a business. The bottom line is the only important thing. Go to any port or entry in the US and asked the Officers. They are going to tell you we have half the staff of the past, every decision management makes is based on money and not national security and the worst part is that most of the customs managers were really only good at seizing Cuban cigars, (So that means they'll make great management material, right!). Anything you read by DHS and cbp says things just keep getting better. God for bid if anything dose happen again, but I would like to see the managers that keep blowing smoke up congresses butt at least get fired or better yet go to jail. But I'm sure nothing will happen to the managers that work their people to the point of leaving the agency. The loss of both new and old Officer will continue until someone comes up with a better answer than," If you don't like it here, there are 150000 people willing to take your place." That always makes one feel good about your agency and job hearing stuff like that!
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41886
Jerimiah, get your head out of the sand and work Primary for a while. Can't stop a threat when the greatest threat is your managers. As an aside, DHS is full of managers unfortunately, being a manager does not make you a leader. What the world needs is Leaders.
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41885
I think Dan Keeter and Jeremiah both work at the same place, The White House!!
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41883
You said it!!!!, former CBP employee. I'm not talking about Jeremiah but your straight lined view on DHS. DHS is a mess and the upcoming results from the employee survey will ring with a deafening thunder.
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41881
This BS project had absolutely NOTHING to do with improving performance, and EVERYTHING to do with union busting and saving money.
This wasn't the first time an administration took on federal employees and lost, and it won't be the last.
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41862
Jeremiah,
I have to say to your comment the following: spoken like someone who doesn't work for DHS. At least not at the journeyman level. DHS itself made Ameraica less safe (not more, as the Administration claims) because it took 22 different agencies and overwhelmed them with red tape and a chaotic, incompetent management structure composed of people with no security background (Tom Ridge comes to mind). On top of that, the journeyman employee was on the verge of becoming a slave to its employer by losing what little rights he/she has. This is not making America any less safe, it stops the bleeding by giving those still employed by DHS a glimmer of hope for the future. Or are you naive enough to think people would stay in the Department if the Department takes away their rights as employees? Trust me, if you really want to make America safer, you should champion the disolution of the Department of Homeland Security. All is has done is ruin FEMA's responses to crises, dilute Customs mission, make the Immigration mission impossible to accomplish, virtually eliminate Agricultural inspections and put the President's buddies in positions to get better paying jobs later on.
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41854
Okay, one waste of a personnel system down, now it's time for Congress to get rid of NSPS sooner rather than later.
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41852
Jeremiah You obviously don't work in DHS... Morale is still, even after the survey results have been known for months, bottomeing out. This should be the second highest priority for the Department, right after security of our nation! Haven't you seen the disaster NSPS has caused in DoD?
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41850
Hoorah, Hoorah, a thousand times Hoorah!! This is a major victory for the workforce, and for the American people. It has been suggested that MAXHR and its ugly sister NSPS will benefit the nation by providing flexability to managers and high ranking government officials to lead effectivly. There is a valid aurgument. History has proven that having the power of unlimited flexability creates the environment needed to bring about change. Histories examples are Joseph Stalin's problem in 1924 of massive famine and general social disorder. He used his flexable management environment to order the death of over 10 million of his own people eliminating both the over population problem, and all the pesky and troublesome "attitude problems" he had in the military. We can simply fire all the Whistleblowers as an example to others who know of waste fraud and abuse. MAXHR gives managers that right. Covering up the problem does not make it go away! The morale issue faced by DHS is not going to be solved by a personel purge! Whistleblower retaliation, intimidation, threats, and cooersion are major problems at DHS, generally speaking. We must solve these problems, not just put a happy face on a monster and tell the American people its their friend. MAXHR amounts to kicking your watchdog when he barks at a burglar breaking into you house!
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41849
This is another fine example of leaping before looking. The Department of Homeland Security's decision to favorably accept this program for implementation, penchant to obtain approval from the White House for adaptation, its eagerness to reward performance over longevity and curtailment of labor relations/arbitration in light of employee disfavor has lead to mass migration of employees to other agencies. The effect caused by lack of morale within the organization due to management's agenda coupled with the lack of respect of employees will be the bane of its judgment and challenges the validity of an agile and responsive workforce. In other words, hoist by one's (management's) own petard.
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41845
As to what jeremiah said, the exact opposite is actually true. Although it makes sense in theory to grant a department and/or agency more flexibility to manage its employees, the reality is that this Department (and every federal agency that has ever implemented a similar system), has abused this personnel system from the very start as a means to save money and push through agendas in its own interest.
The entire time since this idea was spawned, the powers that be have blatantly lied that the purpose of such a system is to ensure a higher-quality workforce in terms of recruiting and retention by more fairly "rewarding" high performers. Well, you can look at the reality of NSPS as one example for how that has panned out. Employees there now have to achieve amazing ratings, not to get higher raises, but simply to receive EQUAL raises to what they would have received under the previous system. This is not to mention the corruption and cronyism that has ALWAYS been integral in all such systems in terms of ratings/raises.
Now, under this kind of stress/anxiety, morale has collapsed and those who can are leaving (or trying to) to get to another agency without such a system. The most likely to be able to leave? Those with the best credentials. And for those who stay? How well will they now function with this kind of stress, anxiety, and low morale? As you can see, none of this has done anything but damage the quality of the workforce and therefore national security.
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41844
Jeremiah: obviously you are missing the point. "Freedoms to manage and have flexibility" to the Bush administration = freedom to screw employees over and strip them of all their rights on a whim. It's that very "my way or the highway" standard of thinking which has got us into such a mess in the middle east. It's because of his hard-headed management style that Rummy is no longer SECDEF. Have you noticed that nobody has been screaming for Gates' head? There's a reason for that: he decided from day 1 to work WITH people; both his peers inside the Beltway as well as subordinates. Wow! What a concept! MAXHR (or whatever they call it these days) and NSPS seek to reward managers of the Rummy model, and that's why both personnel systems are being ground underfoot by angry employees. And, that's precisely the way it should be!
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41840
This is not a political tradegy as some have suggested, but a fantastic victory for the employees and field supervisors in DHS. If these "new" management tools are so important for national security, then why were they not implemented in the other agencies leading the efforts to ensure our national security-The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Central Intelligence Agency?
I am sorry, but America's efforts during World War II against the Nazis and Japan was a far more difficult task than the one we face now. The goverment's civil service protections worked then, and the government then did not try to demonize, demoralize and victimize the employees of INS, US Customs etc. and strip those employees of their civil service protections to protect our country from 5th column elements within our borders.
Ding Dong the witch is dead, and now MaxHR and will become just a bad, failed experiment thrown in the ash heap of history! Now, lets hope this time next year when a new administration comes in, they will have the intelligence to clean house and throw the DHS leadership to the curb and get some career government supervisors who actually have a clue on how to build and manage a good law enforcement agency!
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41832
Where do ICE stand with "E Performance," anyone knows?
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41824
what's the $10M for cumby ya parties, love fests?? another waste of my tax dollars
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41810
Thanks to all involved for stopping this. Lets now hope all Implantations of NSPS will seize.
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41800
This is a political tragedy of a high order. The very reason why DHS was created in the Homeland Security legislation of 2002 was based on the realization that existing ways of doing things were passe, not to say dangerous, in the much more ominous post 9/11 climate. That realization has grown dim as time has past, and those, such as Federal union leaders, who lost personal power and status as a result of the 2002 law - and for that reason fought it then and since unremittingly - have succeeded in bringing about a major step backward into the past. The everlasting jostling and elbowing of the turf wars, which is the meat and drink of life inside the Beltway, has again taken precedence over basic national security needs. To accomplish its mission, DHS needs the tools and flexibility to manage its workforce that are far removed from the cozy, traditional methods that are "good enough for government work" in the average Department of Paperclip Management-type Federal organizations lacking a security mission. This setback denies DHS the opportunity to put those necesary tools in place. We're all ultimately the less secure because of such short-sightedness.
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41794
Wait until the latest OPM survey that just was taken this fall comes out-Morale in DHS will be rated even lower. The MaxHR, or E Performance, or whatever they are calling this stupid performance plan has wasted so much time and money while also causing a great deal of stress, anxiety and confusion in ICE/CBP. Worse yet, it has distracted both managers and front line employees from their mission-And lets not even talk about how the mere threat of pay-for performance etc has destroyed ICE morale! I have witnessed so many mid-career and young agents flee ICE to different agencies. And can you blame them? THe FBI, US Marshal Service, and numerous other federal agencies have not tried to strip their employees of Civil Service protections or made their employees out to be the enemy. A young person would have to be a fool to stay with ICE or anywhere within DHS.......
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41787
Good. Now the federal labor unions, lawmakers, and courts can focus their efforts on unwinding NSPS within DoD.
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