Return to Article: Analysis: Congratulations, President-Elect Obama. Now Reach Out to Senior Executives.
-
62860
I have not read a positive comment about keeping the SES corp. I also agree with the commenters about the subject. It is a layer that is not need. There have been divisions and agencies organized just to establish these positions when they are not needed. We have expertise and we continue to get expertise in the Federal government the reasoning that we were not getting it is incorrect. Besides the approaches brought by many of them does not create efficiency, if it did the Army would have not made such a mess out of their acquisitioning process. A great number of individuals have moved into these positions that have been placed on a fast track to SES'er not effectiveness of the organization, so programs have been approached quickly without full completion and thusly have not been effective. Get rid of the SES'er!
-
62757
"... no one has figured out yet how to clean up the mess the Clinton admin. made."
Wow, just wow ... 8 years later, mh, and you're still blaming Clinton for all that ails the world. The shrub can do/has done no wrong. Long live the shrub. There is therapy for that kind of delusional thinking.
-
62752
CBS News reported that a large number of political appointees under George Bush Sr. took over senior civil service positions following Bill Clinton's election in 1992, a move that was considered unusual at the time for an outgoing administration. These political appointees turned civil servants have had sixteen years to impose a viewpoint on the service. The Republicans were never fans of Civil Service Reform and have done their best over the years to undermine the protections afforded to civil service employees by the Act while bending over backwards to protect their managers. I woud give as much thought to cozying up with them as I would to getting in bed with a rattlesnake!
-
62747
Our friend Jimmy Carter gave us the SES and the Office of Personnel Management. We should go back to GS 1 through 18 (or 20 if it's believed we need more spaces in the scale)and the Civil Service Commission. The problem hasn't been the careerist, but the layers of political management that have been added over the years.
-
62736
Give me a break.. who promotes people to SES? SES is just another avenue to give Feds more money since they are beyond the pay scale. Re-do the pay scale rather than create new tiers. By all means BO, Jackson and others, get a grip, BO already broke his promise and has hired team members of the same old Govt. (good ole' boys) network and no one has figured out yet how to clean up the mess the Clinton admin. made. Bush I'm sure will be happy to say, "Good-bye, good riddance, good luck, have fun." He was put in the mess, he didn't create it. Too much "at the top" creates it and it ripples down to us.
-
62578
Why is it that we are being told by SES people that we must not talk directly to Parachute Team members, that we must redirect that request to the agency's Presidential Transition Team of the Senior Transition Officer/Deputy Transition Officer. Rather than considering this an appropriate review for clarity and scope, I call it censorship, and hope the Obama Transition Team is aware of this lack of transparency and muzzling of the troops/hindering of communications that actually might be helpful to the transition team. This is a crock!
-
62558
So what you are saying Mark is that President Messiah will not appoint unqualified "political operatives" to these posts and that they will be filled by ONLY qualified personnel regardless of affiliation to a political party?
-
62550
It may take a rock star to tell them they are not, in fact, rock stars.
I wish him all the best.
-
62544
Two points: (1) Carol Bonosaro, President, Senior Executives Association - is a Special Interest Lobbyist. Ms. B is, I assume, a fine person -- I've heard her speak many times over the years, including testifying at many a Congressional hearing. However, she is a lobbyist with a particular ax to grind: a) the well being of the career SES, and b) maximizing the participation of career SES in federal management. As with all lobbyist views, her views are debatable, not neutral or self-evidently a "good thing." That said, I wonder at the wisdom of GovExOnline in providing her a platform -- as opposed say to a Q&A from a GovEx reporter, or place at a roundtable with opposing views. Nothing wrong with publishing special interest views, but, I'll assume that GovEx will NOT be regularly publishing articles, and clearly identified as such, from a wide range of views on the role of the SES -- or any other federal government issue. Rather, I assume Ms. Bonosaro's essay is of a piece with GovEx's well worn track record of sponsoring spokespersons and paid admissions to events where "good" gurus and vendors hold forth on how to "improve" federal management. GovEx seems to see such efforts as worthy, others may see such as missionary work for a particular religion of "good" government; and thereby, a clear bias which discounts the objective character of your straight "news" coverage. But, perhaps, I mistake intentions: is GovEx a missionary publication? (2) A view from the golden past -- The senior civil service in 1934 as seen by FDR and his key staff - source: Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. The Coming of the New Deal, c. 1959, Houghton Mifflin, p. 534: "The New Dealers...talked a good deal about the importance of a first-class Civil Service on the British model. Roosevelt accepted this as an aspiration...But in practice the professional civil service often seemed an arsenal of obfuscation...It had become, said Tugwell, 'a way of choosing and keeping 'the best of the worst,' of making certain that, barring revolution, war or economic disaster, the chosen dullards could have a long, uneventful, thoroughly secure working life.' [also, current registers reflected the Republican character of the professional classes]...In consequence, the new agencies did their best to bypass the Civil Service." Plus ca change?
-
62539
I wish the next administration would develop an evaluation tool for the entire SES corps, completed by the managers, employees, and customers of agencies(with the exception of contractors). If they could somehow protect the confidentality of respondents, it would be a very useful tool in deciding who has been effective and who is just drawing a paycheck or auditioning for their next job with the contracting companies).
-
62535
March them and their cronies out. Hope he knows where they are hiding.
-
62525
I am sure the Obama administration already has a plan for those boot licking Bushies. I am sure they will find a letter on their desk that simply says " As of Jan. 20, 2009 your service is no longer required" those that stay will be told what do to and I guarantee it will not include wasting taxpayer money trying to break any federal unions.
-
62521
The SES championing transition??? It's about the money, isn't it...
-
62517
Yes! by all means President Obama, give them a good firm handshake as you boot them out the door. And then, get your own choice of people in there. Federal employees do not need the same old folks in those jobs. Look how they allowed the Bush administration mess things up.
-
62513
No...the career executive corps is NOT the ones in charge for President Bush...those are the political appointees who are the bosses of the career executive corp and continually over-ride the recommendations and advice given by the career executive corp. The career corp are those people who have been chosen through a competitive process from amoung the best and brightest government and civilian personnel who apply for these jobs....and then are continually over-ruled in trying to do their jobs, by appointees who often have no knowledge or experience in the area and are trying to make their mark and move on.
-
62512
Isn't cooperation and effectiveness a two-lane street? Who, exactly, is working for whom? Where is the call for the career senior executives to reach out to the new administration?
-
62510
That was a tongue-in-cheek assertion that the "almost 7,000 career federal executives, ... were selected on merit", right? In what agency did that happen? I want to work there.
-
62497
Yes, by all means the administration should reach out to the members of the Senior Executive Service. Reducing the number of political appointees is a recommendation that should be acted on. However, many of our SES are medicore leaders and managers. Federal Human Capital Survey Results, breakdowns in agencies meeting their missions, and bloated budgets that often place resources that don't reflect the priorities of an agency mission suggest this. The agencies have a culture (that starts at the top and is found in many layers of management) of preserving the status quo. Change oriented leaders who push an agenda of change do not survive in this environment. So get to know your career executives and then make needed decisions to upgrade them.
-
62493
Your article supposes that all these SES' are qualified. Unfortunately, for many of them their longest sentence is "YES"; their greatest achievment is scheduling or attending another meeting; and their career goal is a great high three for retirement! They aspire to build empires and gain power -how sad is that! There is a huge void in leadership. Now I know some who are excellent, but see far too many who ought to be on the unemployment line! The success of the government operations lies with the rank and file employee.
-
62486
Even under the most oppressive administration, leaders can still show leadership. There too many career executives just there for the ride and otherwise contributing little. Its time to clean house and prove to the public that the broken government can be fixed.
-
62475
Fire all SES in the Federal Government. These guys, at least most of them are just hacks, buzz word and yes men. They no nothing of running a government efficiently or effectively. They do not and will not accept responsibility for their mistakes. Most have no respect for the workers in the trenches who do the real work. And finally, their arrogance is palpable. Ask youself a question Mr. Obama. Could the U. S. Government run without them. I think all the agencies would do just fine. Fire them all I say. Save the taxpayers a ton please.
-
62460
Tom, the way I'm reading this, and which seems to be confirmed at the bottom of the article, these career senior executives are, in fact, the SES corps. Most of the posts that I've seen disparaging of departmental leaders are highly critical of political appointees, not so much the SES corps. While the SES also seems to have its problems, they're far better than political appointees who are there only to run amok and get away with as much as they can before resigning to escape prosecution, which are the group of folks you'd be referencing when talking about not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Two different beasts here.
-
62459
Batter up. President Obama.
1. Meet the senior leadership and show them the door.
2. Dissolve the IRS in favor of a flat tax.
3. Redact Pay for Performance HR systems and align salaries to the civilian sector.
4. Remove troops from the AOR and invest the same budget in the US.
-
62458
Tom writes:
"Would those career executive corps be the same ones that are in charge now for President Bush Administration? The same administration that the liberals blame for everything?"
You seem to look at everything through a prism of who is a "liberal" and I will assume, who isn't. A rather limited view.
Career executives will take their marching orders from the next administration just like they have the current one.
The fact that Bush and his appointees were ideologues, inept at everything except politicizing the federal workforce and glossing over their lack of performance, and that some career executives bought in to the boot on the rank and file throat, has nothing to do with "liberals".
Demonizing your workforce, demanding more work for less and then blaming career federal employees when things fail, was SOP for Bush inc.
Where have you been for the last eight years ?
-
62444
"Meet early in the first months with the career executive corps to send a signal of the administration's view of the career corps as partners in meeting its key goals."
Would those career executive corps be the same ones that are in charge now for President Bush Administration? The same administration that the liberals blame for everything?
So now all these inept leaders that can't walk and chew gum in the eyes of the liberals will now be the champion for change under the Obama Administration?
Retired Air Traffic Controller might find that disheartening.
-
62443
Treat the rank and file with respect. Junk NSPS and those who tried to impose it.
PROMO RIGHT: EVENTS
UPCOMING WEBINARS
NOVEMBER 18
Speed bumps for Teleworking: What are they and how to avoid them?
DECEMBER 3
Achieve Program Success: Unlock the Management Information in Your Data
DECEMBER 10
Practical Transparency: Applying Exchange Networks for Mission Results
PROMO RIGHT: DIRECTORIES
Post a Comment
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this Service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Government Executive does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.