Freshman lawmaker champions telework, pay parity for feds

When Democrat Gerry Connolly became the representative for citizens in Virginia's 11th congressional district, he already knew a thing or two about advocating for public servants. The former chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors won the seat in 2008, replacing Republican Tom Davis, who retired after seven terms. Connolly, whose district in Northern, Va., is home to 56,000 active federal employees, has quickly started tackling the same federal management issues that Davis worked on, including pay parity between military and civilian employees, expanding telework programs and carving out a stronger role for top agency managers. In the first in an occasional series with lawmakers, Government Executive talked with Connolly in late April on how the federal workplace is changing, and Congress' role in that transformation. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

GE: What have you learned about working with public employees and civil servants?

Connolly: First of all, I'm someone who thinks public service is a noble calling, and so my view of folks is that they're highly dedicated, highly committed, and highly skilled. What they often have lacked is good leadership, especially in administrations such as the one that just left town that don't prize public service to begin with.

GE: What do you think should be done about pay for performance?

Connolly: It's very complex, and it's not easy. We implemented it in Fairfax. We actually at one point had more job classifications than the federal government. …We did that, however, not by fiat, but by a very collaborative process. We did two years of lots of focus groups with the employees. We had an employee advisory group that helped us work through how it might work and what would the rules be, and we reviewed it constantly to tweak it to make sure it was fair. We tried to ferret out many instances of favoritism … it's not a perfect system, but we made it work … So if there's a way to do that without destroying morale, without letting subjectivity totally rule the roost, that's the challenge. It's worthwhile to examine whether it's doable.

GE: Telework has worked well for Fairfax County, Va. Can you talk in a little more detail about how employees reacted to the goals that you set?

Connolly: The first thing you want to look for [in a telework program] is 'Does the boss really mean this?' 'Is this something I'm going to be measured on?' 'Is this something valued by the boss?' … Every agency head understood they would be evaluated in part on how well they were meeting the targets. The second thing is, set metrics. Set specific goals.

Simply saying 'This is a good thing to do, and I hope you'll allow telework in your department' [isn't enough] … But [expanding telework is not] going to be high on your priority list unless you're measured, and there are quantitative goals we expect you to meet. We did that. I set a 20 percent goal. Twenty percent of the eligible workforce had to be teleworking by 2005. We exceeded the goal and continue to exceed the goal.

GE: Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry's news conference on Capitol Hill announcing a new governmentwide telework policy was a very proactive stance. When it comes to federal management issues, what's going to be the balance among Congress, Berry and President Obama?

Connolly: Well, I think [Berry] took … an invitational posture, a collaborative posture. We're partners in this effort, and I think that's a very positive way to approach it. In the end, we have our respective roles to play, and there will be times when he has to be at the other end of that table. But I thought it was a terribly refreshing thing to do, to invite people up here who are champions of telework to be at his side, and to be his partner, talking about this critical subject. I just think it's a hallmark of a very different, not only style, but shift in attitudes.

GE: Are there things the administration and Congress should be doing to increase the prestige of government?

Connolly: Absolutely. We have to attract good people to public service. … You don't do that by denigrating public servants. I mean, especially once the economy rights itself and we're competing with a very successful, vigorous private sector. If you're a computer technician, why would you choose a career path of the public sector over the private sector? Well, we need to answer that question: Because you're serving the public. Because it's gratifying work. We're going to treat you right as an employee. Because we infuse value in the work you do. Because it's a prestigious thing, and held as such among the public and certainly among the public servants here in Congress.