The 3 Keys to Motivating Feds During Tough Times

John M. Palguta and Bryan Klopack — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:57:00 -0400

"The job of federal manager is tough and getting tougher," concluded John Palguta, President of the Partnership for Public Service and moderator of a panel entitled "Leadership Beyond Limits: Breakthrough Practices for Increasing Employee Motivation" at Excellence in Government Live on Sept. 6.

With a focus on the best methods to inspire and encourage agency employees, the discussion was designed to enrich audience understanding of the connection between leadership and employee motivation and how to drive success in your agency. The audience was in search of concrete tools and techniques to bring out the best in their employees while improving their agency's Effective Leadership score on the Best Places to Work index. Palguta was joined by:

Reginald Wells, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Human Resources, Social Security Administration
Peggy Focarino, Commissioner for Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Dan Tangherlini, Acting Administrator, General Services Administration
David Dye, Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Key takeaways:

Remind employees why they came to work for government in the first place.
- Wells: "With the kinds of tensions and pressures that all agencies are under these days, there is that tendency for people to become discouraged, for morale to drop and perhaps a loss of engagement on the parts of individuals or whole units of your organization and you really can't afford that. We're all in this to make a difference in the lives of people, we wouldn't have come to government...if that wasn't a primary motivation...It's extremely important that we both nurture the engagement of folks and try to improve upon it...Remind people why they came to this work. We have found that is a major, major incentive.
Connect employees to the mission.
- Tangherlini: "I would say that the correlation, based on nothing other than my own experience, is one to one. Agency effectiveness in delivering mission and employee satisfaction are directly correlated. If you have an agency that is not particularly effective and has a less than fascinating mission you can probably get people to be satisfied working there but it's going to cost you a lot. It's going to require an awful lot of managerial gymnastics. I think the real issue comes down to figuring out ways that you can maintain sustainable connections between the employees and the work, the employees and the mission, and giving them some sense that, if the place is effective, it’s because they made some kind of contribution to that outcome."
Mentoring and coaching are key.
- Focarino: "We're focusing on the key role of coaching and mentoring because frankly a person's connection to their first line supervisor really dictates whether they stay in a job or they leave…That first line supervisor has to know that they have a huge influence and we need to give them the tools to coach and mentor and deal with performance issues early and have the tools that they need to hold people accountable. They're responsible for a bottom line but they're also responsible for inspiring people to do more than the bare minimum."

The panel concluded that, even in tough times, focused leadership can maintain and even increase employee motivation, engagement and organizational effectiveness. It isn’t easy and there are no guarantees in the current environment of rising workloads, decreasing resources, increased retirements and declining public support. But research shows that success in this regard is not accidental--its linked to specific management actions.

The good news? While successful leaders have always managed to figure out how to engage their employees, they are now increasingly focused on doing so and sharing the lessons learned.

What are you finding to be the keys to employee engagement?

Want more Excellence in Government? Follow us on Twitter | Facebook | Google + | LinkedIn

]]>

Undertake a Joint Venture

John M. Palguta — Mon, 01 Mar 1999 00:00:00 -0500

n some private-sector organizations, Mort's case might be fairly simple, albeit heartless. The problem would be Mort's as the outdated cog in the wheel. He could either adapt or find himself on the street. However, in the more compassionate public-sector environment with its highly regulated process for determining who goes and who stays, the problem is jointly owned. If both Mort and Stan decide to let the chips fall where they may, this could easily become a lose-lose situation.

Mort could do nothing and let his bosses, Tom and Stan, deal with the situation. Mort knows the worst-case scenario for him most likely is ending up with a diminished job that he doesn't like but one that still provides a needed paycheck. Tom and Stan, on the other hand, could drop this problem into the human resources director's lap, and let the reduction-in-force process determine Mort's fate. The downside for Tom and Stan, however, is that they end up with a highly paid, unmotivated and underutilized employee.

The problem needs a win-win solution. Some will see a moral obligation on the part of management to go above and beyond what law or regulation requires for an employee who has contributed 28 years of valued service. That may well be, but the truth of the matter is that management doesn't need a moral imperative. There are good business reasons to seek an amicable resolution that goes beyond procedural requirements. I'd recommend the following:

Make a clear commitment that the solution should be in the best interests of the bureau and the employee. An uncooperative employee or a recalcitrant manager can derail the best-intentioned efforts.
Find someone whom Mort trusts and who can also see the bigger picture to talk with him about his needs and alternatives. That person could be the human resources director, a fellow manager or someone outside the organization.
Fully explore all options and put them on the table. The human resources director can help. While Mort cannot afford a reduction in income, leaving the agency may carry some options. Being 50 years old with 28 years of service qualifies him for a discontinued service retirement, which might also be sweetened with a separation incentive. Although the annuity would not meet his current income level, Mort's reputation and contacts with the professional associations could yield a job that Mort really enjoys and one that pays enough to maintain or even exceed his standard of living when combined with his annuity.
Be up front about options that are not available to Mort. Since one criterion for a solution is that the needs of the organization are met, Mort cannot expect that a job to his liking will be created within the bureau if there is not a need for such a job.
Agree on some time limits. Agreement on a fallback plan that would be implemented if nothing changes after 90 days should keep all parties focused.

John M. Palguta was appointed director of the Office of Policy and Evaluation at the Merit Systems Protection Board in June 1997. Palguta held various positions with the U.S. Civil Service Commission, starting as a personnel management intern in 1970 in the agency's San Francisco region.

]]>

Government Executive - Authors - John M. Palguta

The 3 Keys to Motivating Feds During Tough Times

Undertake a Joint Venture