Feds speak out on government reform

Federal employees want government leaders to get rid of poor performers, reward high performers for a job well done and give all employees the tools they need to do their jobs effectively, according to a new report by the Brookings Institution. Over the years, different administrations have tried to reform federal management, but have vacillated with every whim of their office-holders. Federal employees have had to weather these continual changes, which rarely correct problems, according to the report, "What Federal Employees Want From Reform," published by the Brookings Institution. "Federal employees have witnessed countless reform over the past 30 years, from management by objectives to results management, competition in contracting to the war on waste, total quality management and military base closings to downsizing, voluntary buyouts for senior managers and procurement streamlining," according to the report. "If federal employees do not like the reform of the moment, all they have to do is wait a year or two, and the fashions will change." Paul Light, vice president and director of governmental studies at Brookings, surveyed 1,051 federal employees, including Senior Executive Service members, mid-level managers and former presidential management interns to gauge their opinions about the work they do, the barriers to doing it well and the effects of constant management reform. Of those surveyed, only 42 percent said that reforms at their agency had made their jobs easier. "By almost every indicator, the federal government does not give its 1.8 million civil servants the resources to do their job well," Light said, in a statement released Thursday. "Far too many employees must succeed against the odds." In particular, survey respondents criticized the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act. Nearly 60 percent of the senior federal employees surveyed said the law, an effort to measure government results, was either "not too successful" or "not successful at all." Surveyed feds were most fed up with efforts to reinvent government through hiring freezes, voluntary buyouts and downsizing. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said their agency "sometimes" or "rarely" had the people it needed to get the work done and most described the hiring process as confusing, slow and not always fair. Surveyed employees said they supported reforms aimed at reducing layers of management and increasing opportunities for advancement. Fifty-eight percent said the government promotion system isn't fair, and 77 percent said there is little room for advancement in the federal workforce. More than one-half of the employees surveyed said government should provide the tools-up-to-date technology, for example-that they needed to do their jobs well. At least one-third of those surveyed said the government needed to step up its recruitment and retention efforts, offering more rewards when a job is done well and getting rid of poor performers. "These are not the recommendations of a selfish, indulgent, job security-conscious workforce," Light wrote in the report. "Federal employees may be the single greatest asset Congress and the president have if and when they decide to take another run at reform. The question is, 'Will they listen to what the federal workforce is telling them?'"