The National Capital Area’s Combined Federal Campaign just announced that OPM has extended their campaign another month. It had been scheduled to end on time, Dec. 15, but will now run until Jan. 17.
Browsing: Office of Personnel Management
Federal Times reporter Stephen Losey will appear on the TV show Capital Insider this evening to talk about the problems the Office of Personnel Management has had getting federal retirees their correct annuities. If you’re in the Washington area, tune into channel 8 (which now goes by the name TBD) at 8 p.m.
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry earlier this week had this to say about the progress agencies are making on speeding up the hiring process: The broader deadline is the one that everybody’s referred to, the 80 days. That’s the marker the president’s put out there [on how long an agency should take to hire somebody]. I admit, we’re not there yet on everywhere but we have hit some bright spots. We’re getting close to it at OPM. That’s a little vague. “Close” could mean 81 days. Could mean 100 days. Could mean 120 days. I wanted to follow…
OPM Director John Berry gave an interesting speech this afternoon to the Human Capital Management Federal conference in Vienna, Va., part of which focused on performance accountability. Berry said he’s starting to look at what “sticking points” are keeping the government from disciplining and firing poor performers. But while Berry made it clear slackers must be held to account, he also said he doesn’t want the government to go overboard: I am not an advocate of the GE model where you’ve got to fire 10 percent of the workforce a year. I wouldn’t want to work in a company like…
The Obama administration took to the Senate yesterday to tout the progress they’ve made — and held — on speeding up background checks and adjudications for security clearances. A lot of people were there — the heads of the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of National Intelligence, a GAO expert, and a high-ranking Defense official. But one key demographic was noticeably absent: The average federal employee and contractor who has to wait — sometimes for months — for his clearance. That’s where you come in. We’d like to hear from you if…
This is what President Obama wrote when he took office: “Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in government.” Apparently no one at the Office of Personnel Management got that memo. Reporters from several publications are openly venting their frustrations to one another that getting even simple answers from OPM is a nearly impossible task. Several of our inquiries have gone unanswered for months or were declined with dubious — or no — explanations. My favorite? “You ask too many questions,” OPM Communications Director Sedelta Verble told me two months ago when I called to follow up…
The Merit Systems Protection Board issued a decision Tuesday that appears to put the controversial Federal Career Intern Program on ice. “The MPSB decision precludes OPM from continuing the Federal Career Intern Program until such time that OPM brings the program into compliance with Title 5,” AFGE Assistant General Counsel Andres Grajales said in a statement. More to come. UPDATE 1: MSPB ruled that the federal government has improperly placed FCIP positions in the excepted service, which let agencies avoid the legal requirement to notify the public that competitive service vacancies were available. Job seeker and plaintiff David Dean, a…
The Office of Personnel Management is hosting a series of focus groups to garner solutions for beefing up the government’s cybersecurity workforce. Starting today, OPM called on dozens of cybersecurity professionals and hiring managers to discuss strategies and best pratices for recruiting and retaining highly skilled workers. During the three-hour sessions, participants were given a list of potential solutions and asked to rank them as being the best or worst options for attracting cybersecurity workers. Possible areas of focus include: -Establishing a governmentwide cybersecurity certification process -Mapping a governmentwide cybersecurity career path -Create a new occupation definition, classification, qualification and standards -Invest more in…
Feds, are you itching to go for a bike ride? The government has just what you’re looking for. The federal government has teamed up with the District of Columbia’s Capital Bikeshare program to provide employees easy access to bicycles in Washington and Arlington, Va. The Office of Personnel Management said the deal will eventually allow feds round-the-clock access to 1,000 bikes at 114 stations. OPM hasn’t said yet what the government’s corporate partnership is going to mean in terms of group rates, or when the program will start, but we’ll post more details when they’re available. OPM Director John Berry…
The Combined Federal Campaign season begins today, and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry is hoping to get as many feds participating as possible. Berry yesterday sent a memo to agency leaders asking them to encourage employees to donate to charities through the CFC, and asked them to make a particular effort to educate newly-hired feds. Berry said he’s worried that when older feds — many of whom have probably been donating for years — retire, the CFC will see a drop in donations unless younger feds take the baton. He suggested leaders send e-mails to their employees, including…