As state and local governments enter 2022, the priority is to seek nontraditional strategies to be a preferred employer of choice moving forward. A recent study by Missionsquare Research Institute spotlights some of the the strategies that could help them achieve that goal. Andre Claudio is an assistant editor for our sibling publication Route Fifty, he joins us to discuss his post headlined "6 Public Sector Workforce Trends to Watch in 2022" about the study....
Jan 12, 2022•15 min•Season 2Ep. 208
The span of government programs sound great in theory, but the execution is such that it’s difficult for regular people to get their benefits. Economic, technological and access are all factors in the difficulty of program benefits to people. While the internet has changed the way people interact with government, perhaps less technological solutions can be part of the ways the public interacts with bureaucracy. Dr. Katerina Linos is Professor of Law at UC Berkeley and Co-Director of the Miller I...
Jan 11, 2022•19 min•Season 2Ep. 207
The Biden administration spent much of last year responding to a surge in cyberattacks. Plenty of changes were made to the way we view cybersecurity, including an executive order and other legislation. But, is it enough to insure safety online? Bill Wright is the Senior Director of Federal Affairs at Splunk. He joined the show to discuss what federal agencies can do to modernize and increase their cybersecurity hygiene.
Jan 10, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 206
Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. Washington held events all week commemorating the event and agencies prepared for any potential security issues. And, as the insurrection fades, one Smithsonian museum is sharing with the public how it’s been documenting the event for history. Courtney Bublé is a reporter at GovExec. She joined the podcast to talk about how agencies prepared for the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack and how the Smithsonian is docum...
Jan 07, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 205
The COVID-19 crisis continues to ravage the world more than two years after the disease was first identified. New variants have prolonged the pandemic and public health officials have had to adjust constantly to the changing nature of the situation. Dr. Matt Craven is a leader of McKinsey & Company’s work in infectious diseases and public health within the firm’s Social, Healthcare and Public Sector Practice. He has more than 18 years of experience in public health. Dr. Craven is currently a...
Jan 06, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 204
Modernization takes technology, it takes people and it takes programs. At the Defense Department, the agile process is set to bring a new wind to the agency. DevSecOpps will bake security in from the start for national security programs. As part of GovExec Media’s Roadmap to Modernization event recently, Nextgov Staff Correspondent Brandi Vincent spoke to Dr. George Duchak, Chief Information Officer at Defense Logistics Agency and Maj. Christopher Olsen, Military Deputy at Office of the Departme...
Jan 05, 2022•32 min•Season 2Ep. 203
The Omicron variant has ravaged the United States, bringing increased cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations nationwide. In response to the surge, the Biden administration announced a series of actions to stem the spread, including deploying thousands of feds and National Guard members to assist in fighting COVID-19 . GovExec Senior Correspondent Eric Katz is covering the feds deployed to fight the Omicron surge and the federal COVID-19 response. He joined the show to discuss the pandemic respon...
Jan 04, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 202
The Biden-Harris Presidential Management Agenda Vision and a recent Executive Order focus on customer service. Such a focus on better government for citizens is not new across administrations’ agendas. How is the Biden administration different? John M. Kamensky is Emeritus Fellow at the IBM Center for the Business of Government and is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He previously served as deputy director of Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Go...
Jan 03, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 201
To paraphrase an old cliché, 2021 came in with a bang and is going out with a whimper. The 19th month of the coronavirus restrictions saw the Omicron variant rampaging through the U.S., nearly a year after vaccines became available for Americans. Against this backdrop, federal employees had to transition between presidential administrations and continue government operations mostly remotely. It was an eventful year. Tom Shoop is editor at-large and the former executive vice president and editor ...
Dec 23, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 200
As the Omicron variant spreads nationwide, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday a series of actions to stem the spread of COVID-19. The White House also touted vaccine rates and promoted vaccines as the most effective way to prevent deaths and severe illness from COVID-19. Courtney Bublé writes the coronavirus roundup for us here at GovExec. She joined the show to talk about the vaccine mandates going into the new year and the administration’s moves to combat the pandemic.
Dec 22, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 199
Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja came into office in the midst of a devastating global pandemic and in the middle of the first year of a new administration that promised to rebuild the civil service. In the six months since, the pandemic has continued and the reconstruction of morale across government has been a work-in-progress. The pandemic has brought changes to the civil service that Ahuja has overseen, as agencies put out guidance for their employees to keep government ru...
Dec 21, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 198
In releasing its Presidential Management Agenda Vision last month, the Biden administration focused employee engagement and customer service in ways previous PMAs had not. Recruitment and retention are key points in the document, putting a fine point on the need to bring in younger workers into the public sector fold. Kiran Ahuja is director of the Office of Personnel Management. She is also a GovExec contributor as the author of a post headlined “The Biden Blueprint for the Future of Work” abou...
Dec 20, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 197
At the Tribal Nations Summit last month, President Joe Biden touted the dozens of Native Americans in key administration posts including the first Native American Cabinet Secretary in Deb Haaland. The president also spoke of collaboration, consultation and respect of tribal sovereignty during the summit. Out guest today writes on our site that the administration has fallen short of these promises since taking office, however. Kevin Allis is a tribal member of the Forest County P o tawatomi Commu...
Dec 17, 2021•16 min•Season 2Ep. 196
When President Joe Biden announced the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for feds this fall, some were concerned about the adoption rate for public servants. But the mandate has been a success so far, with 93% of the federal workforce having now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. GovExec Senior Correspondent Eric Katz looked into the White House's vaccine push in a story headlined “How the Biden Administration Got Nearly the Entire Federal Workforce Vaccinated." He joined the podcast to discuss...
Dec 16, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 195
The pandemic has been a strain on workers for nearly two years, but working parents have especially felt the strain of the COVID-19 crisis. Managers and organizations, even during the pandemic, need to lead their teams and drive performance while also supporting the work-life needs of all of their employees. Dr. Ellen Ernst Kossek is the Basil S. Turner Professor at Purdue University's Krannert School of Management and the first elected President of the Work-Family Researchers Network. She joine...
Dec 15, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 194
Late last month, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky temporarily blocked the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. While the judge did not fully block the mandate, he did write in the decision that Biden exceeded his delegated authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act. Since then, the injunction was extended nationwide. GovExec reporter Courtney Bublé is covering ...
Dec 14, 2021•15 min•Season 2Ep. 193
As paradigms shift due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, questions remain about what agency evolution will look like. As the year comes to a close, the state of agencies in 2022 remains unwritten as uncertainty remains the only certainty. As part of Government Executive’s State of the Federal Workforce event recently, GovExec reporter and frequent GovExec Daily guest Eric Katz spoke to John Dankanich, MSFC Chief Technologist, In-Space Transportation Capability Lead at NASA and Michael Peckham, H...
Dec 13, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 192
Last month, President Joe Biden signed an executive order establishing the Infrastructure Implementation Task Force, which moves closer to the federal government implementing the very clear mission of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. But the order also has a section noting the importance of “implementation of infrastructure investments across all levels of government,” which perhaps can address a significant intergovernmental challenge. G. Edward DeSeve is a Fellow of the National Aca...
Dec 10, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 191
Earlier this year, the Biden administration set a Nov. 22 deadline for federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with discipline to follow soon thereafter. But, late last month, OPM told agencies that they should wait until January to begin suspending noncompliant feds, citing the high number of vaccinated civilian feds and military service members. GovExec senior reporter Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. He joined the podcast to discuss the discipline delay and other pay an...
Dec 09, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 190
Vaccine mandates have been controversial since the shots became widely available. Even though most federal employees have complied with the mandates, there's still a large number of employees and contractors that disagree with the rules. Some have even taken legal action against the federal mandate. What does the future hold for unvaccinated employees and their managers? John P. Mahoney is an award-winning Washington D.C.-based federal employment attorney. He joined the show to share his insight...
Dec 08, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 189
The Biden-Harris administration released a preliminary Presidential Management Agenda Vision late last month, outlining a few specific topics it will tackle in its administration. The document commits to government administration as previous ones have, while also treading new ground on workforce and customer service. Dr. Donald F. Kettl is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and former dean of its School of Public Policy. He is the author of many books, including Escaping Jurassic G...
Dec 07, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 188
The COVID-19 pandemic has made remote work the norm in many industries, but it’s also made managing employees very different. While organizations nationwide have shown the work can be accomplished anywhere during the pandemic, communication, collaboration and team-building have been transformed. Melodie Carlson is the Chief Operating Officer at Sunrise Banks. She joined the podcast to discuss how to manage a remote workforce, especially during a pandemic.
Dec 06, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 187
Late last month, the Office of Management and Budget, along with the President’s Management Council launched the Biden-Harris administration’s Management Agenda Vision, The document is part of the administration's larger strategy to improve how the federal government operates and earn citizen trust. Terry Gerton is the President and CEO of the National Academy of Public Administration. She served for 12 years in the Senior Executive Service as a career member and as a political appointee. Robert...
Dec 03, 2021•25 min•Season 2Ep. 186
Government funding runs out December 3, Rep. Chip Roy this week told Political that he and Senate colleagues would look into “procedural tools to deny the continuing resolution passage Friday night,” which would force a government shutdown this weekend. GovExec Senior Correspondent Eric Katz has been covering the shutdown threat and the spending bill negotiations. He joined the show to discuss the state of things in Congress as the deadline looms.
Dec 02, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 185
The Colonial Pipeline hack earlier this year showed the importance of defending critical infrastructure from cyber vulnerabilities. Congress and the national security community will have to examine emerging threats and cybersecurity partnerships across the federal government and defense communities. As part of GovExec Media’s Cyber Defenders event recently, Defense One Technology Editor Patrick Tucker spoke to Sen. Angus King of Maine. In this episode, they talk about current threats to critical...
Dec 01, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 184
Last week, the Office of Management and Budget and the President’s Management Council launched the Biden-Harris administration’s Management Agenda Vision . The document is part of a government-wide effort to improve management and administration. Courtney Bublé is a GovExec reporter covering the President's Management Agenda Vision. She joined the podcast to discuss the plan....
Nov 30, 2021•12 min•Season 2Ep. 183
Over the summer, the Biden administration sent a memo on the return to workplaces process, including endorsing maximum telework flexibilities to all current telework eligible employees, pursuant to direction from agency heads. In the same memo, the administration suggested that agencies pursue hybrid work policies. Dr. Karen Sobel Lojeski is the founder and CEO of Virtual Distance International an executive advisory firm specializing in Workplace Transformation. She has also studied virtual work...
Nov 29, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 182
Normally, federal employees have to heed the “use it or lose it” nature of most of their unused leave. But last year, OPM determined that the pandemic was considered an “exigency of the public business,” thus allowing public servants to carry over more than the 30-day maximum at the end of the year. GovExec senior reporter Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. He joined the podcast to discuss the annual leave exception and other stories that he has been covering.
Nov 24, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 181
Nearly 11 months ago, on his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order implementing a set of ethics rules for his administration. The administration has had fewer ethics problems than its predecessor, but the Executive Branch is not alone in the government; Congress and the Judiciary have ethics issues that need improvement. Project on Government Oversight Government Affairs Manager Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette and former OGE Director and POGO Senior Ethics Fellow Walter Shaub...
Nov 23, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 180
Everyone decries waste, fraud and abuse in government, but there are measurements of these things. But, improper payments cost the government billions of dollars each year and agencies do not have the resources to track this properly Linda Miller is the former Deputy Executive Director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) and a former GAO official. She’s currently a Principal with Grant Thornton Public Sector and a nationally recognized expert on fraud risk management. She wr...
Nov 22, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 179
