August 28, 2008

The FCW Caption Contest: What's the story?

What's going on in the cartoon below? Provide a caption or balloon quotes that make sense of the image -- and that make us laugh.

Sample entry: "The CIO evidently was serious when he said we should all be rowing in the same direction."

You can do better than that.

Post your suggestions as a comment on this blog (registration required) or send an e-mail to letters@fcw.com and we will post it for you. If sending an e-mail, please let us know if we can use your name.

At the end of September, FCW cartoonist John Klossner will pick the best entry and finish up the cartoon.

Comments (110)

July 3, 2008

FCW Forum: How do you keep midcareer acquisition employees?

Agencies’ “gray beards,” their most experienced procurement employees, are handling a large portion of the workload while teaching the newcomers about the intricacies of the contracting process, acquisition experts say.

But the majority of contracting officers — those gray beards — will soon reach retirement age. Figures say an estimated 54 percent will be eligible by 2012. That makes midcareer employees who have experience in the field critical as the retirements increase in the coming years.

Although retirements have hovered below anticipated numbers, the workforce’s turnover has continued at a steady pace, averaging a 7.8 percent since 2000.

Considering that, the Federal Acquisition Institute said, among other things, the government needs to retain skilled employees through “care and feeding” — to keep the midcareer employees and their skills in the agency.

How do you care for and feed your midcareer employees? Are there ways to make them enjoy their jobs at your agency so that even a promotion at another agency won’t seem as inviting as staying where they are?

Comments (9)

June 24, 2008

FCW Forum: Do GSA schedules work for you?

The General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule Advisory Panel wants to know the answer to that question from customers who use the schedules contracts. At a meeting this week, the panel members tossed out questions for agencies.

• Why do you use the schedules?
• Do you consider a best value to be more than price? If so, what are elements do you consider?
• Do you seek competition when ordering from a schedule or pay the original contract price?
• Do you believe the schedules give you the best price?
• Do the schedules meet your needs?

The panel has been disappointed in how few customers have offered their insight on the schedules. It’s only heard from the Justice Department. As a result, agencies around the government — from auditors to contracting officers — may receive an invitation in the mail to answer those questions before the panel.

But first give us your thoughts on those questions. Post a comment on this blog (registration required) or send your comment to letters@fcw.com and we will post it for you.

Matthew Weigelt
Comments (2)

June 10, 2008

FCW Forum: Is Web 2.0 worth the risk?

What problems do you see arising when agencies allow employees to use blogs, wikis and other social-networking applications?

During the past several months, several government officials have raised concerns about the management and security risks associated with Web 2.0 applications. Here are some examples:

• At an April 3 AFFIRM meeting, Ed Meagher, the outgoing deputy chief information officer at the Interior Department, questioned the value of allowing low-ranking government employees to submit and edit articles on a wiki.
• On May 28, a NASA Johnson Space Flight Center contractor violated the Hatch Act by soliciting campaign donations through e-mail messages and blog postings while at work. A reader of a Federal Computer Week Web story on the violation complained that a mention of the word “blogging” in the headline may persuade some leaders to shy away from adopting blogs at their agencies.
• At a June 3 forum on collaborative government hosted by Deloitte and the National Academy of Public Administration, a State Department employee expressed concern about potentially false reports of threats posted on social media sites.  She explained that intelligence agencies may end up wasting resources by following false tips from employees who might be insider threats.

What do you think? What risks do you see arising when agencies allow employees to use blogs, wikis and other social-networking applications? Post a comment on this blog (registration required) or send your comment to letters@fcw.com and we will post it for you.

Wade-Hahn Chan
Comments (20)

March 12, 2008

FCW Forum: Too much training — or not enough?

"The last thing government employees need is more time in a classroom," wrote one reader in a letter to the editor, in response to an article about a new training opportunity offered by the Partnership for Public Service. "Where does it end? I swear that between training, conferences, meetings and their generous vacation, federal employees are present for their actual jobs about 50 percent of the year max." Read the full letter here.

Several readers took issue with this assertion.

"I have occasional training, but most training I received was on-the-job and I was expected to pick it up rather quickly. And I did," one reader commented. "I know there are managers and upper levels who spend a lot of time on travel, but most of us here in the trenches show up every day for work and have to fit training in around our work schedules."
 
Another reader sees it differently:

"Training? What training? In my agency (Navair), the only training we can realistically access is the stupid online stuff, [which] only encourages folks to 'get thru it' as quickly as possible."

What do you think? Do feds go overboard on training — or are there not nearly enough training opportunities? Paste a comment (registration required), or send your comment to letters@fcw.com (subject line: Blog comment) and we'll post it. 

Comments (9)