The Importance of Innovation and Professional Development for Federal Managers
Federal managers have long faced the unique challenges of working within the federal government: navigating the red tape of the federal bureaucracy, changes in policy in the transitions between administrations, a risk-averse environment restricting managers from feeling empowered to make positive change, a federal pay system determined more by longevity than performance, with statutory limits on pay and bonuses, and subject to the political games and brinksmanship of partisan fighting between lawmakers. But the pandemic and post-pandemic workplace presented a whole host of new challenges for the federal workforce and federal managers.
Yet time and again, despite these challenges, federal managers press forward with new innovations and seek new opportunities for professional development. The work of several Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) federal managers and physicians in 2020 casts a shining example of overcoming workplace challenges. This team was awarded a 2020 Samuel J. Heyman medal (“Sammie”) for management excellence by the Partnership for the Public Service. They developed vital telehealth options, mobile applications, and digital services for veterans to receive health care virtually.
This telehealth service expansion came just in time to build up to reach VA patients during COVID-19. Veterans aided via telehealth services rose from 40,000 mental health telehealth appointments in February 2020 to 905,000 appointments in June 2020, increasing access to care and reducing potential exposure to COVID-19 from in-person medical visits, while eliminating long commutes for rural based veterans.
In the face of a crisis, instead of hesitating and perceiving a difficult barrier, the VA employees saw an opportunity.
As new administrations come and go, as well as the anticipation of future pandemics during simultaneous rapid technological changes in the workplace, federal managers and employees need ongoing exposure to new professional development expertise and mentorship to take advantage of new opportunities to innovate and prepare for the challenges of the future.
Countless managerial reform proposals have been made over the years to cultivate better leaders, professionalizing the practice of leadership, reduce the number of agency political appointees, and improve standards for them. Or strengthening the Office of Personnel Maagement (OPM) to provide leadership and structure to federal workforce management. Better training and standardized best practices across civil service may also be needed. Part of the solution could be greater oversight by OPM or Congress to make sure agencies follow existing laws that require actions such as tracking performance management goals, tasks and results, and the training of employees. The options for progress are plentiful, if the will to innovate presses it forward.
In the meantime, OPM’s Career Development website offers deeper learning tips for federal employees on career development, learning, mentoring, coaching, and career paths.
Join NARFE today and add your voice to every message we send to Congress on behalf of the earned pay, retirement, and health care benefits of federal employees, retirees, and their spouses and survivors.
The column from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees is part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDmanager audience.
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