Category Archives: Public Sector

Employing America’s Heroes

By mark.stelzner | Published: July 8, 2010
Emily King gave me an embarrassed grin as she struggled not to cry. “I always choke up when I tell this story”, she said sheepishly. I smiled broadly and encouraged her to go on. She did, and thus began the first of many lessons she’d share with me that afternoon. In her own words: “After checking into [...]
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How JobAngels (And You) Have Changed My Life

By mark.stelzner | Published: February 9, 2009
[NOTE - The demographics in this post were updated on June 5, 2009] This is the longest time between posts in the history of our little blog. If you’re thinking, “This is an outrage!”, I agree completely. So who is to blame for this travesty, this lapse in judgment, this abandonment of an HR community whose [...]
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DHS Forced to Kill Pay-for-Performance (and Accountability)

By mark.stelzner | Published: October 3, 2008
Reflecting our government’s inability to progress toward 21st century human capital management practices, the Department of Homeland Security was forced to announce the untimely death of pay-for-performance Wednesday afternoon.  In his memo to employees, DHS Chief Human Capital Officer Thomas Cairns described the cause: “The reason for this change is due to the Department’s appropriations act [...]
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(Sarcastic News Flash) Public Sector HR Needs to be More Strategic

By mark.stelzner | Published: July 31, 2008
You won’t be shocked by the joint findings of EquaTerra and HR Executive stating that public sector HR needs to be more strategic.  This shouldn’t be a surprise given the traditional notion of the public sector lagging the private sector in progressive practices.  Because, let’s face it, HR in the public sector is hard.   Some of [...]
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History of July 4th as a Work Holiday

By mark.stelzner | Published: July 4, 2008
As I strolled to my local coffee shop and took in an uncharacteristically quiet morning in downtown Washington, DC, I began to wonder about the history of the fourth of July as a national work holiday. Thanks to James Heintze of American University for his extensive research on the topic. Enjoy your day today everyone [...]
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Survey – Human Resources Professional Organizations (HRPOs)

By mark.stelzner | Published: June 2, 2008
A few months ago, Inflexion posed a question about human resources member-based forums, asking “With whom do you associate?”  The response from the HR industry was swift and overwhelming, with hundreds of messages pouring in from all over the globe.  What was immediately clear is that both HR professionals and corporate sponsors are struggling to [...]
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OPM Suspends Hewitt Retirement System Contract

By mark.stelzner | Published: May 30, 2008
First announced in a report yesterday afternoon by Government Executive, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has halted it’s $290 million contract with Hewitt to deploy the highly touted RetireEZ program for electronic retiree processing.  This was corroborated by a press release issued by OPM announcing the suspension publicly.  Per the release: “OPM issued a stop work order [...]
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Hedging Against Commuter Angst

By mark.stelzner | Published: May 27, 2008
Today’s guest post is authored by Chris Connolly, Director of Client Services for Convergys Employee Care.  Chris is a long-time advocate of alternative work schedules (and an extremely bright guy).  If you have questions or comments, Chris can be reached directly at chris.connolly@convergys.com.  Take it away Chris! Filling my tank near the Kennedy Center in Washington, [...]
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The Merits of Alternative Work Schedules

By mark.stelzner | Published: May 19, 2008
It started with the oil crisis of 1973, this simple idea that work week compression could make a positive impact on both our planet and pocketbook.  It never really captured the nation’s attention in a systemic and sustainable way, but like oversized sunglasses, bell-bottom jeans and dance competitions, some things from the 70s are bound [...]
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FedPitch – Exiting Stage Right

By mark.stelzner | Published: May 15, 2008
  (Don’t worry, I promise that this will be the last post on FedPitch…*grin*)  The first annual competition to improve federal workforce management was held last week on the National Mall in Washington, DC.  It was a hot and sunny day and the sixteen contestants looked strange in their dress clothes when compared to the thousands of tourists streaming in [...]
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