The Process For Firing a Government Employee

The Process For Firing a Government Employee The federal government’s disciplinary personnel process have become so cumbersome that only about 4,000 employees a year 0.2 % of the total workforce of 2.1 million are fired, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In 2013, the federal agencies dismissed around 3,500 employees for performance or a combination of performance and conduct. In its report to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, the GAO stated, â€Å"The time and resource commitment needed to remove a poor performing permanent employee can be substantial.† In fact, found the GAO, firing a federal employee often takes from six months to over a year. â€Å"According to selected experts and GAO’s literature review, concerns over internal support, lack of performance management training, and legal issues can also reduce a supervisor’s willingness to address poor performance,† wrote the GAO. Remember, it actually took an act of Congress to give the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs the power to outright fire senior VA executives who failed to meet performance standards. As the GAO noted, the in 2014 annual survey of all federal employees, only 28% said the agencies they worked for had any formal procedure for dealing with chronically poorly performing workers. The Probationary Period Problem After being hired, most federal employees serve a one-year probationary period, during which the lack the same rights to appeal disciplinary actions – like firing – as employees who have completed probation. It is during that probationary period, advised the GAO when the agencies should try their hardest to identify and carve out the â€Å"bad word† employees before they gain the full right to appeal. According to the GAO, about 70% of the 3,489 federal employees fired in 2013 were fired during their probationary period. While the exact number is not known, some employees facing disciplinary actions during their probationary period choose to resign rather than have a firing on their record, noted the GAO. However, reported the GAO, work unit managers â€Å"often do not use this time to make performance-related decisions about an employee’s performance because they may not know that the probationary period is ending or they have not had time to observe performance in all critical areas.† As a result, many new employees fly â€Å"under the radar† during their probationary periods. ‘Unacceptable,’ Says Senator The GAO was asked to investigate the government firing process by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In a statement on the report, Sen. Johnson found it â€Å"unacceptable that some agencies let the first year slip by without conducting performance reviews, never aware that the probationary period had expired. The probationary period is one of the best tools the federal government has to weed out poor-performing employees. Agencies must do more to evaluate the employee during that time period and decide whether she or he can do the job.† Among other corrective actions, the GAO recommended the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the government’s HR department extend the mandatory probationary period beyond 1-year and include at least one full employee evaluation cycle. However, the OPM said extending the probationary period would probably require, you guessed it, â€Å"legislative action† on the part of Congress.

5 Reasons Building a Personal Website Will Help You Find a Job

5 Reasons Building a Personal Website Will Help You Find a Job It’s all about the branding†¦how many times have we heard that mantra? How many times have we used it ourselves? Lots, and there’s a good reason: you need to stand out. In life, sure, but especially when you’re looking for a job. When you apply for a job, you know you’re great (confirmed by your fifth grade soccer trophy, among other things), but how do you prove that when there are 10, 20  other applicants with similar resumes? Building a personal website! It seems overwhelming, but a little bit of time up front can yield great results for your job hunt. Read on to find out why.1. It impresses hiring managers.Having a supplemental website that outlines your professional goals and achievements shows that you’re committed to your job search, and are trying to find ways to stand out in the crowd.2. Like your career, a website can evolve.A resume is what it is: a frozen snapshot of you at a particular point in your career. Once you send it out t he door via email or on paper, there’s no taking it back, no making changes in the short term. Having a personal website (which you’d link in the cover letter or the resume itself), gives you the opportunity to update information that hiring managers can see in real time. Think of it as a kind of living resume to supplement the traditional one that goes out.3. It’s easy.Even if you’re not comfortable with doing web design yourself, these days everyone has a brother, cousin, or roommate’s buddy who does freelance web design. And if you don’t go that route, there are plenty of free and inexpensive tools online that can help you get started with a basic website. Sites like Strikingly or GoDaddy can help you get your brand online quickly and easily.4. It’s a way to collect your branding in one place.Chances are, hiring managers are going to Google you. Normally what would come up is a smattering of social media accounts (and hopefully not that blog you started back before people knew they needed to moderate their online presence). Having your own branded site can collect all of those things in one place, creating a hub that’s all about you. (Of course, make sure that only the social media that shows you in your best professional light are included.)5. It can raise your profile.Your website won’t just be accessible to hiring managers- you might be surprised at the opportunities that could come from potential employers searching online. A website can also enhance your social media presence, and start building the kind of network that could introduce new opportunities as well.If you find that you’re struggling to get interviews or stand out from the pack as you apply for jobs, it’s time to shake things up a bit and add something new. Building a website shows a commitment to your professional brand, and could be just the extra edge you need to get in the door for an interview.