Weekly Roundup: February 15 - 19, 2016

New SES Onboarding Guidance.  Federal Times reports that the Office of Personnel Management has issued a new guide to agencies. “The new OPM guidance lays out the preparations an agency should make for bringing on a new SES member, including the timelines for evaluating a new executive through their first year called the SES Onboarding Roadmap.”

Employee Survey Questions Get Tightened.  Federal News Radio reports: “The Office of Personnel Management is refining the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to ask stronger, more relevant and less ambiguous questions. . . . OPM issued a proposed ruleon Feb. 8 detailing and seeking comments on the final list of 11 questions that are required by law to be answered in the survey.

Pay for Success Moves Forward. The Washington Post reports that the nonprofit, Social Fund, has brokered agreements in S. Carolina and Connecticut to pilot the use of the innovative “Pay for Success” approach. “The approach recruits private companies and philanthropies to provide millions of dollars up front for efforts aimed at difficult social problems. If they meet a series of measurable goals over a number of years, the states will pay them back — with interest.”

OPM IG Takes Parthian Shot. Government Executive reports:  “The acting director of the Office of Personnel Management is not actually eligible for the job, the agency’s departing inspector general has determined. . . Any decisions Beth Cobert made in her acting status since President Obama appointed her on Nov. 15, 2015, are null and subject to court challenge” according to  Patrick McFarland, the agency’s retiring inspector general.

Michael Keegan

NARA looks to lead on social media archiving. In seeking a social media archiving tool, the National Archives is setting an example for agencies in advance of 2019 governmentwide electronic records goals.

Contracting cases could be held up by Supreme Court uncertainty. Add two key federal contracting lawsuits to the long list of issues that could be complicated by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Pentagon seeks more visibility into industry R&D. A proposed rule would require firms undertaking government-reimbursed independent R&D efforts to tell defense officials before doing so, and to share the results of those investments afterward.

Satellite image analysis scales with deep learning, crowdsourcing. Crowdsourced image validation combined with machine learning shrinks the pool of imagery requiring human analysis.

Leadership and local government culture criticized. A joint report released by Solace and Civica today highlights the restrictive work environments employees face in local government – which ultimately stifles innovation.

Cleveland Clinic to pay $1.6 million to federal government. The Cleveland Clinic has agreed to pay $1.6 million to the U.S. Justice Department to settle accusations that it implanted cardiac devices into patients too soon after a heart attack or surgery, according to a Wednesday news release. Clinic surgeons implanted cardioverter defibrillators, which detect and treat high heart rhythms by shocking the heart, even though they knew of the waiting periods imposed by Medicare, according to the release.

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The Business of Government Radio Show.  The management of the federal workforce—including executives—will be a critical factor in the next president’s success. How do we strengthening federal senior leadership, including political appointees and career executives, and enhancing their collaboration? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores this subject with Doug Brook and Maureen Hartney, authors of Managing the Government’s Executive Talent.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Friday at 1 p.m. on Federal News Radio 1500 AM WFED

If you can't wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week's program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org.