John Kamensky

Four Methods for Creating Thriving Employees Four Methods for Creating Thriving Employees

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 14:36
“If you give your employees the chance to learn and grow, they’ll thrive – and so will your organization,” says Gretchen Spreitzer and Christine Porath in an article they wrote in the January-February 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Their article doesn’t focus on creating happy employees but rather “thriving” employees.  They say the focus should not be on creating contentment but engageme

CAP Goals: A New Government Acronym (Part 1)

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 14:32
These goals stem from a new statutory requirement that the Office of Management and Budget identify and manage a small handful of cross-agency priority goals, covering both mission and mission-support functions.

OMB identified 14 CAP Goals.  Seven focus on mission-related functions.  Seven focus on mission-support.  All reflect existing initiatives but now have a higher profile.

CAP Goals: A New Government Acronym (Part 2)

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 14:31
Yesterday, I highlighted seven Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goals developed by OMB for the first time in response to the new GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. Here are highlights of seven additional CAP Goals responding to that new law’s requirement to address cross-cutting management challenges facing agencies.

CAP GOALS FOR MISSION-SUPPORT FUNCTIONS:

Four Methods for Creating Thriving Employees

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 14:23

Their article doesn’t focus on creating happy employees but rather “thriving” employees.  They say the focus should not be on creating contentment but engagement. After all, “contentment” connotes a degree of complacency, note the authors of the article.

Does Citizen Participation Work?

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 14:09

A new report, “A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation,” by Tina Nabatchi, an assistant professor at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, is designed to help answer these questions.

Dr. Nabatchi says “Two types of evaluation are relevant for assessing citizen participation:”

Agency Priority Goals: Playing Hide and Seek

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 14:02
The FY 2013 budget identifies 103 Agency Priority Goals. They were created in response to requirements in the new GPRA Modernization Act, but the creation of priority goals was initially inspired by an early Obama performance initiative that administratively identified agency “high priority performance goals” after he took office in 2009.

Transformational Leaders

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 13:57

as released a leader’s playbook for guiding transformation.

Fixing the Rules of the Game

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 13:54
The budget stalemate back in the spring, the summer debt ceiling debacle, the recent failure of the “super committee,” and the near paralysis over extending the payroll tax cut are all symptoms of a broken governing system.

Engaging Citizens vs. Streamlining Bureaucracy

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 13:43
Forty years ago, Congress passed a law to make government agencies more accountable and transparent in how they sought advice from industry and the public. It was called the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Transformational Leaders

Submitted by on Tue, 01/02/2018 - 13:33
With budget crunches for the foreseeable future, GSA Administrator Martha Johnson says “Tough budgets should trigger innovation, not fear.” And for many government leaders, innovation means transformation of their work and their agencies.

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Emeritus Senior Fellow
IBM Center for The Business of Government

Mr. Kamensky is an Emeritus Senior Fellow with the IBM Center for The Business of Government and was an Associate Partner with IBM's Global Business Services.

During 24 years of public service, he had a significant role in helping pioneer the federal government's performance and results orientation. Mr. Kamensky is passionate about helping transform government to be more results-oriented, performance-based, customer-driven, and collaborative in nature.

Prior to joining the IBM Center, he served for eight years as deputy director of Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government. Before that, he worked at the Government Accountability Office where he played a key role in the development and passage of the Government Performance and Results Act.

Since joining the IBM Center, he has co-edited six books and writes and speaks extensively on performance management and government reform.  Current areas of emphasis include transparency, collaboration, and citizen engagement.  He also blogs about management challenges in government.

Mr. Kamensky is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and received a Masters in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, in Austin, Texas.