YGL Blog

Coming to Washington, DC in 2007, I joined Young Government Leaders (YGL) because of the reasons Steve Kelman raises. Check out the interesting article addressing this question, "Do Agencies make new employees do busy work?"

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44652&dcn=e_gvet

I think there is a follow-on question as well: do we expect less of our new employees because our older workforce is not very talented? Or do you rise to the level of your boss? If your boss is mediocre, then why should you be any different?

I've always thought that we expect less of our new workforce because the crop of middle managers survived instead of thrived.

If government recruits the"best and brightest" does it retain the "even better and brilliant"?

What do you think?

Tim Sommella
President
Young Government Leaders

Are you an Idea person? How about leading your YGL Chapter Book Club?

http://www.squidoo.com/morebooksforlinchpins

Tim Sommella
President
Young Government Leaders

This is a great example of a young government leader transforming government from within.

http://scotteblin.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/hanging-tough-with-your-boss.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fscotteblin+%28Next+Level+Blog%29

Tim Sommella
President
Young Government Leaders

Young Government Leaders is pleased to announce that our 2010 marketing materials are in!

The Executive Board selected Identification (ID) Card Lanyards due to their appeal and wide use among young feds. We also have coffee mugs courtesy of our sponsor, Aetna.

If you are a Road Show Speaker or Chapter Officer, please contact us at admin@younggovernmentleaders.org to reserve these materials for your next special event.

Tim Sommella
President
Young Government Leaders

I am pleased to report that we submitted the necessary paperwork to the U.S. Patent Office to trademark "Young Government Leaders" name.  With more than five years of using the name, it's critical we take this step to ensure long-term viability.

This also demonstrates Young Government Leaders is an organization with a long-lasting purpose and mission and a recognized brand. With the support of our Chapters, we plan to continue operating and bringing even more professional development, social networking, and community service events to YGL members.  We hope to provide additional scholarships, more awards, and the development of a next generation summit in the coming months.

We appreciate all the efforts of Shaw, Bransford, and Roth staff attorney, Maria Coleman, and Advisory Panel Member, Debra Roth, for their help and guidance through this process!

Tim Sommella
President
Young Government Leaders

Young Government Leaders is working with the Performance Institute to make this year's 2010 Government Performance Summit the best of its kind.  Director of Program and Events, Jeff Press, is coordinating with summit organizers to include speakers and events applicable to young federal workers.  This year's summit will focus on using leadership, measurement, and a motivated workforce to drive results. 

The Government Performance Summit is part of the Innovations in Government Series, a project of The Performance Institute to highlight and spread best practices in government management in a new era of citizen transparency and public sector accountability. Join us on May 10-12, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia.

For the past eleven years, federal leaders have gathered to explore the latest mandates and best practices in performance management, program measurement and evaluation at the annual Government Performance Summit. The Summit is led by speakers from the upper echelons of the Executive branch and leading Federal Managers who offer their experience and advice to managers looking to improve the results earned by their programs and agencies – putting attendees in the room with the decision-makers on management policy from the Administration and Congress.

This is a great training opportunity for young federal workers.  If you need to convince your department or agency to fund attendance, then consider these important factors.  The Government Performance Summit is known for its expert speakers. After spending three days learning and sharing with the brightest minds in federal government, you will return to the office motivated and ready to plan, measure, budget, evaluate and report program results.

• You get to develop your own program agenda. The Government Performance Summit sessions fall into seven categories: performance for emerging leaders, performance for the experienced manager, program performance, people performance, budget management, citizen transparency and ask the expert. You can choose sessions that best apply to your current situation and organization. You can follow one theme for all three days or choose sessions from several tracks to get the targeted information you want.

• The Government Performance Summit will increase organizational results. This year’s Government Performance Summit is comprised of two days of sessions addressing the key challenges agencies are facing related to the new administration’s efforts to change the way government works, the evolution of the federal workforce and more. You will learn skills that will have a lasting effect on your work, from motivating your staff and creating outcome-based performance measures to producing performance information that is meaningful to stakeholders, Congress and the public.

• Government Performance Summit speakers are experts. We hand-pick the best and brightest in the federal government to share their expertise with you. You won’t find information this specific, on this many performance, planning, management and measurement topics, anywhere else.

• You’ll learn how to make the most of the resources you already have. Whether you want to inspire and engage your team to improved performance or need to get by on reduced program budget, you will learn tips for maximizing your current resources.

• It’s a networking opportunity. At the Government Performance Summit you will step away from the office and connect with other government managers and discuss cross-agency goals and how you can work together for increased government results.

 Tim Sommella
 President
 Young Government Leaders

Jeff Press, YGL Director of Program and Events, and I had a conversation with Dagne Fulche of Government Executive's Excellence in Government Series.  YGL will be assisting to develop future conference agendas by serving on the Planning Committee this year.

Government Executive's Excellence in Government Series is a three day event focusing on a particular issue across government.  This year's series will take place on April 19, July 19, and a date to be determined in November. 

For years, the Excellence in Government Series focused on senior leaders in Departments and Agencies.  With last year's series focusing on "Making Government Cool" and YGL Past President, Kate Walker, participating as a panel moderator, Dagne thought this year offered a great opportunity to bring YGL into the mix.  We're really excited to be participating.

This years's theme is the "People Factor."  YGL will routinely reach out to its members for feedback and we look forward to hearing from everyone on this topic.

Tim Sommella
President
Young Government Leaders

In my brief tenure as a Federal employee I have observed that civil servants are not in it for the fame, fortune or even the benefits - but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. House of Representatives from trying to sweeten the deal.

In the past few weeks the House has passed, and shuffled off to the Senate, two bills that will have a significant impact on current and future Federal employees. The first bill is the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009.

As you can imagine from the title, the Act is designed to provide four weeks of paid parental leave to Federal employees for the birth or adoption of a new child. This addition is going to be an amazing benefit for those of us who plan to go forth and multiply in the coming years. Under current law, Federal employees are given 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for and bond with a new child. Unfortunately, to take advantage of that precious time off to adjust to the new family member in your life, you either have to have spent years accruing sick time and annual leave or be financially secure enough to pass on three months of paychecks. Neither of which are likely options for younger and/or recently hired employees. There are numerous details on the when, why and how you can take this new benefit. But, as this bill has not fully churned through the Senate, it’s hard to say what the final bill will look like when, or if, it’s ever ready for President Obama’s signature.

In the meantime, you can follow it here as it traverses the bureaucratic slalom that is our bicameral legislature:

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h626/show

Also, Senator Webb has posted a decent fact sheet for the legislation on his website if you don’t feel up to parsing the legalese in the bill’s text:

http://webb.senate.gov/pdf/factsheet&q&afeppla.pdf

The second bill, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Enhancement Act of 2009, contains several provisions to expand retirement savings options for federal employees. It is tucked down at the bottom of H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, as if hoping no one would bother to read down that far. (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1256/text?version=pcs&nid=t0:pcs:1081) While it’s certainly not the most thrilling read, its provisions are important so I’ll list the highlights here. Specifically, the bill:

1. Automatically enrolls new federal hires into the TSP.
2. Enables employees to invest their retirement money into mutual funds of their choice.
3. Includes a Roth 401(k) option so employees can pay taxes up front rather than when funds are withdrawn.
4. Permits spouses of deceased federal workers to continue managing their funds in the TSP rather than requiring them to withdraw and reinvest the funds elsewhere as the current law mandates. The bill advanced through the Senate this week after members wrangled over numerous amendments.

Most noteworthy for federal employees was an amendment proposed by Senator Lieberman that, among other things, would have allowed federal workers in the Federal Employees Retirement System to add unused sick time to their retirement annuities - a benefit still afforded to employees in the older Civil Service Retirement System.

Ironically, given everything else crammed into a bill about smoking prevention, the Senate parliamentarians felt the need to declare this amendment non-germane and omit it from further consideration. For more information GovernmentExecutive.com has a good write up on the bill’s trials and triumphs in the Senate. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42923&dcn=e_gvet

Patrick J. Kelly
Issues Director
YGL National

With all the change going on in the Washington these days there has never been a better time for individuals with good ideas to stand up and be heard.

As it turns out, 13L (www.13l.org), Young Government Leaders and a handful of other great organizations are offering an opportunity to do just that - the 2nd Annual FedPitch.

FedPitch is an innovative, grass-roots initiative providing citizens the opportunity, and forum, to present their ideas on ways to improve workforce management in the federal government.

Sound interesting?

Want a chance to be heard?

Good. This is what you need to do. Step one, idea. Dig deep. Imagine you're in charge and you have all the time, talent and money in the world. What would you do to effect positive change in your department? Your agency? Your government?

Step two, go to www.fedpitch.org and submit your idea by April 4th.

If you dream big enough you just might be selected as a finalist on April 13th.

This is where the fun begins. Last year, 13L brought the finalists together to meet with professional speech writers to hone their idea to a two minute pitch. Then, they pitched their ideas before a live audience and a panel of judges on the National Mall as part of Public Service Recognition Week.

This year the presentations will be held on May 7th between 1:30 and 3:00pm.

If you'd like to see what you'll be up against, or just get some ideas for your agency, check out the finalists from last year’s competition: http://www.fedpitch.org/fp2008/FedPitch%202008%20Presentations.pdf

Patrick Kelly
Issues Director
YGL National