2: Leaders
Develop strong leaders Other Information:
The challenge: Leadership is the most important factor influencing employee satisfaction and commitment, and ultimately, employee
performance. It is also one of the most poorly rated workplace categories for our federal government. On a scale of 100 in
a survey of federal employees, respondents gave a score of only 54.9 for "effective leadership." The poor results should come
as no surprise when you consider the environment. Agencies' senior-most leaders tend to be politically appointed, and serve
average tenures of only 18 months to two years. They are rewarded for short-term policy gains, and lack the time and incentive
to tackle the long-term, systemic challenges facing our government's workforce. Senior career leaders, members of the Senior
Executive Service, too often are promoted for their technical expertise rather than their ability to manage people and drive
results. Investments in training and developing our nation's civilian executives are anemic compared to the uniformed military
or high-performing, private-sector organizations. The opportunity: Today, some 4,000 political appointees and 7,000 members
of the Senior Executive Service set the tone for a federal workforce of 2.1 million. By increasing the leadership skills of
our nation's senior-most executives -- political or career -- we can change the culture of government so that leaders empower
their employees, measure progress, hold people accountable and deliver results.
Objective(s):
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