Managing government employees how to motivate your people, deal with difficult issues, and achieve tangible results - Liff, Stewart (American Management Association, 2007)
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-214) and index
What is different about working for the government? -- The private sector is in business to make a profit -- Government organizations are run by elected officials -- Government organizations generally require a higher degree of bureaucracy -- Government organizations typically receive more scrutiny -- Government employees are often paid at a different rate -- Government employees usually have better job security -- Most government employees do not have the right to strike -- Why people come to work for the government -- They want to make a difference -- They want the total package of government pay, benefits, and retirement -- They want the job security offered by the government -- The government can offer the right job and training -- The government offers many opportunities to advance -- Why do government personnel systems make things so difficult? -- History of the civil service -- Perception -- What can be done? -- Guiding principles of managing people in government --
- Overall philosophy -- Most people want to do a good job -- Most people want to be part of a winning organization -- Always treat people with respect -- Apply the golden rule -- Many (not all) problems are caused by management -- Look at your management systems -- Make sure your systems are reliably applied -- Always remember that your decisions affect people's lives -- The objective: performance -- The workforce -- Winning the battle for hearts and minds of the middle 80 percent -- Avoiding confrontation with the bottom 10 percent -- Don't rely only on the top 10 percent- pull others up -- Strategies and tactics for managing government employees -- Communicate with employees as much as you can (visually, whenever possible) -- Teach them the big picture (the political climate) -- Teach them what's going on in the local organization -- Give them feedback as to how they are doing -- Manage by walking around (MBWA) -- Ask your employees for advice -- Say "thank you" as often as you can --
- Be sensitive to people's sensitivities -- Your Human Resources management advisors -- The two types of HR specialists -- Getting good HR advice is harder than ever -- Dealing with difficult people -- Overall philosophy -- A problem employee tends to stay a problem unless handled -- Beware of the employee who continually uses the same excuses -- You can successfully deal with a difficult government employee -- Tactics -- Utilize the probationary period -- Keep it simple, stupid -- If poor employees never cross the line, change the line -- Make sure you control the situation -- Bring your problems to a head -- Fear -- The key players in having an effective program of discipline -- Lessons learned -- Document, document, document -- You don't need a perfect case to take action -- Avoid third parties when you can, but don't be afraid of them -- It's better to lose an occasional case than to never take action -- Let them fight you from outside the organization -- Performance management --
- Principles -- Goals -- Involvement -- Performance appraisal -- What is it? -- How does it work? -- What is it used for? -- What is in a performance plan? -- How do you write performance standards? -- Dealing with problem employees -- Identify them early and let them know there is a problem -- Always make a good-faith effort to help your employees -- Don't wait too long to take action -- Document your actions -- Keep your focus -- Best practices -- Examine the performance trends -- Look for common causes of performance problems -- Use spreadsheets to track employee performance -- Post-performance data -- Issue monthly performance report cards -- Rewards and recognition -- Overview -- Nonmonetary recognition -- Monetary recognition -- Alignment -- A simple rewards system that works -- Results of this system -- Why did this system work so well? -- Attendance management -- Tours of duty -- Flexible work schedules -- Compressed work schedules --