Obama Called on to Give Federal Jobs a Makeover

Here are some interesting tidbits that recently knocked on the Federal Diary's door.

The Project On Government Oversight has one of the best acronyms in a city overwhelmed with them. POGO reminds me of Walt Kelley's comic strip, and that's almost always a more pleasant thought than whatever problem the organization has uncovered.

Like many organizations, POGO (the organization, not the comic critter) has suggestions for how President-elect Barack Obama should do his job. Some of them center on federal employees.

POGO says Obama should:

· Make federal employment more attractive by changing "pay scales to make them competitive with those in equivalent private-sector jobs, instituting agency honors programs, paying student loans in return for a period of civil service, [and] allowing retired civil servants to retain their pensions even if they are rehired by the government.

· Issue an executive order strengthening federal employee whistleblower protections. He also should boost the status of whistleblowers with commendations, public recognition and monetary awards.

· Examine whether his administration really needs the 4,000 political slots in the executive branch and consider converting some to civil service status "in order to enhance senior level institutional memory and competence at the agency."

A Good Place to Work

The AARP has selected the National Institutes of Health as one of the best places to work for people over 50. About 42 percent of the NIH workforce is in that age group.

AARP cited various benefits at the Bethesda agency, including "support for tele-work and flexible-work schedules -- applying directly to NIH's mature employees."

As an example of the Institutes' flexibility, AARP said NIH made special accommodations for a blind employee. The agency provided space in her office for her guide dog and modified her computer. "Her coworkers received on-site training on disability etiquette, specifically addressing how to work with a blind individual who is assisted by a guide dog," AARP said.

The Postal Service is the only federal agency on Hispanic Business magazine's "Diversity Elite 60," a list of best companies for Latinos. The rankings are determined by more than 30 criteria, including hiring, promotion, marketing, philanthropy and supplier diversity.

The magazine also placed USPS on the publication's list of "top 10 companies for workforce diversity." The ranking measures and compares the percentages of Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans and women in the workforce, and gives increased weight to higher-level positions such as managers, according to the Postal Service.