Agencies say they are struggling to fill critical skills gaps from the hard sciences to the science of managing people. The Office of Personnel Management recently told agencies in a memo this is one of their most difficult talent-management challenges. But there's no single solution. Angela Bailey, associate director of employee services at the Office of Personnel Management, said her agency and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council are trying a governmentwide-approach to workforce planning for the first time.

The new defense authorization law may change some buying habits at the Pentagon. It could force contractors to do business differently too. Procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell says there are three measures in the law that you should know about.

The American Federation of Government Employees last week fired off a letter to the White House that oozed with frustration. The union suggested the Office of Management and Budget was not addressing its concerns over federal workers' fates should sequestration come to pass. AFGE says if those across-the-board budget cuts come in March, federal employees and contractors would be treated very differently.

With the beginning of President Obama's second term you're likely experiencing some changes at your agency. Whether those changes are big or small, how you handle them is important. Here to give you seven do's and don'ts for surviving change at your agency is John Palguta, vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service.