OPM shops for a culture change

OPM Director John Berry is looking, and touring, outside the box for fresh ideas. He recently toured Google, Facebook and Ideo looking at how they hire, retain, and manage employees.

John Palguta, Vice President for Policy at the Partnership for Public Service, told Federal News Radio getting really good good people in the door is only half the battle. "You've got to have a work environment that is going to capture their imagination, bring out the best, and retain great people," he says.

Palguta said that while Berry was talking with the companies about how to technology to recruit employees, he was also "very much focused on how these employers treat their employees, what is their work environment like" and if there are things that the federal government can adapt from those employers "that would make the federal workplace not only a more conducive place for getting work done, but also bring out new ideas and engage employees more, because it's all about making government more effective."

Palguta said older workers need not feel threatened by change. He points to a method for brainstorming at Ideo as an example.

It gives them (the older worker) new energy and new ideas about getting things done. I don't think this is anything that is going to turn off the older worker and if it does, frankly, maybe it's time for them to think about doing something else. I think it's a great way to not only attract and energize new employees, young employees, I think it's a way to re-energize some of our older employees too.

Among the topics Berry reportedly discussed with the innovative companies was performance evaluation. According to Wired magazine, OPM will likely "participate in an Ideo-coordinated consortium of 10 or so private high-tech companies working together to arrive at best-practice standards for appraising employees."

But before that can happen, an emphasis will need to be put on recruitment.

It's all part of a culture change, says Palguta. "And like any culture change, it's going to take years to integrate, but I think we know we're going to have so many folks leaving government, so many new folks - both young and not so young - entering government. I think now may be the time to start that culture change and to start thinking about how to do our jobs differently."

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On the Web:

Wired - What Obama Is Learning from Facebook, Google and Ideo

TravelChannel - Extreme Workplaces

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