Tips for surviving Federal service
June 8, 2017 3:52 PM Subscribe
I'm new to Federal service after being in the private sector for almost 15 years. I need tips on how to survive.
There seems to be such a disconnect between the rosy we love our employee messages that I'm receiving from HQ, the vaguely Big Brother noises from my local higher ups, and the disgruntled old federal employees who are barely keeping their cynicism from eating themselves alive.
How do I avoid getting into that mindset of cynicism and doom?
Related question: should I join the union (NETU)?
For what it's worth, I do enjoy the work. And I think that I can become very good at it.
There seems to be such a disconnect between the rosy we love our employee messages that I'm receiving from HQ, the vaguely Big Brother noises from my local higher ups, and the disgruntled old federal employees who are barely keeping their cynicism from eating themselves alive.
How do I avoid getting into that mindset of cynicism and doom?
Related question: should I join the union (NETU)?
For what it's worth, I do enjoy the work. And I think that I can become very good at it.
From my old agency, the cynicism and doom stemmed from a few things:
1. poor employees aren't fired - which means the better-performing employees either make up the slack or realize they are being the paid the same for more work. Occasionally a poorly-performing employee will get transferred to a new group - great for the old group, terrible for the new group.
2. New and innovative ideas are squashed - either early on, or down the line from upper management
3. Managers were never meant to be managers - they were stuck in management positions because people aren't fired, just shuffled around. This ends up showing in the lack of leadership.
My suggestions are to find colleagues, both in your own agency and other agencies, that inspire you. Make them your allies, use them to vent. The other suggestion is to never stay in a position too long. If you can't find higher positions, take a lateral or two. Learn new skills, surround yourself with new people.
Now, all agencies/groups are not as dysfunctional as mine was, and I did have a few great managers along the way who truly cared about their employees and the mission of the agency. If you find yours is particularly bad, start looking around for new positions, once you've put in enough years. I also agree with arnicae about the union.
posted by umwhat at 4:30 PM on June 8, 2017 [5 favorites]
1. poor employees aren't fired - which means the better-performing employees either make up the slack or realize they are being the paid the same for more work. Occasionally a poorly-performing employee will get transferred to a new group - great for the old group, terrible for the new group.
2. New and innovative ideas are squashed - either early on, or down the line from upper management
3. Managers were never meant to be managers - they were stuck in management positions because people aren't fired, just shuffled around. This ends up showing in the lack of leadership.
My suggestions are to find colleagues, both in your own agency and other agencies, that inspire you. Make them your allies, use them to vent. The other suggestion is to never stay in a position too long. If you can't find higher positions, take a lateral or two. Learn new skills, surround yourself with new people.
Now, all agencies/groups are not as dysfunctional as mine was, and I did have a few great managers along the way who truly cared about their employees and the mission of the agency. If you find yours is particularly bad, start looking around for new positions, once you've put in enough years. I also agree with arnicae about the union.
posted by umwhat at 4:30 PM on June 8, 2017 [5 favorites]
Forget doing more with less, demonstrate how you can manage to keep entire appendages from falling off your agency.
I should add - no one expects you to do this alone. One of the things that is tough for me is when people come to me right now and say "There used to be three people who did Program X and now I'm the only one that does Congressionally-mandated Program X! It is impossible for Program X to be administered with just one person, so no progress will occur!"
My outlook right now is that I will not be able to staff up Program X with an additional two people at any time in the near future. What I need for my lone remaining Project Xer is to try to keep the lights on (even if they're flickering) and the wheels rolling (even if they're only going 1/5 as fast as they did two years ago).
So, ideally - come to management with problems you've identified and tell me how you'd like to resolve it (ideally with the resolution not be "Magically get two more staffers") and that will make you one of my favorite people.
posted by arnicae at 4:32 PM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
I should add - no one expects you to do this alone. One of the things that is tough for me is when people come to me right now and say "There used to be three people who did Program X and now I'm the only one that does Congressionally-mandated Program X! It is impossible for Program X to be administered with just one person, so no progress will occur!"
My outlook right now is that I will not be able to staff up Program X with an additional two people at any time in the near future. What I need for my lone remaining Project Xer is to try to keep the lights on (even if they're flickering) and the wheels rolling (even if they're only going 1/5 as fast as they did two years ago).
So, ideally - come to management with problems you've identified and tell me how you'd like to resolve it (ideally with the resolution not be "Magically get two more staffers") and that will make you one of my favorite people.
posted by arnicae at 4:32 PM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I worked in government (federal, state, local) most of my life. For me, the most important thing is that my jobs were never about maximizing profits, figuring out ways to sell something to people that they didn't really need, evading regulations, or any of the many ways that private sector jobs can be soul-stealing.
Government agencies HELP people, even if it's something as indirect as collecting taxes or printing money or issuing bonds, or unpleasant things like arresting people. That's because the purpose of government is to do things that the private sector can't and/or won't, things that are important - protecting citizens, helping those who are less fortunate, funding basic research, building and maintaining infrastructure, and so on.
So, IMHO, the first step in avoiding the mindset of cynicism and doom is to always keep in mind what you organization is accomplishing, inefficiently or not.
A second step is to understand that public sector incentives. In the private sector, increasing revenues or decreasing costs gets rewarded. Neither of those may be particularly important - it depends on your boss, and his/her boss, and probably even higher up. Find out what's important to your boss; find out what your customers value and would like. Otherwise, you're going to do what seems important to you, and you may get a lot of push-back.
A third step is think about skills and knowledge. Knowledge will presumably come with time; skills you have to work at. Get a good sense of whether there is any money for training (it shouldn't be that expensive), if there are hard skills that are or could be part of your job. And when you stop learning - the job starts getting routine - then look for new opportunities, even if it's a lateral transfer.
posted by WestCoaster at 8:16 PM on June 8, 2017 [4 favorites]
Government agencies HELP people, even if it's something as indirect as collecting taxes or printing money or issuing bonds, or unpleasant things like arresting people. That's because the purpose of government is to do things that the private sector can't and/or won't, things that are important - protecting citizens, helping those who are less fortunate, funding basic research, building and maintaining infrastructure, and so on.
So, IMHO, the first step in avoiding the mindset of cynicism and doom is to always keep in mind what you organization is accomplishing, inefficiently or not.
A second step is to understand that public sector incentives. In the private sector, increasing revenues or decreasing costs gets rewarded. Neither of those may be particularly important - it depends on your boss, and his/her boss, and probably even higher up. Find out what's important to your boss; find out what your customers value and would like. Otherwise, you're going to do what seems important to you, and you may get a lot of push-back.
A third step is think about skills and knowledge. Knowledge will presumably come with time; skills you have to work at. Get a good sense of whether there is any money for training (it shouldn't be that expensive), if there are hard skills that are or could be part of your job. And when you stop learning - the job starts getting routine - then look for new opportunities, even if it's a lateral transfer.
posted by WestCoaster at 8:16 PM on June 8, 2017 [4 favorites]
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It really depends on which agency you're in-agency culture is. Also, if you're not civilian DOD or DHS, it is entirely likely that your agency will be facing a reduction in force (RIF) in FY19 if not FY18 (which starts October 1 2017).
I encourage you to start thinking now about how to survive quite literally as well as keeping your morale up. To that end, I would start by identifying how, in the past, your agency has engaged in the RIF process. Do people get RIFd by SCD (service compution date, your first day of federal service which may include military or Peace Corps service in addition to civilian government service)? If so, survival may include starting to think about where in the private sector you want to land.
If the RIFs are not by SCD, I would start thinking about how you can make yourself as essential as possible in your agency. Don't worry about becoming very good at the work you're doing immediately - just do your best. Trying to keep forward momentum while surrounded by cynical, grumpy colleagues can be the toughest part of work (I suspect just as much as me as for you). Maintaining a positive attitude is vastly appreciated by management, and can be just as infectious as the cynical attitudes can be. Forget doing more with less, demonstrate how you can manage to keep entire appendages from falling off your agency.
Join the union, but even if you don't join the union, you're likely entitled to representation (check your position description, and ask your manager - if they say you're not, check with your central HQ, as you put it). Ask around to identify who your local union steward is and take a while to read the master agreement. Make sure you understand it, ask questions if you don't.
posted by arnicae at 4:06 PM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]