Virginia Blaser, former senior Department of State official, walks feds through her tips for managing the performance appraisal cycle. She literally wrote the book on questions to ask employees throughout the year to help them develop and achieve their goals. You can find it here.

Watch the video of our conversation here.

Working with folks 20 years older, 20 years younger and all ages in between? Dr. Russell Robinson of American University's Key Executive Leadership Program and Amplified Research  

talks about working with SO MANY different generations of folks. Listen to Russ' wisdom and how you can learn more at Key.

Robyn Kehoe, executive director for the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund joined me on the podcast to discuss how FEEA supports federal employees in need of disaster relief assistance. FEEA provides small grants to feds who need immediate cash infusions to get shelter, beds, clthing, etc. Get more dteails about applying and donating here:

https://feea.org/our-programs/disaster-relief/

Robyn also covers the other great services FEEA offers including tutoring for children of feds and scholarships for feds and their families.

Meet Sean Michael Newhouse. He's a reporter for GovExec and put out videos recently about the Hatch Act that are far more entertaining than our normal annual training. You can catch that content here. In this episode, he explains the basics of the Hatch Act and what it's like working for GovExec.

Learn more about his GovExec work at this link. And here's his latest story.

On September 11, 2024, Jackie Garrick and team will host the Workplace Promise Instittute. Jackie founded Whistleblowers of America, nonprofit organization assisting whistleblowers who have suffered retaliation after having identified harm to individuals or the public. Her experience as a federal employee led her to create a network of support for whistleblowers. The conference on the 11th will explore legal protections, resources available to whistleblowers and a chance to network with people who have been through the process.

Learn more about WOA here.

Register for the conference at this link.

Meet Kris Saling. a leader in the Army's recruiting command and analytics guru. She joined me on the podcast to talk about her new book, Data-Driven Talent Management and federal agencies and deparmtents can leverage better tools and processes to improve employee experience. She combines HR and data savvy to yield results.

Get the book at this link.

Here's what the listing on Amazion says about Kris new book:

Data-Driven Talent Management is a practical guide for HR professionals which answers these questions. It outlines effective data collection and analysis methods as well as showing how to develop metrics and key performance indicators to support employee experience. It also provides guidance on how to build a comprehensive talent database by understanding different employee experiences, attributes, skills and journeys. In addition, there is also essential advice on how to leverage data to improve motivation and employee engagement, use data to assess different thought and work styles in the workforce and use the results to build a diverse and inclusive organization that allows all employees and the business to thrive. Full of tools, tips and frameworks and written by a professional who is implementing a data-driven approach to talent management for the US Army, the world's largest employer, this is essential reading for all mid-level and senior HR practitioners.

https://iabpia.org

I love connecting listeners with professional organizations literally made for them! Enter Black Professionals in International Affairs! President Alexandria Maloney discusses membership, upcoming events, mission and how you can get involved in this episode. 

BPIA upcoming events: https://iabpia.org/events

Alexandria Maloney's site: https://www.alexandriamaloney.com/

https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-pregnant-workers-fairness-act

Have you heard about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act? Congress passed it in 2023, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission just published a final regulation in June of this year. 

Deborah Hopkins, attorney and president of the Federal Employment Law Training Group, joined me on the podcast to discuss what you need to know as a pregnant employee and as a supervisor. This law changes the way you should think about reasonable accomodation when it comes to pregnancy. If you want to learn more, head to https://feltg.com/webinar-training/ to learn more about additional training FELTG offers on this and other topics. 

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FedUpward Merch is here! Click the linik below to see all the goodies.

https://www.fedupwardcoaching.com/fedupward-merch

Joined the FedUpward email list? Click here now!

Raymond Limon, vice chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MPSB) joined me on the show to discuss what the MPSB is, what it does and why it matters. If you havent' taken training on this recently, tune in for a refresher.

He also surprised me  by administering the oath of office as a way to celebrate my new federal job! 

https://www.mspb.gov/

If you need a refresher on the merit systems principles and prohibited practices:

Find merit systems principles here.

Find prohibited practices here.

And if you REALLY want to dig in, check out Biography of an Ideal: the Hstory of the Federal Civil Serivce.

https://dml.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/OPM-Biography-of-an-Ideal-History-of-Civil-Service-2003.pdf

Lindy Kyzer of Clearance Jobs joined me on the podcast to talk about the current state of the job market for clearance holders and what CJ has to offer. Join us at the Clearance Jobs Connect 2024 event on October 3rd. Listen for details and click below to register now!

 https://about.clearancejobs.com/employers/events/clearancejobs-connect-2024

Govvies can take $100 off the ticket price by using this code at registration:  GOVSQUIRREL

Lindy and I discussed topics that come up often on the CJ site, and here's one you might want to take a look at:

https://www.clearancejobsblog.com/two-illegal-drug-use-cases-one-clearance-granted-and-one-not/