GovExec Daily

Data presented at a meeting of the Federal Salary Council in November Indicates that the gap between the wages of federal employees and their private sector counterparts is once again widening. With this as a backdrop, it's easy to wonder what, if not pay, keeps public servants in their jobs.

Dr. Gordon Abner is an assistant professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He has a post on our site headlined "What Keeps Public Employees In Their Jobs? It's Not Just Pay" based on his research in a soon-to-be-published paper titled What makes public employees want to leave their job? A meta-analysis of turnover intention predictors among public sector employees.

As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to talk about his research and what public servants value in their work.

The federal government, through a variety of grants, purchases and other avenues, spends trillions of dollars each year. Oversight of that spending can be spotty, whether from agencies themselves, from oversight bodies like inspector general offices or from Congress.

The Project on Government Oversight recently posted a report outlining 13 issues that policymakers can tackle to increase efficacy and oversight in government. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette is a Government Affairs Manager at the Project on Government Oversight and one of the authors of the report. He joined the podcast to discuss government oversight.

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The digital revolution of the last few decades has moved and evolved at a pace unseen. As such, the workforce has had to evolve with the pace of tech. Many hiring managers need to find candidates with specific digital skills that may not be available.

Jeff Campbell is Senior Vice President & Chief Government Strategy Officer for Government Affairs and Public Policy at Cisco. He joined the podcast to discuss the digital skills shortage in the U.S.

President Joe Biden gave his Second State of the Union address on Tuesday night, touting his economic record as president, proposing programs supporting veterans and mental health and declaring that "Today, COVID no longer controls our lives."

On Tuesday night after the speech, GovExec Daily recorded live with GovExec reporter Courtney Bublé, GovExec Daily's Adam Butler and GovExec editor at large Tom Shoop to discuss Biden's address.

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Wait times for government customer service is an issue nearly all Americans can relate to. The Biden administration has made improving the customer experience a part of its agenda, so using new technologies like artificial intelligence can be part of the solution.

James Isaacs is President of Cyara, a customer service assurance platform. He joined the podcast to discuss how government can use artificial intelligence to improve customer service.

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Millions of federal employees, military members and retirees are enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan. This past June, the TSP moved to the new recordkeeper vendor Accenture, touting better security and functionality for these users. Those same users reported many problems with the recordkeeper transition, including excessive customer service wait times and issues with usability. While there have been improvements, the transition was a slog and there are still outstanding issues.

Abraham Grungold is a financial professional as the owner of AG Financial Services, a longtime federal employee and a member of the exclusive TSP millionaires club. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to talk about the TSP site transition and where things stand now.

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Not every work situation is perfect, for sure, but there is a lot that we can do to improve our own situations. Toxic managers and toxic systems can affect employees negatively and make the work experience far worse. There are tactics and strategies, however, that people can use to improve their own experiences, even in bad situations at work.

Dr. Richard Orbé-Austin is one of the authors of the workbook Your Unstoppable Greatness: Break Free from Impostor Syndrome, Cultivate Your Agency, and Achieve Your Ultimate Career Goals, released in December. He joined the podcast to discuss the book and how people can better manage their careers and aspirations.

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During a conference last week in Texas, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, said in her remarks that over-classification is a problem that "undermines critical democratic objectives." Her comments come as two special counsels have been assigned by the Justice Department to examine the mishandling of classified documents by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

GovExec reporter Courtney Bublé is covering the classification story and Haines' comments regarding classification. She joined the podcast to talk about document management.

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The federal government is expecting to run up against a default on its debt as soon as this spring, as Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress in January. While Congress has not yet raised the debt limit, as has been customary, some federal employees are understandably asking how this situation might affect their pay and benefits.

Eric Katz is covering the debt ceiling story. He joined the podcast to talk about the negotiations and how the debt limit will affect federal employees.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted much of the government workforce to a remote work reality over the last few years. Agency officials need to learn how to balance remote work in whatever constitutes the new normal that the U.S. work culture is settling into. Workers love working remotely, so how can that be leveraged for human capital strategy?

Bob Westbrooks is the former Executive Director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, an independent committee within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. He has experience as the Deputy IG at the Small Business Administration and is the author of the GovExec post headlined "Remote Work: Transitioning from a Social Distancing Measure to a Human Capital Strategy." He joined the podcast to talk about his post and remote work.

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