According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Government is the largest employer in the United States. There are over 1.8 million people employed by the Federal Government. Being the Nation's Capitol, the Washington DC area has a concentrated amount of these employees. It 2007, it was estimated that about 284,000 federal employees worked in the DC area.
On July 20th, Mr. John Berry, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, was the keynote speaker at the Excellence in Government Conference. Mr. Berry, who was unanimously confirmed to his new position on April 13th, recognized the need for the federal government to improve its people policies that affect its employees.
To do this, Mr. Berry indicated that the Federal Government needed to assist federal employees in managing their work life balance. Some of the policies that need improvement are:
- Working environments
- Flexible work schedules
- Respecting and understanding the personal demands that federal employees juggle
- Assisting federal employees with living healthy lifestyles
In addition, Mr. Berry also indicated that the Federal Government needed to improve its recruitment, retention and work appraisal policies and processes. All of which also have an impact on the quality of work life of federal employees.
Mr. Berry's keynote address conveyed his desire and vision to change the perception of how the Federal Government takes care of its employees. He stated that, "The Federal Government will be America's model employer for the 21st century." Now the real work begins. As a current federal employee, I am very interested to see how and when changes will be developed and implemented.
You can find the entire transcript of Mr. Berry's keynote address at the Washington Post.
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