Shout Out: A Day in the Life Sunday

I took a few days away from my regularly scheduled programming at the office to attend the Federal Workplace Conference and Expo. 

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The Federal Workplace Conference is becoming one of my favorite federal conferences. The topics are relevant, the presenters experts and session after session, the labor relations/employee relations ​monster in me was satisfied with expert opinions and current case law updates. 

Knowing that technical expertise alone is not going to get us to where we need to go in facing the challenges of declining budgets, increasing workloads, an aging workforce and outdated or inadequate human resources systems and policies*, a human capital management (HCM) track was added to the sessions. I had the opportunity to work with Dan Gephart​, Editorial Director, LRP Publications/ cyberFEDS® in developing the HCM track.

As a speaker and attendee, I can say that the planning and execution of this conference was first class. I'd like to thank Dan, his team and LRP Publications for producing the event and for the opportunity to participate.

* Bracing for Change: Chief human capital officers rethink business as usual

Trust and HR

The workplace today is more challenging than ever before. Leaders determined to address these challenges must first assess reality.​ And that includes looking in the mirror.

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In Bracing for Change, a report from the Partnership for Public Service, federal human capital leaders were surveyed about talent management challenges facing their organizations. Each chief human capital officer (CHCO) was asked about the issues they faced. Lack of key HR competencies made the list.

When asked how agency leadership viewed it’s HR staff, 42% of the chief human capital officers (CHCO) surveyed said they and their staff were viewed as a trusted business advisor to a “great” or “very great” extent – down from two years ago (46%). However, 25 % said “not at all” or “to a limited extent,” up 8 percentage points from 2 years ago, a significant shift. The percentage of CHCOs who said leadership viewed them as a trusted advisor to a “moderate extent” (33%) was down 3 percentage points over that same period.

That's alarming.​ And it's real.

We live in a world where the end justifies the means: professionals overstate accomplishments, students inflate GPAs or fabricate degrees, employees use sick leave when they are not really sick and human resource leaders are not immune.

Before you say, "not me," know that it is the collective all of us. What have you observed leaders do that jeopardize trust? What are you going to do today to restore trust in your organization?​