think bigger. A LOT bigger.
This plan is better than anything before it. As I look at it, it is just not big enough. Where is the project to create a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, of inspiring stories of people who overcame great odds to accomplish something great, in subsidized housing? People in subsidized housing are either ignored or demonized. Where is the plan to develop a simple course of training- using different modules according to need- to take someone with a 3r grade reading level, to being an entrepreneur? Pandora Patton was doing this kind of work all by herself, 14 years ago, in 3rd world countries with a lot fewer resources than this country has. The Mennonites do this kind of work, overseas. Where is the plan to take the VITA handbooks, and adapt the technology to American needs? Where is the detailed plan to invite public input, and develop the best web resources in the world? With all due respect, we live in AMERICA. America is the most creative country in the world. We need a Strat Plan to grow into. Mr. Sims, you want wow level service- we need a wow level strat plan. It needs to be a whole lot bigger than it is. Where is the plan to invite people like Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, and many others, to come up with ideas to help people transition out of subsidized housing into self-sufficiency? HUD has a unique position- it is the crossroads of many, many organizations that don't know about each other. Where is the detailed plan to have web-based networking? In the past, HUD's forums were so hard to use nobody used them. This forum broke that barrier. Mr. SIms, we need the equivalent of the speech the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave in DC, the "I have a dream" speech. We need an inspiring vision, in this plan. We need a plan that doesn't just speak to the head, we need a plan that speaks to the hearts of every citizen, that sets them on fire with the possibilities, and desire to do something for their community, now. You guys talk big. Good. Let's see a BIG strat plan. We need to shoot for the stars.
J Yablonski
shared this idea
7 comments
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AFGE
commented
Private-sector researchers have recently uncovered a way to improve employee satisfaction that's within managers' control
By John M. KamenskyJan 21, 2010
In May 2009, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag put agencies on notice. Job satisfaction, he said, “needs to be built into the way we run government.” He made his comment at the Partnership for Public Service ceremony announcing agency rankings in the annual Best Places to Work survey. He followed through by including employee survey data and agencies’ efforts to improve their ratings in his agency-by-agency reviews for the fiscal 2011 budget cycle.As a result, agency managers have been scrambling to figure out ways to improve employee satisfaction. Private-sector researchers have recently uncovered an approach that seems to work. Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, in a recent Harvard Business Review article called “What Really Motivates Workers,” tell managers: “The key to motivation turns out to be largely within your control.”
Their advice? “Scrupulously avoid impeding progress.”
Amabile and Kramer surveyed more than 600 managers and then conducted a multiyear study of hundreds of knowledge workers, asking them to keep daily diaries to discover the top motivator of performance. Not surprisingly, managers and workers came to different conclusions.
Managers were asked to rank the impact of five workplace factors commonly considered significant motivators: recognition, incentives, interpersonal support, support for making progress and clear goals. “Recognition for good work” topped their list.
However, the recognition factor was ranked dead last by workers. The researchers found that workers ranked “support for making progress” as their No. 1 motivator. “On days when workers have the sense they’re making headway in their jobs...their emotions are most positive and their drive to succeed is at its peak.” However, “on days when they feel they are spinning their wheels or encountering roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment, their moods and motivation are lowest.”
In a close analysis of thousands of diary entries, Amabile and Kramer found that “making progress” was linked to 76 percent of employees’ reported “best days.”
What are the implications of those findings? Managers have a lot more control over motivating employees than they might have thought. “Create a culture of helpfulness.... Roll up your sleeves and pitch in,” the authors wrote. “Provide meaningful goals, resources and encouragement, and ... protect [your] people from irrelevant demands.” They conclude by saying, “Recognition can’t happen every day. You can, however, see that progress happens every day.”
Does that approach really work? Think about your best bosses. Weren’t they the ones who made it their goal to deal with the bureaucracy and irrelevant demands so you could deal with the work? Wasn’t it a great feeling to make real progress because your boss had cleared the way? Great leaders seem to understand that intuitively. For example, Gen. Colin Powell often said his job wasn’t only to clarify overall goals but also to sweat the small stuff so his staff could focus on the big problems.
It’s a new year. Try this shift in management emphasis. Ask your employees what gets in their way of making progress and try to do something about it. After a few weeks, take some time to see if your efforts have made a difference.
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Jordan
commented
HUD is tied for last…..
Annual rankings of federal workplaces
Washington Post
Wednesday, September 1, 2010; 12:17 AM
It's something every worker can relate to: Your office isn't meeting its goals, customers aren't happy, there's turmoil at the top - and morale is plummeting.
It happens in the federal government, too, where agencies facing intense public scrutiny, shifting priorities and unstable leadership can see nose dives in worker satisfaction. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission, a critical player in this battered economy, and the Office of Management and Budget, the agency responsible for implementing President Obama's government reforms - hit the skids in the fifth "Best Places to Work" rankings, a closely watched report of federal employees.
The rankings account for the perceptions of more than 263,000 workers at 290 federal organizations. It is compiled by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan think tank devoted to promoting public sector careers, and American University's School of Public Affairs.
***The primary factor in job satisfaction, however, remains effective leadership from senior agency bosses***, the survey concluded. Over the years, senior leadership has scored low in the survey, and the Obama administration is no exception.
***The Department of Housing and Urban Development*** and National Archives and Records Administration ****tied for last among large agencies***.
The survey gave several examples of how an agency's leadership can affect results. The Federal Labor Relations Authority, stagnant during George W. Bush's administration, saw its scores more than double thanks to strong reviews for agency leadership. It earned the biggest year-to-year jump among small agencies.
Scores on the survey's 100-point scale ranged from an 81.8 for NRC to a 57.1 for HUD and the National Archives. The survey is emerging as an important management tool for agencies looking to spot trouble areas, said Partnership President Max Stier.
"Particularly in an environment like the government, where you don't have profit and loss statements and stock prices, this information becomes even more important," Stier said.
The partnership (which maintains a content-sharing arrangement with The Washington Post) compiled the rankings using data from the Office of Personnel Management's Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Agencies not part of OPM's survey asked workers to complete similar questionnaires.
To review the full rankings please visit www.BestPlacestoWork.org. -
Magdalena V
commented
is need help the peple more so can find job keep job buy the house put the childr in the schol
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Dave
commented
Creative Community Builder's Handbook: How to Transform Communities Using Local Assets, Arts, and Culture [book]
HUD is not apparently including arts in its community development strategy. This is unfortunate, as there is lots of evidence that this is critical to CD success. Previous HUD publications on CD have at least given lip service to the arts; this needs to get good emphasis, in the Strat Plan.
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Janice J
commented
We need something very inspiring. A Chicken SOup for the Soul book about how people got out of the projects, into self-sufficiency, is a good idea. The first CHicken Soup for the Soul book had at least 3 stories that would work.
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"HUD Ideas in Action was created to strengthen the voice of employees and stakeholders throughout the Department. Deputy Secretary Sims reiterated that message in an email on December 18, 2009, where he said, “HUD Ideas in Action is meant to be an open forum where employees can contribute ideas without going through the usual chains of command. It has come to my attention that some employees would like to contribute to the site but were directed to run their ideas through a supervisor or told not to participate. For this to truly be an open forum, these restrictions must be removed. If you have additional questions or concerns about posting to the site, please email transformation@hud.gov.”
If you have been discouraged from posting to HUD Ideas in Action, we encourage you to email us so that the problem can be addressed."
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Joao de Dios
commented
J, I applaud your energy. Change your name, though, do not use your real name. You will be harassed in ways you don't yet know. It's not what they can do to you, it's what they can not do for you, like promote you timely, give you good EPPES ratings, training, and the whole nine yards. Management hates people who put out stuff like this- be smart- do not use your real name. If it's a serious problem, set yourself up with a gmail account at the public library, and complain to the hotline. The hotline seems to lose more complaints than it acts on, but at least they do occasionally actually do something. Please, J, CHANGE YOUR NAME before your chain of command sees it here, ok? We need your energy, but you have to be stealthy about it, and make sure you are not seen when you do your good works. That's what the oldtimers do, and they do it because it works.
