The Office of Personnel Management recently unveiled a new Presidential Management Fellows website as part of its efforts to reinvigorate the program. The new website, PMF.gov, is definitely an improvement over the old one and includes more streamlined information on the program, how to apply, alumni profiles and training opportunities.
In August, OPM announced it would be creating "power packs," or small teams of management fellows, to work on projects as part of an effort to overhaul the PMF program. The teams were directed to work on projects for up to four months that focused on increasing outreach to broaden the PMF applicant pool, revamping future PMF orientations, developing a process to match PMF finalists to jobs, reenergizing the PMF alumni program, and planning and executing assessment center interviews.
Many experts have criticized the PMF program as having an impersonal application process and not doing enough to retain top talent in government. Is the new PMF.gov a positive first step in improving the program? Does the new website lack the interactivity (i.e. ability to push content on Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to attract the younger generation? And what is the PMF program still lacking?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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