Voices: Brittany Ballenstedt

Brittany Ballenstedt

Blogger

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.

Results 1571-1580 of 1633

from govexec

NASA chief asks lawmakers for more workforce flexibilities

April 10, 2007 The head of NASA is calling on lawmakers to give the agency the flexibility to offer workers financial incentives to move from permanent to temporary civil service positions. In a March 28 letter, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin asked Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, ...

from govexec

TSP board awards contract for forms processing

April 9, 2007 The board that oversees the federal employee Thrift Savings Plan has awarded a $16 million contract to help with forms processing and other work. Under the agreement, SI International of Reston, Va., also will support imaging and data entry for applications and forms for the 401(k)-style retirement plan. The contract ...

from govexec

Intelligence agency employees praise 'performance culture'

April 6, 2007 The intelligence community has a culture encouraging high-quality work, but needs to improve the way it deals with poor performers, according to a new survey by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Fifty-eight percent of employees responding to the office's 2006 Intelligence Community Employee Climate Survey gave their ...

from govexec

Diplomatic, intelligence agencies win praise for recruiting

April 5, 2007 The intelligence and diplomatic communities are effectively recruiting the highly skilled employees they need, a high-ranking State Department official said Thursday. The end of the Cold War resulted in a dramatic decline in employment at national security agencies, presenting a major challenge, said Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. "That, ...

from govexec

OPM seeks input on proposed nuclear security pay system

April 4, 2007 A large group of employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration can expect to come under a trial pay-for-performance system beginning in January 2008, officials said at a public hearing Wednesday. The demonstration project will encompass more than 2,000 employees across every major headquarters and field organization of NNSA, which ...

from govexec

Management fellows seek agency assignments

April 4, 2007 The head of the Office of Personnel Management addressed hundreds of young people Wednesday in an event designed to recruit and retain talented public servants. In a speech before graduate students selected as finalists for the Presidential Management Fellows program, OPM Director Linda Springer cited a need to recruit and ...

from govexec

NASA urged to align internal, external workforces

April 3, 2007 NASA must better align its civil service and contractor workforce to accomplish new missions and expand space exploration efforts, according to a new report from the National Academy of Public Administration. "NASA must continue to find ways to balance its multisector workforce and restructure its existing civil service component to ...

from govexec

March a solid month for TSP returns

April 2, 2007 The three riskiest funds in the Thrift Savings Plan posted the greatest gains for March, while one of the more conservative funds had no movement and the other made just small gains. The I Fund, which invests in international stocks, grew the most, at 2.57 percent. March's growth brings the ...

from govexec

Union seeks to halt funding for DHS personnel system

April 2, 2007 A major federal labor union is calling on Congress to curb fiscal 2008 funding for a controversial personnel system at the Homeland Security Department. In testimony submitted to the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley urged lawmakers to prohibit DHS from spending any money ...

from govexec

Senator reintroduces pay for performance measure

March 30, 2007 A bill reintroduced Thursday in the Senate aims to alter the implementation of pay-for-performance systems across the government. Instead of linking pay raises directly to performance appraisals as championed by the Bush administration, the bill (S. 1045) would deny annual raises and within-grade increases to employees who do not meet ...