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There
was a time when employers could dictate working conditions and tell
employees, “Take it or leave it.” Fortunately, most organizations have
evolved beyond that hierarchical, top-down management style and have
come to realize that good people are essential. They understand that,
in this age of globalism and competition, the best and brightest are
looking for challenges and a work environment where they are trusted
and heard.
In some ways, the federal government is still stuck in a bygone era.
The most recent example of that is NASA’s response to employees’ concerns about Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12.
A growing number of federal workers are uncomfortable with HSPD-12’s
background-check provisions. In July, Federal Computer Week reported on
those concerns, particularly about privacy issues. They have become
grave enough that a group of scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory recently filed a lawsuit seeking to block NASA’s adoption of
HSPD-12.
To their credit, NASA officials have been discussing the issues with
employees, and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin met with JPL
employees June 4 to try to address their concerns. All those efforts,
however, are for naught because NASA has essentially told employees
that they must submit to the HSPD-12 background checks — or leave.
A NASA spokesman told FCW that the directive gives the agency no other
option. Griffin was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying that NASA
doesn’t have a choice in the matter. “We will miss those folks” who do
not comply with the order, he said. “That is their choice.”
We believe that the HSPD-12 cards will prove to be an enabling
technology that will create opportunities well into the future. They
will also boost agency security.
But whenever security and privacy issues crop up, there is a need for
balance — and that balance must constantly be reassessed. Most
employees were not involved in discussions about the HSPD-12
provisions, but their voices must be heard.
The government needs dedicated, talented people — particularly now.
Feds are already underpaid and underappreciated. On top of that, NASA
has employees with unique skills that cannot be easily replaced. To
subject them to another mandate and say, “Take it or leave it,” seems
shortsighted and unnecessarily draconian.
FCW@20 20 years of marvels and missteps
After 20 years of reporting on the next big thing in technology, FCW
looks back on what we said with a certain amount of 20/20 hindsight.
Op-Ed Welles: Are you a show-off?
You should be. It means you’re giving work your best shot and playing at the top of your game, an author says
