This is based entirely on personal experience so please excuse the lack of citation; it is meant to provoke thoughtful discussion.
How can a government agency be expected to function at its greatest efficiency if by decreasing its operating costs it has an end-of-year surplus that must be returned and will next year be taken out of the operating budget? Further if we increase efficiency of operations, as a business should over time, we would decrease our need for full time employees (FTE) there by risking the entire rank structure and life blood of the agency. For example an SES must control X million budget and X FTE to maintain their SES rank; to increase that rank requires they grow their agency or assume a position with another agency. Further, for personnel, there is little reward for outstanding performance or even motivation to perform at the most basic of standards as it is nearly impossible to fire me and often difficult to get a pay raise.
What I am getting at is the system is broken and poor practices are rewarded at almost every step of the way. We, the American Government, are a multi-billion dollar business and it seems there is little that can be done to modify such a large machine to operate more efficiently which results in higher taxes and lower outcomes. How can we leverage better business practices to increase our effectiveness without limiting our long term resources?
I am open to ideas, any thoughts?
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