BBG Watch

Federal employees who are members of American Federation of Government Employees AFGE Local 1812 union, which represents those who work for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), have given a failing grade to new top leaders, BBG CEO and Director John Lansing and Voice of America (VOA) Director Amanda Bennett.

In an article published on the AFGE Local 1812 website, the union wrote:

AFGE LOCAL 1812: “The Broadcasting Board of Governors, another regular bottom-feeder that oversees the Voice of America and other government broadcasters, also scored 56. But unlike DHS, BBG is going backward.”
 
That quote is from Washington Post federal affairs writer, Joe Davidson’s September 20, 2016 article. The story focused on the Department of Homeland Security and that agency’s results in the latest OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). Yet, it seems that the BBG’s reputation is so bad that Mr. Davidson couldn’t help but take a swipe and add a sentence or two about it.
 
[Link to the Washington Post column.]
 
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One might have thought that with new Directors, the Voice of America (VOA) and the BBG would pull better, not worse, responses. Why the dismal numbers?
 
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What happened subsequently was a classic example of the “business as usual” modus operandi. It didn’t take long for the entrenched bureaucracy to swoop in and isolate the new Directors and reaffirm its stranglehold on the Agency. Bureaucrats are renowned experts in sidelining new political appointees and their minions and convincing them to allow “those that know how” to run things and allow the appointees to “concentrate on more important things.” Today, when employees look at the top of the present bureaucratic Valhalla, they see many of the same old tired faces, the same stifling policies, the same hostile workplace, the same resistance to doing things a bit differently. Day after day, in what used to be one of the most challenging and exciting places to work in the federal government, rank-and-file employees trudge in, determined to do the best they can in spite of the dreary, out-of-touch management who seem to be eternally busy at their computers writing endless memos about how great the Agency is while in reality, the OPM Employee Viewpoint Survey tells quite a different story.
 
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Following the example of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company which met with its front-line people when it was facing bankruptcy to find out what went wrong, maybe it’s time for less of the top-down management style in our Agency and more of the “from the bottom-up” open and frank and direct conversations with the rank-and-file without the filter of the entrenched bureaucracy. As the woeful recipients of the “bottom feeder” and “worst place to work in the federal government” monikers, what do the new Directors have to lose.
 

READ MORE: Another F for a Bottom Feeder Agency, American Federation of Government Employees, AFGE Local 1812, October 2016.

 

BBG Watch Commentary

While the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) was also part of the federal survey, the union noted earlier than OCB appears to be much better managed than the entire agency and VOA. Strictly speaking, the failing grade came from the employees, not from the union, but the assessment is obvious.

The agency’s new top leader, John F. Lansing, has no prior experience in government operations, international affairs, intercultural communications, U.S. foreign policy, or U.S. public diplomacy. While Lansing was a successful manager in the private entertainment TV industry, he does not know how to lead and communicate with Voice of America journalists. His recent email to staff, in which he tried to put a spin on the dismal 2016 OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results for his agency, made some of them quite angry. One VOA reporter who does not want to be identified by name, commented:

VOA REPORTER: “We are all adults there and do not fall for his explanation of FEVS. We are very capable to read it correctly.
 
‘We are improving’ ???? You must be kidding, Mr. CEO!”
 

READ MORE: CEO Lansing explains for BBG employees their FEVS answers, BBG Watch, October 7, 2016.

 

 
VOA’s new director Amanda Bennett is a Pulitzer-winning journalist, but she has no prior experience in leading a large public media organization with an international focus and no prior experience in dealing with special interest groups within ethnic communities in the United States and abroad.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which conducts the government-wide survey of employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and employee assessment of their supervisors and top agency leaders, reported correctly that while BBG employees were slightly more satisfied in 2016 than in 2015 with some of their work conditions, they were definitely not more satisfied with John Lansing and other senior leaders and their ability to engage with staff.

In the all important Employee Engagement category, BBG lost two points. The survey was conducted from May 3, 2016 to June 14, 2016, eight months into John Lansing’s tenure at the agency.

In the Engagement Index Tend – Leaders Lead, the Broadcasting Board of Governors lost one point from 2015 to 2016. This seems to be a commentary largely on John Lansing since the survey shows that BBG employees have a far more positive view of their supervisors than of their senior leaders.

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BBG CEO John Lansing’s Perspective