Markus Mannheim
Markus Mannheim edits The Public Sector Informant and writes regularly about government administration and policy.
Public service hitting jackpot before retiring
Markus Mannheim Thousands of federal public servants who received redundancy packages in recent years were close to retiring but held out for a final, taxpayer-funded bonus.
Markus Mannheim
Immigration's young talent drowning in a sea of finger-pointing
Markus Mannheim When divvying out the loot of political office, the immigration portfolio is known widely as the ''shit sandwich''.
Review slams migration bosses
Markus Mannheim The crisis-ridden Immigration Department is poorly managed, its workers mistrust each other and its executives' financial illiteracy poses serious risks, an independent review has warned.
Markus Mannheim
Senior execs earn pay increase
Markus Mannheim Many of us choose lower-paid jobs because we like the work. Others eschew a higher salary because they don't want the responsibility.
Markus Mannheim
The merit in measuring smiles
Markus Mannheim ''Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence,'' Aristotle wrote.
Markus Mannheim
Cheers to the end of days
Markus Mannheim How many times must words like ''urgent'' and ''catastrophic'' be thrown around before it's realised that people just don't care?
The art of giving feedback, and copping it
Markus Mannheim The manager who waits too long to share his or her views with staff - especially as long as the next annual performance review - is not managing at all.
All this talk of money muddies the school debate
Markus Mannheim What a terrible shame the education debate ever came to this, where parents feel the need to justify choosing their children's school on the basis of government fiscal policy.
Not even broadband speeds up government
Markus Mannheim We all know the wheels of government turn slowly. What's surprising is just how slowly - even when they're supposedly travelling at the speed of broadband internet.
Turn on the tap to fix the leak
Markus Mannheim A report appeared in the press this week that seemed, to some, to have been ''leaked'' via the federal Treasury.
Minister halted report: claim
Markus Mannheim Former Commonwealth ombudsman Allan Asher has accused Labor Special Minister of State Gary Gray of suppressing the annual report he wrote during his last weeks in the job.
A good ref can't sit in the stands
Markus Mannheim A good manager will be acutely aware of the physical office that confines them, keeping them distant from the staff they need to know.
Markus Mannheim
Rewards for duds or good planning?
Markus Mannheim The Canberra Times reported this week that some government agencies are loath to hire retrenched public servants because "they regard them as duds whom their previous workplaces rejected".
We are blind to our fortune
Markus Mannheim Canberrans probably believe the cost of living is outpacing their ability to keep up. But, over the 11 years Labor has governed this city, we've become much wealthier.
Wong to cut $550m but vows to leave jobs untouched
Peter Martin, Markus Mannheim EXPERTS have expressed deep scepticism about the pledge by the Finance Minister, Penny Wong, yesterday to take an extra half a billion dollars from the public service without touching jobs.
Wong unveils more cuts
Markus Mannheim The federal bureaucracy is set to tighten its belt even further as a result of extra spending cuts outlined this morning.
Let our govt staff wander
Markus Mannheim Why not share staff; let public servants roam to where they’re needed? If we ended the extraodinary waste that comes from more than 100 APS agencies acting with little cohesion, we’d barely notice...
Markus Mannheim
The value of our names
Markus Mannheim On Friday, the ACT government will enter the election caretaker period. And in the five weeks that follow, hundreds of Canberrans - indeed, probably thousands - will break the law.
Dole is not a dirty word
Markus Mannheim We must never forget how lucky we are in this country. We make mistakes and our society is forgiving enough to allow us to learn from them. Yet we are yielding what once made this nation special.
Silence of the doom mongers
Markus Mannheim It's little wonder filmmakers ignore the only likely apocalypse of our time; we've made it clear we don't want to know about it. Nor would these movies make for riveting viewing, anyway.
