While the frenzied activity of the presidential campaign captivates us, we are also aware that the resignations (forced or planned) of the political appointees and their resumes are flooding the white house and the private sector, respectively.  While the resignations might trigger shouts of glee from certain democrats (and probably some republicans), the resignation stream carves a gap into the leadership of the federal government.

Of course, the presidential transition is not new and occurs every four years.  A transition between parties is even more dramatic, and over the last 16 years there have only been two.  The last transition in 2004 did not have a change in parties or President proved to be smooth, even though the President required all political appointees to provide their resignation letters prior to the election results, creating a stir in government operations.

So who is positioning themselves in the effort to help government through the upcoming transition?  Logically, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) should pave the way.  Ironically, the recent resignation of OPM Director Linda Springer, who will be leaving for the private sector August 13, 2008, will leave yet another key position empty.

According to a recent article, it appears that the private sector, under the guise of the not-for-profit-wings of big companies like IBM and Cisco, who currently are in the top ten for government IT contract dollars, are seeking to aid in the transition process.  

So does this recurring transitional event require the assistance of the private sector?  Not really. Currently federal employees are preparing for upcoming presidential transition and how it might affect the work of the government.  Meanwhile,  OPM has issued guidance entitled, "Presidential Transition Guide to Federal Human Resources Management."

Last week at the Department of Labor's annual senior executive corps conference, the topic of presidential transition was addressed and they provided the following insights:

• Agency staff should be helpful to the post-election transition team but work through pre-determined channels that are defined by the outgoing administration and the incoming transition teams.
• The incoming president can appoint an official to be in charge in an "acting" capacity at least temporarily, but absent that, the highest-ranking career official will temporarily hold the job, but not necessarily in an "acting" capacity.
• Field staff tend to feel some anxiety during the transition in Washington and senior executives need to make an extra effort to communicate with field staff during the transition
• There will be period where trust between the new political appointees and the career executives will have to be re-built, usually 120-days where new politicals cannot move a career executive to a different position involuntarily.
• Be ready to answer a lot of questions that start with "Why?"

Regardless of the corporate influence, departments are in the process of establishing an internal transition team in accordance with guidance from the President's Management Council. This process will define briefing book formats, etc., to ensure a smooth transition.

This is a time of change and transition provides the feds another opportunity to serve.  More importantly, it's a period when the career executives become the institutional memory and they need to be especially mindful of this during the transition period.