Inspector General Training Courses
FELTG provides training to federal, state and local Inspector General offices, on topics most important to IG operations and efficiency. Any of these programs may be presented onsite, or on a virtual platform. See below for program topics and descriptions.
Looking for a topic that’s not covered here? Contact FELTG’s Training Director Dan Gephart at [email protected] for information on how to bring to a course to your team.
IG-1: Properly Executing Annual Planning and Outreach: A Guide for OIGs (1/2 – 1 day)
Aside from completing a comprehensive OIG strategic plan, annual planning with robust outreach to your stakeholders is the single most important thing an OIG does. When properly executed, OIG annual planning focuses your personnel, time, budget, and oversight resources on the issues that really matter to your agency and the accomplishment of its fundamental missions. We all have limited resources. Therefore, it is imperative that OIGs also conduct continual stakeholder outreach to understand what challenges impede their mission.
FELTG Instructor Scott Boehm, whose federal career included a stint benchmarking for Best Practices within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), will walk you through the five-step annual planning and outreach process while discussing elusive OIG and agency data sources that too many OIGs overlook. Attendees will leave this session with a template for OIG annual planning and outreach, complete with stakeholder questions that will reduce agency risk and maximize OIG return on investment (ROI).
Course Topics:
- Write succinct project proposals.
- Conduct risk analysis and prioritize potential projects.
- Outline strategies to align potential projects with agency stakeholders.
IG-2: OIG Strategic Planning (1/2-1 day)
All Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) have mandated quality standards and “should strive to conduct their operation in the most efficient and effective manner. Each OIG should manage available resources, at the least cost, to produce the greatest results in terms of public benefit, return on investment, and risk reduction.” OIGs cannot accomplish this mission if they lack a robust strategic planning process. Because OIGs continually examine their agency’s internal controls for efficiency and effectiveness, they must also periodically examine their own.
Strategic planning ensures that your OIG resources (budgets, personnel, infrastructure, training, and time) are focused on accomplishing the mission, reducing risk, and maximizing return on investment (ROI) and public benefit.
FELTG Instructor Scott Boehm provides a thorough review of the strategic planning process, complete with examples from his federal OIG experience. He will then tailor the process to address the specific requirements of all OIGs. These include clarifying the methodology, participants and their contributions, pre-session inputs, deliverables and timelines. He will discuss the OIG’s “Values Scan” and then the “Mandate Analysis” that gives the office its statutory or administrative authorities. He will also show how to formulate the OIG Mission Statement while reviewing the agency’s strategic plan. Scott will discuss the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis and the OIG Vision formulation. He will demonstrate how to formulate OIG strategic goals and the strategies that get your OIG to the desired outcome, and then show how to formulate the plan of actions and milestones (POA&M) and develop the metrics that tell where your OIG is and where it needs to go in the next two-to-three years to increase its efficiency and effectiveness.
Course Topics:
- Understand the OIG strategic planning process
- Outline the strategic planning methodology, participants and their contributions, pre-session inputs, deliverables and timelines.
- Explain an OIG’s “Values Scan” and “Mandate Analysis”
- Demonstrate how to formulate the OIG Mission and Vision Statements and conduct SWOT analysis
- Explain how to formulate OIG strategic goals and the strategies that support those goals
- Demonstrate how to formulate the POA&M and develop metrics to measure OIG progress toward accomplishing the strategic goals
IG-3: An OIG Guide to Benchmarking for Best Practices (1/2-1 day)
Every Office of Inspector General should periodically conduct benchmarking for Best Practices with other OIGs. No OIG has all the answers or “perfect internal controls” and should, therefore, regularly seek better business practices from peer organizations. Both the “Silver Book” for federal, and the “Green Book” for state and local OIGs, state: “OIGs should strive to conduct their operation in the most efficient and effective manner. Each OIG should manage available resources, at the least cost, to produce the greatest results in terms of public benefit, return on investment, and risk reduction.”
Benchmarking ensures your limited OIG resources – budgets, personnel, supplies, infrastructure, training, and time – are focused on the issues that really matter to your agency.
FELTG Instructor Scott Boehm, whose federal career included benchmarking for Best Practices within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), will walk you through the benchmarking process. Attendees will leave this session with an OIG benchmarking template that can improve your OIG’s annual planning process; audit, investigation and evaluation handbooks; product lines and report production; return on investment (ROI); and follow-up processes.
Course Topics:
- Plan and coordinate benchmarking with other OIGs
- Conduct risk analysis and prioritize the OIG internal controls requiring the most improvement
- Outline strategies to incorporate Best Practices into their OIG internal controls and peer review quality standards
IG-4: An OIG Guide to Measuring Return on Investment (1/2-1 day)
All statutory OIGs, whether in federal, state or local government, must regularly report their return on investment (ROI) to their state legislature or to Congress. This ensures that the OIG is focused on the tax dollars that fund it and the tangible efficiencies that OIG recommendations save the taxpayer. The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, requires OIGs to include in their semiannual reports to Congress, two categories of monetary impacts for audits, inspections, and evaluations:
- Questioned costs (with unsupported costs and disallowed costs as subsets)
- And recommendation(s) that funds be put to better use
Many state and local legislatures have similar requirements.
OIGs with a large ROI continually validate their “worth” to their legislature, Agency and the taxpayer. However, these arcane terms are often open to interpretation, and many OIGs struggle with quantifying their monetary savings to their taxpayers.
FELTG Instructor Scott Boehm, whose federal career included benchmarking to determine Best Practices for measuring savings and ROI within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), will walk you through the process. Attendees will receive multiple examples from federal OIG staff actuaries to plan for, and compute, their own ROI.
Course Topics:
- Understanding the definitions of questioned costs, unsupported costs, disallowed costs, and funds put to better use
- New strategies for computing their return on investment for audits, inspections and evaluations
- “Other Impact” categories that can, and have been, monetized by federal OIGs in the past
IG-5: UnCivil Servant: Holding IG Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct (1-2 days)
IG-6: The IG Supervisor’s Role in EEO (1/2-1 day)
For many federal IG supervisors, the EEO process is mysterious and foreboding. With this course, FELTG aims to make it less so. Federal supervisors have a role to play in the EEO process – and it’s an important one. FELTG’s experienced instructors describe that role in detail and provide specific guidance of how to handle each step along the way. Failure to understand the process will lead to costly mistakes, especially if the complaint reaches the EEOC. Attendees will leave this course with a thorough understanding of Equal Employment law basics.
Course Topics: The role of EEO in the federal government; defining protected categories: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability and reprisal; what to do if you’re a Responding Management Official in a complaint; defending against frivolous complaints; EEO witness tips.
IG-7: Preventing and Correcting Sexual Harassment in the IG Workplace (1/2-1 day)
The #MeToo movement has had a noticeable influence on the workplace. There has been a noticeable increase in sexual harassment complaints, according to EEOC reports. Supervisors who attend this course will learn their responsibilities to respond to harassment claims, as well as how to effectively address situations before they rise to the level of harassment. Employees who attend this course will understand the rights and responsibilities employees have in preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
Course Topics: Definition of sexual harassment; circumstances that constitute harassment; roles in harassment; tangible employment actions; hostile work environment harassment; same-sex harassment; strategies for prevention.
IG-8: Handling Behavioral Health Issues and Threats of Violence in the Federal Workplace (1-2 days)
These are the kind of workplace challenges that make you pause and, sometimes, doubt yourself. What should you do if someone threatens violence at your agency? How can you best prepare yourself to protect the lives of those around you? Are there risk factors that might give you an indication of when someone will become violent? What do you do when an employee with bipolar disorder is going through a manic phase? Our behavior health expert will provide you with real answers – once that require more understanding more than the law says. For federal managers, these topics are too important to ignore.
Course Topics: Your agency’s legal obligation to provide its employees with a safe workplace; ADAAA requirements on accommodating individuals with mental impairments and other behavioral health issues; types of mental disabilities and how they may exhibit in the workplace; the “direct threat” analysis; dealing with suicidal employees; dos and don’ts when working employees who have behavioral health issues; myths and facts about targeted violence in the workplace; individual characteristics that put an employee at higher risk of committing an act of violence; steps to take if someone becomes violent in the workplace; developing and implement an in-house threat management team to deal with threat assessments; risk management; the best ways to keep employees safe during a crisis.
Upcoming Training Events
Course Description
Change happens in the world of Federal employee relations, and it often comes quickly. Those who succeed continuously sharpen their MSPB skills and refresh their knowledge. Those who don’t fall behind.
Fortunately, FELTG’s MSPB Law Week provides you with an all-encompassing week of training that offers the most effective guidance and up-to-date information available. During this engaging week of training, attendees will learn the legal requirements and best practices for disciplinary charges and penalties, understanding the law and strategy in handling performance cases, defending against whistleblower reprisal complaints, and much more.
Whether you’ve attended MSPB Law Week previously or not, you’ll leave with the foundational knowledge and cutting-edge strategies to deal with the challenges you’ll be facing in 2024. Plus, we’ll incorporate the very latest Board case law to give you an inside look at how this Board views performance and conduct issues. Join top MSPB practitioners and topic authors, and learn the law, strategies, and techniques from their many years of combined experience.
Daily Agenda
Monday, April 15
The Foundations of Accountability; Adverse Actions: Statutory basis including the Civil Service Reform Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, the five elements of every disciplinary case and the burdens of proof, the fundamentals of penalty selection and defense, discipline procedures and appeals.
Tuesday, April 16
Disciplinary Charges: Types of charges, parts of a charge, how charges are interpreted, the role of the proposing and deciding officials, capitalizing on the general charge, allowing the inclusion of lesser-included offenses, charging in the alternative, attractive options to difficult charges and common charging mistakes, proving the difficult “intent” charge element, a step by step approach to charge drafting.
Wednesday, April 17
Defensible Penalties: MSPB and Federal Circuit lead cases in penalty determination, getting “intent” penalties off of “non-intent” charges, proving harsh penalties off of vanilla charges, charging down and proving up, how the maximum penalty is established, penalty mitigation; law enforcement officer discipline.
Thursday, April 18
Handling Unacceptable Performance: Performance actions in perspective, drafting a defensible performance standard, documenting and justifying your decision to put an employee on a Performance Demonstrating Period (DPs, formerly known as PIPs), implementing DPs, defeating the DP rollercoaster; the proof needed to take a performance-based action; removing a poor performer in 31 days.
Friday, April 19
Defending Against Whistleblower Reprisal Claims and other Affirmative Defenses: Whistleblower claims: protected disclosures and whistleblower reprisal, claims of harmful error, reprisal for union activity, excessive penalty findings.
Date and Time
April 15-19, 2024
12:30 – 4:30 pm ET each day (with a 30-minute break)
Instructors
Deborah Hopkins, Ann Boehm, Bob Woods
Registration
Download Individual Registration Form
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
Early Bird Tuition (register by March 16):
- 5 days = $1740
- 4 days = $1505
- 3 days = $1130
- 2 days = $855
- 1 day = $525
Standard Tuition (register March 17 and later):
- 5 days = $1840
- 4 days = $1605
- 3 days = $1230
- 2 days = $955
- 1 day = $625
Seminar registration includes a copy of the textbook UnCivil Servant: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct, 5th ed., by Wiley and Hopkins. In order to receive your copy of the textbook by the training date, please register by March 29 and provide a shipping address in the designated space on the registration form.
Event FAQs
- Can I attend Virtual Training from my government computer?
- FELTG uses Zoom for this Virtual Training Institute event. Many government computers and systems allow Zoom access. If for some reason your firewall will not allow access, you’re welcome to use your personal email address to register, and to attend the sessions from your personal device.
- Can I earn CLE credits for this class?
- CLE applications are the responsibility of each attendee; FELTG does not apply for the credits on behalf of attendees. If you are seeking CLE credit, attendees may use the materials provided by FELTG in submission to your state bar. Attendees may also request a certificate of completion which will contain the number of training hours attended.
- Can I share my access link with co-workers?
- No. Registration for this event is per individual, and access links may not be shared. Each link may only be used by one person.
- Can I register a teleworker?
- This event is individual registration, so the cost is the same whether the person is teleworking or in an agency facility.
- How do I receive a group rate discount?
- Group rates are available for agencies registering 10 or more individuals for the full event. Group discounts are available through March 16.
Cancellation and No-show Policy for Registered Participants: Cancellations made after the cancel date on the registration form will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. Pre-paid training using the “Pay Now” option will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. No-shows will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses.
Event Description
FELTG’s annual Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law has a simple mission — to ensure the Federal workplace is accountable, that it looks more like the America it serves, and that you have all of the necessary tools to make this happen. Whether you’re an HR professional, attorney, supervisor, advisor, or an EEO or ER/LR specialist, you’ll find useful guidance in multiple events this week.
This year’s Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law aims to help you succeed in the the Federal workplace circa 2024. We’ll guide you through the ever-changing law, share the steps for succeeding with up-and-down performers, provide guidance on how to make your team more resilient, offer tips for ensuring equity in hiring, and much more.
With 7 unique sessions over 4 days, FELTG’s Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law offers an opportunity to receive guidance with a fresh perspective. And many sessions offer opportunities to pick up CLE or EEO refresher credits.
Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law provides benefits you just can’t get from online virtual training providers. You can register for any of the sessions individually, or you can register for the whole program. Also, the training is presented LIVE by FELTG’s experienced and respected instructors, who will answer your questions, so you get answers in real time. Don’t put off getting the important training you need.
Download Individual Registration Form
This program meets the President’s mandate to provide training on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the Federal workplace.
Download Individual Registration Form
Monday, April 22, 2024
Session 1
2 – 4 pm ET
What They’re Saying: MSPB, EEOC, and FLRA Case Law Update
Presented by Ann Boehm, Attorney at Law, FELTG Instructor
Course description: FELTG’s annual Emerging Issues Conference kicks off with a two-hour dive into the most significant caselaw coming out of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), and the Federal Circuit. These Federal employment law cases impact your day-to-day work, so join us and learn how to ensure a discrimination-free workplace and take effective action on performance and conduct that will hold up to third-party scrutiny. Earn 2 CLE credits. 
1
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Evaluate the significance of the recent case decisions in Federal employment law.
- Avoid mistakes in performance and conduct actions.
- Identify and immediately address potential discrimination.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Session 2
11 am – 1 pm ET
What Exactly is Undue Hardship Anymore?
Presented by Bob Woods, Attorney at Law, FELTG Instructor
Course Description:The Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in its unanimous decision Groff v. DeJoy. This is a big change for the concept of undue hardship in religious accommodation, experts say. But is it really? And how does it differ when it comes to reasonable accommodations for disability or pregnancy? Mr. Woods will deconstruct the distinctions between accommodations and explain the legal ramifications of each. Earn 2 CLE credits.
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Understand how an agency can prove undue hardship – and how it cannot.
- Describe the differences between undue hardship for religious, disability, and pregnancy accommodations.
- Handle employees’ requests to be excused from performing certain job tasks because of religious reasons.
Session 3
2 – 4 pm ET
Driving Resilience and Mental Wellbeing in the Federal Workplace
Presented by Shana Palmieri, LCSW, FELTG Instructor
Course Description: A successful team is one that can handle unexpected and stressful situations. How do you build that kind of resilience among your employees? Ms. Palmieri will explain the importance of mental wellbeing in the workplace as well as how to manage toxic and other difficult employees who derail team success.
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Understand mental well-being in the workplace.
- Reduce toxic dynamics.
- Implement strategies to retain and attract a high-functioning team.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Session 4
11 am – 1 pm ET
Equity in Hiring
Presented by Katherine Atkinson, Attorney at Law, FELTG Instructor
Course Description: This session will provide step-by-step guide for ensuring fair treatment and nondiscrimination in every phase of your hiring process, from developing selection criteria, through recruitment and all the way to the conditional offer, with a special focus on structured interviews that are fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory. You will leave this class with the keys and tools for creating a well-qualified workforce, while avoiding the mistakes that have befallen many other agencies. Plus, you’ll learn how to best defend against allegations of discriminatory hiring. Earn 2 CLE credits. 2
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Conduct effective and equitable structured interviews.
- Identify problematic interview questions.
- Recognize bias in the hiring process.
Session 5
2 – 4 pm ET
Engagement to Motivation — the FEVS and Beyond
Presented by Susan Schneider, EdM, MS, FELTG Instructor
Course description: Employee Engagement (EE) is vital to meet today’s challenges in the Federal workplace. Each year, agencies receive an EE score, based upon a survey done months before. The data is limited, particularly for regulatory organizations in the spotlight. This course describes the limitations of the EE score and examines the link between engagement, motivation, and leveraging employees’ strengths. Participants will explore realistic strategies for increasing engagement and creating tailored, timely measures of EE.
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Develop a deeper understanding of engagement and motivation.
- Explain the limitations of FEVS’ measurement of employee engagement.
- Create realistic strategies for increasing engagement, including opportunities for employees to use their strengths.
- Produce tailored and timely measures of engagement.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Session 6
11 am – 1 pm
Say Whaaat?!? Respectful Communication in the Workplace
Presented by Roslyn Brown, President/CEO at EEO Workplace Strategies
Course description: Subtle and overt language, joking, off-handed comments, and offensive comments and gestures can lead to a hostile work environment. And that includes ill-advised, even if not ill-intentioned, phrases such as “hold down the fort” and “low man on the totem pole.” Being a respectful communicator means more than just not offending anyone, it also means taking preventive measures to tailor your communication to avoid misunderstandings, irrespective of the cultural and ethnic differences that we all bring into the workplace. Roslyn Brown will not only explain why certain phrases are troublesome but show you what to do when something offensive is said. 2
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Recognize cultural expressions that are offensive to people in protected classes.
- Explain the importance of a respectful workplace in complying with the Executive Order on Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Federal workplace.
- Intervene effectively when offensive comments are made in the workplace.
Session 7
2 – 4 pm ET
Managing Chronic Performance and Conduct Issues
Presented by Deborah Hopkins, Attorney at Law, FELTG President
Course description: Whether it’s up-and-down roller coaster performers or repeat offenders of misconduct, chronically challenging employees eat up time, create workplace stress, and dampen productivity. And it will only get worse until you address the issue. FELTG President Deborah J. Hopkins will share the tools necessary to address performance issues and lay the groundwork for progressive discipline. Attendees will leave with the confidence to swiftly address poor-performing and misbehaving employees.
Course objectives
Attendees will learn how to:
- Differentiate between performance problems and misconduct.
- Manage an employee’s wide swings of performance.
- Effectively apply progressive discipline.
Registration
Download Individual Registration Form
Price
- Early Bird Tuition (register by March 22):
- Per Session = $345
- April 22-25 All Access = $1995
- Standard Tuition (register March 23-April 25)
- Per Session = $385
- April 22-25 All Access = $2295
- Rates per registrant and may not be used for groups under any circumstances. No split registrations.
Event FAQs
- Can I attend Virtual Training from my government computer?
- FELTG uses Zoom to broadcast its Virtual Training Institute events. Many government computers and systems allow Zoom access. If for some reason your firewall will not allow access, you’re welcome to use your personal email address to register, and to attend the sessions from your personal device.
- How do I claim CLE or EEO refresher credits?
- This program has been submitted (and we anticipate this program will be approved) for Virginia CLE credits. Members of other state bars must submit for CLE credit on their own, and may use the materials provided by FELTG in submissions. Attendees may also request a certificate of completion which will contain the number of training hours attended, and will designate how many EEO refresher hours were earned.
- Can I get HRCI credits for attending this class?
- Each session is approved for 2 hours of HRCI general recertification credit. The HRCI course numbers will be available upon the conclusion of the training.
- Can I share my access link with co-workers?
- No. Registration for this event is per individual, and access links may not be shared. Each link may only be used by one person.
- Can I register a teleworker?
- This event is individual registration, so the cost is the same whether the person is teleworking or in an agency facility.
- How do I receive a group rate discount?
- Group rates are available for agencies registering 10 or more individuals for the full event. Group discounts are available through March 22.
Cancellation and No-show Policy for Registered Participants: Cancellations made after the cancel date on the registration form will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. Pre-paid training using the “Pay Now” option will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. No-shows will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses.