An interesting exchange occurred last week between a top government official and a group of corporate leaders attending the first meeting of President Obama's Management Advisory Board. According to Robert Brodsky of Government Executive, Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) John Berry appealed to the board to help set the record straight about "overpaid" public employees.

The advisory board, brought together by the White House to provide "strategic advice on government management and operations," includes leaders from the telecom, information technology, entertainment, health care, and manufacturing industries.

During a presentation to the board, Berry noted "the difficulties of attracting – and then retaining – the best and brightest to work in the government instead of taking more lucrative private sector positions," and that the government's woes are only "exacerbated by charges that federal employees are overpaid."

Berry went on to mention that the board might "help dispel this notion because of its credibility in the business world." "When you carry that mission, it carries some weight," Berry said to the group. The article did not detail any reaction from the board to Berry's comments, but I think he's spot on here.

Since Republican lawmakers swept into state and national office this past November, public employees have been target number one. An enormous disinformation campaign fueled by rightwing think tanks and pushed by conservative politicians has attempted to smear public sector employees at all levels of government.

And despite being repeatedly proven false, the claims about overcompensated public employees continue. The business leaders on the president's Management Advisory Board could have something to say about this I imagine. The private sector benefits immensely from public sector spending streams – think infrastructure – and government bureaucracy is only as efficient and effective as its employees are.

If bogus charges of overcompensated employees are hurting the government's ability to attract and retain the best candidates, the private sector – and more specifically members of the president's advisory board – has a responsibility to speak up.

Image by Flickr user mmbooklover used under a Creative Commons license.