3 agencies win management awards

The Labor Department, the State Department and the Social Security Administration won top management honors this week as recipients of the President’s Quality Awards.

Labor won for overall management excellence and commitment to the President’s Management Agenda. State received awards for innovative and exemplary management practice and for strategic workforce management. SSA also won for strategic workforce management.

A panel of judges from government, industry and the nonprofit sector selected finalists for the awards. The Office of Personnel Management then reviewed the panel’s selection and forwarded final recommendations to President Bush, who chose the award winners, OPM officials said.

Six federal agencies received similar awards last year. The awards reward agencies that have made the most progress in achieving goals set forth in Bush's management agenda.