After Hiring: The Next Challenge

It was very exciting to see a federal job fair make the front page of the Washington Post on July 17th. The Post reported that over 6,000 people jammed into the National Building Museum to apply for openings at 75 agencies, including the departments of Treasury, Homeland Security, Justice, Veterans Affairs, and Energy. The Partnership for Public Service estimates that the federal government will hire about 600,000 people in the next four years, with as many as 120,000 in the Washington Area.

This is all good news and reflects the "renaissance" in public service which I discussed in March. But now the hard work begins. While it is still often a challenge to hire people into the federal government (note that the Office of Management and Budget has issued a memo to government agencies to quickly "speed up" and "shape up" their hiring practices), the real challenge begins when the new hires show up for work at their respective agencies. What kind of workplace will they find upon their arrival? Will government be able to retain these new hires? It's never too early to start to worry about retention. The federal government will invest substantial effort in "on-boarding" the new hires and bringing them "up to speed" on their new positions. Will government be able to recoup its ROI (return on investment) on these individuals?

These are important questions for the government to consider as they "on-board" their new hires. Equally important is whether the new hires will find the federal government to be a satisfying and enjoyable workplace, as well one which provides them with 21st century skills and a clear career path. It is often speculated that the new hires from the millennial generation will have a different set of expectations than previous generations. Based on their experience with non-hierarchical information exchange (twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), it can anticipated that that they will expect similar open lines of communication within their new organization.

While their expectations about information might be different than previous generations, it is likely that they will have the same basic needs and desires as current employees. Survey after survey has found that employee engagement continues to be the best indicator of satisfaction with one's job. Based on their "The Best Places to Work" series, the Partnership for Public Service concludes "an engaged employee is satisfied with her job and organization; derives a sense of personal accomplishment from her work; believes that her talents are used well and that she is given the chance to develop professionally; and feels encouraged to innovate…"

As demonstrated in the "Best Places" series, there continues to be a wide range in the quality of agency workplaces. Some agencies, most notably the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (index score of 80.7), the Government Accountability Office (76.6), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (71.7), have created workplaces which score highly and appear to be desirable places to work. In contrast, there are seven departments which received scores in the 50s and appear less desirable places to work.

While it is a positive sign to see the concept of "employee engagement" receiving increased attention, there are also other related concepts which appear not to be receiving as much attention these days as in the past: "flat" organizations, teams, empowerment. All three concepts contribute to "employee engagement." Many federal agencies, however, continue to be the hierachical bureaucracy of the past. The great unknown is whether government's new hires will be willing to build careers in those organizations.

We now have the first part of the story about the revival of public service. Many individuals are seeking federal employment and many agencies are hiring once again. In the long term, however, it will be the second part of the story that tells us about the future of public service in the 21st century. Will these new hires continue their careers in government and will they become the new "backbone" of our public service? Or will they become disenchanted with a rule-bound bureaucracy that pigeon holes them into narrow jobs with unclear career paths? That is the key question that federal department and agencies must now begin to address.

Mark A. Abramson is president of Leadership Inc. He has served as executive director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government and as president of the Council for Excellence in Government. His e-mail: mark.abramson@thoughtleadershipinc.com.