Government workers young and old need ‘shared purpose,’ say local leaders
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By
Chris Teale
Agencies must wrestle with retirements, a multi-generational workforce and attracting employees despite the lure of the private sector. Experts said it’s doable, especially when you appeal to someone’s sense of civic duty.
MINNEAPOLIS — Governments are faced with a big challenge, as they wrestle with a whole generation of older workers retiring, while trying to attract younger people to fill in those gaps in the face of strong competition from the private sector.
Meanwhile, those who are left form a multigenerational workforce that could be roiled by uncertainty over the future role of artificial intelligence, feel pushed out by more tech-savvy colleagues or be unclear about what their future role could look like.
That could create a lot of uncertainty in state and local government workforces, but speakers at last week’s GOVIT Leadership Symposium and Summit in Minneapolis hosted by the Public Technology Institute said the public sector can stay attractive by appealing to employees’ sense of civic duty. That’s especially true for younger applicants who want purpose, growth and flexibility.
“Government work brings purpose, but we have to find out how we can do flexibility and growth within the organization so that they still are stimulated,” Miguel Guardado, IT director for Manhattan Beach, California, said during a panel discussion. “That's where you have to have those conversations with individuals about what is important to them.”
Hiring young people is challenging, speakers said, given how attractive the private sector has become with benefits, perks like remote work and higher salaries. But Chris Chirgwin, chief information officer for Santa Barbara County, California, noted there is still a lot of interest in every position his government advertises. Whereas a few years ago every opening might have 20 applicants, Chirgwin said it is now over 100.
Having a strong culture can help attract younger workers, especially when they want to do work that “they feel matters,” Chirgwin said.
“As leaders, we need to create a culture where they see clearly that the work they do every day has an impact,” he said. “If we can make that connection with the workforce, and they feel empowered, they feel that they have the sense of some autonomy to do their work in the best way, I think that that's where the younger generation really starts to feel valued in what they do.”
As for the culture itself, Chirgwin said he is looking for employees who are “hungry, humble and smart,” which he said makes for a “really good baseline.” Other government leaders have looked to reduce barriers to entry, especially for employees who have taken non-traditional paths into employment.
Mary Gleich-Matthews, St. Paul, Minnesota’s deputy CIO, said the city has removed the requirement for a bachelor’s degree from many jobs, a move that has echoed through a number of state and local governments in recent years. The city also has relaunched its IT Service Center and encouraged cross-training to break down organizational siloes and help employees see they are “one department together,” she said.
Some cities are now less concerned about hiring for technological knowhow, too, but more for how potential employees build relationships and identify potential future leaders.
“When I hire, I usually don't hire for technical skills,” Guardado said. “I hire more from the people skills, because I feel that the technical skills can be taught. It's the people skills that really could be a challenge. And as we go through those things and work through the organization, we're constantly trying to find the leaders in the organization. We're not going to be here forever. I tell my staff that we're all leaders. Just through natural progression, those leaders will start to show by asking for assignments or stretch assignments that might help them grow.”
And having a multi-generational workforce can be an advantage, speakers said. Gleich-Matthews said her department has 71 people when fully staffed, with age groups that run the gamut from high school interns to those at the tail-end of their careers with decades of service. St. Paul doesn’t segment employees by generation but instead looks to cluster them based on their skills and “civic sense of purpose” and see how they can move the city’s IT forward.
Guardado said a multigenerational workforce means multiple strengths, although older employees might “struggle” more as they’ve “been more set in their ways.” It’s incumbent on everyone to learn from each other, he said, and for employees to stay curious.
“It's a hunger for continuous learning,” Guardado said. “We can't, sit on our laurels and just wait. Our future leaders need to understand that the most important asset that you actually have is the team that you built. It's not the technology that you invested in. It's actually the people or the individuals that are going to work.”