Management Principles

Apprenticeship programs are growing as the public sector faces workforce shortages

Registered apprenticeships, infrequently used by state and local governments in the past, are gaining the attention of staff-starved agencies.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Access to public records is 'deteriorating terribly'

In a time when trust in state and local government is under siege, public access to information is particularly vital.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Understanding Gen Z in the public sector

Managers can benefit by better engaging and communicating with the newest generation of workers in cities, counties and states.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Rethinking engagement to support a rapidly growing older adult population

COMMENTARY | Having a reliable, evidence-based planning process can significantly impact how state governments address the immediate needs of their aging residents while planning for the future.

  • By Charlotte Arbogast

How improvements in onboarding can lower employee turnover

One of the greatest challenges confronting state and local governments is a badly understaffed workforce. Here’s one technological and personal way to confront that problem.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

9 leadership behaviors that create great places to work

COMMENTARY | Creating a great place to work requires a culture of trust, and leaders who master these nine behaviors will create that culture and more successfully attract and retain talent.

  • By Bob Lavigna

Solving the problem of understaffed jails and prisons

State and local governments are working to attract and retain corrections workers. But it’s not easy, and the task is complicated by high burnout rates due to understaffing.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

High turnover is disrupting efforts to fix the workforce crisis, a survey finds

The poll of state and local HR managers finds that hiring has increased, but so has the number of people quitting.

  • By Kery Murakami

6 takeaways for the government workforce crisis

COMMENTARY | Public servants from coast to coast share their advice on how to successfully hire and retain government talent.

  • By Bob Lavigna

Is government culture stifling customer experience innovation?

Risk aversion among government managers is blocking needed improvements to key programs, according to a recent white paper.

  • By Natalie Alms

A balancing act: Adding humor to government communications

COMMENTARY | Local and state agencies walk a fine line between showing their personality through humor and remaining factual.

  • By Mark Rybchuk

The Press and the Government

Kentucky agencies are restricting their workers’ interaction with the media—in some ways that are unconstitutional. It highlights a tension that has long existed between governments and news outlets. Plus, more news to use from around the country in this week's State and Local Roundup.

  • By Elizabeth Daigneau
Featured eBooks
The Digital Transformation of State and Local Government
Generative AI in State and Local Government
The Transformation of Government Services

A Model for Reducing Female Incarceration and Breaking the Generational Cycle

A program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been changing lives for addicted women and their children. Here’s how it works.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Staffing Challenges Spur Another Look at Four-Day Workweeks

School districts think shorter weeks could attract more teachers, while one Colorado city hopes they can help address chronic staffing shortages at its police department.

  • By Elizabeth Daigneau

Celebrating Public Service—and Public Servants

COMMENTARY | Government is asked to solve our toughest and most intractable problems. That’s why we need to celebrate the people who make a difference through government service.

  • By Bob Lavigna

The Montana Legislator's Censure Shows That American Standards of Political Decorum Are Failing

COMMENTARY | The move violates the spirit of legislative rules set by none other than Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of this country, more than 200 years ago. Those rules were written to protect minority views.

  • By Alauna Safarpour, The Conversation

States Vote to End Subminimum Wage

Advocates for people with disabilities see progress in leveling pay and ending work segregation.

  • By Rachel Gottlieb

Can Performance Pay Help States and Cities Hang onto the Best and Brightest?

After years in which compensation tied to performance was considered a “failed experiment,” workforce pressures are bringing it back to the table again.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

State & Local Roundup: Top Counties Return to Pre-pandemic Populations

Plus: Seattle gig workers get paid sick leave; Chicago and Wisconsin go to the polls; California’s insulin experiment hits a bump; Big gaps in electric vehicle ownership; and more news you can use from around the country.

  • By Elizabeth Daigneau, Daniel C. Vock and Molly Bolan

Tips to Ensure Governors Start Off on the Right Foot

A recent report offers new officeholders guidance on how to hit the ground running.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

An Attack on Auditor Independence Jeopardizes One State’s Fiscal Future

The Iowa Senate passed a bill that severely limits its auditor’s access to critical documents. The ramifications could be severe.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene