Government Leaders Seven Steps Of Effective Workforce

Seven Steps of effective workforce planningFour key lessons can be learned form the SHA case:Lesson 1: A complete plan is not needed to begin.Lesson 2: Focused efforts are needed.Lesson 3: Implementation can occur during datacollection and strategy development.Lesson 4: Consultant resources can help expediteworkforce planning and implementation.RecommendationsFrom the lessons learned from the DOT and SHAcase studies and the guidance of the Seven-StepWorkforce Planning Model, the following recommendations are provided for public sector leadersand human resource managers:Recommendation 1: If your organization is notalready doing so, now is the time to engage in aworkforce planning effort that is linked to yourorganization’s strategic objectives.Recommendation 2: Conduct internal and externalenvironmental scans to identify workforce trends ina proactive manner.Recommendation 3: Focus workforce planningefforts in areas where the most benefit will beachieved.Recommendation 4: Develop appropriate systems tocollect and report on key workforce indicators.Recommendation 5: Be creative in developing strategies to address workforce planning issues.Recommendation 6: Develop a “doable” implementation plan. IBM Center for The Business of Government

Seven Steps of effective workforce planningWhy Workforce Planning Is ImportantThe most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics’ QuarterlyCensus of Employment and Wages indicates thatthe public sector accounts for 16.17 percent of theU.S. workforce.1 The majority (13.6 million) of publicsector employees work for local governments. Theremainder is divided between federal (2.7 million)and state governments (4.5 million).2 With such alarge investment in human capital, arguably one ofthe most important determinants of an organization’sability to sustain long-term success, it is imperativethat public managers develop and use this investment wisely.Dramatic changes in the workforce, the workplace,and the public’s expectations place the value created by public sector employees at risk. Large numbers of skilled employees are nearing retirement;there is insufficient talent in the leadership pipelineas a result of downsizing and hiring restrictions;competition for skilled employees is growing;diversity in the workforce is increasing both ethnically and generationally; and expectations amongGeneration-X and Generation-Y workers regardingearly responsibility and work/life balance are dramatically different from their predecessors. Rapidadvances in technology have enabled the publicsector to deliver many services quicker and at ahigher level than ever before. In the broader picture,the public increasingly demands that government berun “more like a business” while at the same timedemands for accountability and transparency aregrowing. These changes have converged to createa “perfect storm” for public sector human capitalmanagement. The old ways of recruiting, retaining,training, and promoting employees are inadequateto meet the challenges of today and the future. Theremainder of this section will discuss these trends inmore detail.The Changing Nature of the PublicSector WorkforceIn 2006, President George W. Bush and formerPresident Bill Clinton led thousands of baby boomersin the public sector forward toward another milestone—turning 60. As with every milestone thisgeneration has passed, their presence will continueto be transformational. It is difficult to predict whenboomers will retire due to the conflicting forces theyface. More vibrant than their parents, boomers arenot quite ready to trade in their desk chair for an easychair. With children in college, aging parents to carefor, and accumulated debt, many will continue towork well past their retirement eligibility date. Still,earlier retirement will be a viable option for many.The public sector is at greater risk from the pendingretirement wave than the private sector for severalreasons. First and foremost are the demographictrends. Employees in the public sector are generallyolder than their private sector counterparts, a trendthat increased from 1994 to 2001.3 Older workersrepresent a much larger proportion of the knowledge workers in the public sector (49.3 percent)compared to the private sector (34.8 percent),4making it more difficult to recruit replacementswho can easily take over for the departing employees. The proportion of older workers is somewhatlarger in the federal government than in state andlocal governments overall.5 Fifty percent of publicsector jobs require specialized knowledge comparedto 29 percent in the private sector, making publicsector workers more difficult to replace.6 Second, isthe ability of many public sector employees to retireat a relatively young age. With the security providedby their benefit-rich retirement packages, manymove on to a second career either at other levels ofwww.businessofgovernment.org

Seven Steps of effective workforce planninggovernment or with companies that serve government agencies. This is particularly attractive to thosepublic sector employees who have developedunique skills or sets of knowledge that make themvaluable to the private sector companies that workfor government. Third, are the financial incentives forpursuing early retirement, such as early-out packagesand voluntary separation bonuses. When combinedwith retirement benefits, these incentives mayencourage early departure of mature employees.The potential impact of the retirement bubble isexacerbated by the lack of attention paid to developing leaders in the pipeline. During the 1990s,instead of growing a constant stream of leaders,the federal government and many state and localgovernments decreased their workforces throughnon-strategic layoffs, early-retirement packages, andhiring restrictions. According to the GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO), the impact on thefederal government was significant, with a 17 percent contraction in the federal workforce between1990 and 1999.7 State and local governments exacerbated their leadership development problemsthrough the imposition of hiring freezes and hiringcaps. According to a 2002 study by the Council ofState Governments, 27 states had hiring limitationsor hiring freezes in place.8Like the United States in general, the workforce isexpected to continue to become more diverse. Thepercentage of women in the civilian workforce isexpected to increase from 42.5 percent in 1980 to47.7 percent in 2025.9 The proportion of minoritiesin the civilian workforce is expected to grow from18.1 percent in 1980 to 36.5 percent in 2025. Forthe first time ever, there are four generations workingside-by-side: traditionalists—pre-1945 (10 percent ofthe workforce); baby boomers—1945–1964 (45 percent of the workforce); Generation X—1965–1980(30 percent of the workforce); and Generation Y—1980 and beyond (15 percent of the workforce).10These four generations differ greatly in how they viewwork and their relationship with their employers.Changes in the WorkplaceThe worksite of a typical government employee todaybears little resemblance to the worksite of 10 or 15years ago. The personal computer and the Internethave revolutionized the way in which work getsdone. Barriers to communication and information10IBM Center for The Business of Governmentsharing have crumbled. Employees have instantaccess to information; they meet with people fromaround the country without leaving their office; andthey have immediate contact with citizens, who canrequest assistance with the push of a send button.The trend toward downsizing and outsourcing hastransformed many skilled public sector employeesfrom providers of products or services to managersof contractors who provide products and services.This seemingly small change in job duties requiresa dramatically different set of skills. For countlesspositions, work is not something that must be performed in a prescribed place and in a prescribedmanner. With cell phones, PDAs, and laptops,employees can have a virtual office almost anywhere. To be productive, these employees must begood at self-management and their managers mustbe skilled at defining expectations. With advancesin technology occurring at an ever-increasing rate,the public sector is likely to continue to experiencea mismatch between the skills employees have andthe skills agencies need.11Changing Public ExpectationsPublic sector organizations and employees at alllevels are facing increased public scrutiny. Strategicmanagement and performance measurement initiatives in the federal government such as the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), ProgramAssessment Rating Tool (PART), and managing-forresults programs all seek to hold agencies accountable for the public dollars they spend. At the federalsenior-executive level and in some state and localgovernments, pay-for-performance systems are alsogaining popularity.12The 24/7 access to goods and services available inthe private sector has altered the public’s expectations for services from the public sector. Citizenswant to be able to do business online with thegovernment just like they do with private companies. They also expect quick responses to questionsand immediate assistance similar to that providedby the private sector.Changing Views of Workforce ManagementTo many, the term human capital emphasizes thestrategic importance of an organization’s workforce asthe major input to production. In light of the evolution of the U.S. economy, the change of terminology

Seven Steps of effective workforce planningAcronyms and AbbreviationsAASHTO American Association of State HighwayTransportation OfficialsMARAD Maritime AdministrationMCOmission-critical occupationNHTSA National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministrationAssistant Resident Maintenance EngineerNPRNational Performance ReviewChief Human Capital OfficerOIGOffice of the Inspector GeneralCIVFORS Civilian Forecasting SystemOLAMaryland Office of Legislative AuditCPATCapability Planning and Analysis ToolOMBOffice of Management and BudgetCPDFCivilian Personnel Data FileOMTSHA’s Office of Materials and TechnologyDBM Maryland’s Department of Budget andManagementOPMOffice of Personnel ManagementOSTOffice of the Secretary of TransportationDOTU.S. Department of TransportationPARTProgram Assessment Rating TooleHREnterprise Human ResourcesPDPProfessional Development PlaneLMSElectronic Learning Management SystemPHMSAFAAFederal Aviation Administration ipeline and Hazardous Materials SafetyPAdministrationFHWAFederal Highway AdministrationPMAPresident’s Management AgendaFMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety AdministrationRITA Research and Innovation TechnologyAdministrationFRAFederal Railroad AdministrationRMEResident Maintenance EngineerFTAFederal Transit AdministrationSHAMaryland State Highway AdministrationGAOGovernment Accountability OfficeSLSDCGPRAGovernment Performance and Results Act Saint Lawrence Seaway DevelopmentCorporationHCAAF uman Capital Assessment andHAccountability FrameworkSMQCS tatewide Maintenance Quality Council(Maryland)SMTSenior Management TeamSTBSurface Transportation BoardWASSWorkforce Analysis Support SystemADEAssistant District EngineerALPAdvanced Leadership ProgramARMECHCOIPMA-HR International Public ManagementAssociation for Human ResourcesLEAD Leadership Education and DevelopmentProgramwww.businessofgovernment.org11

Seven Steps of effective workforce planningaptly reflects the change that must occur in our viewof the public sector workforce. During much of the20th century, improvements in productivity and theability to maintain a competitive edge were drivenby improvements in the elements of production—raw materials and capital investments. Emphasis wasplaced on getting raw materials to manufacturingfacilities as inexpensively as possible. Improvementsin factory layout and the efficiency of equipment ledto increases in productivity. Workforce planning wasnot an issue because workers were interchangeableand easily replaceable. Companies invested little intraining and workforce development.In the knowledge economy, the collective set ofknowledge, skills, abilities, and competenciesdeveloped by an organization’s workforce are arguably the most important determinants of an organization’s ability to sustain long-term success. Infederal and state government agencies, the workforce investment is tremendous—the federal government employs 2.7 million people and stategovernments employ another 4.6 million people.13While some say the sky is falling and the UnitedStates will experience a severe shortage of workers,others liken the “crisis” to Y2K—full of hype, but, inthe end, the crisis fails to materialize.14 Regardlessof whether the boomer exodus is massive and sudden or slowly increases over the next five to 10years, one thing remains clear: The public sectormust be strategic in how it recruits, retains, trains,and manages its workforce.GAO designated strategic human capital management as a government-wide, high-risk area in2001.15 In his testimony, U.S. Comptroller GeneralDavid M. Walker stated that “effective human capital management is the missing link in the federalmanagement framework.”16 He also said that“human capital shortfalls are eroding the ability ofmany agencies—and threaten the ability of others—to economically, efficiently, and effectively performtheir missions.”17President George W. Bush identified strategic humancapital management as his first priority in hisPresident’s Management Agenda.18 The expectationwas for the culture of federal government agenciesto shift to a higher level of performance whereskilled, high-quality employees are attracted and12IBM Center for The Business of Governmentretained; performance incentives are clear and carefully aligned to achieve the agency’s mission; agencies meet and exceed performance standards; and,finally, accountability is clear with quick rewards forgood performance and real consequences for performance failure.19Eight states have embraced strategic workforce planning as an integral component of their governmentmanagement model. Three states, Georgia, Virginia,and South Carolina, earned an “A” on the Government Performance Project’s 2005 Grading the StatesReport for their efforts to effectively manage theirhuman capital.20 Each of these states has centralizedworkforce planning and an integrated humanresources information technology (IT) system thatprovides accessible, real-time workforce data.A strategic human capital focus calls for the publicsector to shift from its traditional paradigm that valued backfilling vacancies as quickly as possible to anew paradigm that views employees, as well as consultants, temporary staff, and third-party partners, asa pool of talent to be configured and developedstrategically to create the most public benefit in themost efficient manner. By taking a more strategicand longer view of the organization’s needs, theorganization can put into place a plan for it toevolve one position at a time.

Seven Steps of effective workforce planningThe Seven-Step WorkforcePlanning ModelWorkforce planning is more than the 3R’s of recruitment, retention, and retirement. It begins with asound strategic business plan, reliable and availableworkforce data, a strong internal and external analysis, and a keen awareness of trends at the localand national level that impact how an organizationdoes business and the types of skills an organization will be able to attract. It is about aligning anorganization’s human capital—its people—with itsbusiness plan to achieve its mission, or, in otherwords, ensuring that an organization currently hasand will continue to have the right people with theright skills in the right job at the right time performing at their assignments efficiently and effectively.Seven-Step Workforce Planning ModelStep 1: Define the Organization’s Strategic DirectionStep 2: Scan the Internal and External EnvironmentsStep 3: Model the Current WorkforceStep 4: Assess Future Workforce Nee

Perhaps the most critical of these strategies is workforce planning. Workforce planning tells an organization what types of skills are needed to get the job done. in doing so, workforce planning should drive all human capital strategies. Workforce planning is about aligning an organization’s human capital—its people—with its business plan to