How Government Is：Pivoting to Data-Driven Workforce Management

Introduction These are tough days for government managers. The competition for talent is fierce, and there is no end in sight. Without a doubt, it’sdifficult for organizations to find and hold onto employees with the right skill sets. According to the Partnership for Public Service, the timeline for a governmentorganization to fill a position with new talent is 98 days on average, more than twicewhat it is in the private sector. And filling positions isn’t the only challenge. Managers are looking to address goalsaround diversity, equity and inclusion, and performance. They need to meet thosegoals in a way that leads to long-term staffing success — in both retention and talentdevelopment — among a diverse and highly skilled set of workers. But they won't succeed at any of this if they try to tackle it piecemeal. Instead, they needto take a strategic, data-driven approach to workforce management. To learn how organizations are approaching workforce management, GovLoop teamedup with Workday, which provides human capital management and finance solutions, tosurvey our community on current challenges, goals and strategies. This report examines key findings and best practices, and shares insights that can helporganizations improve their recruiting and retention practices. Tough Search for Talent It’s no secret that the talent market is stiffacross all sectors. But competition is even morepronounced for government organizations, whichoften struggle to compete with companies on payand perks. This trend is hitting agency HR departments hard,said Rowan Miranda, Senior Managing Partnerfor Government Strategy at Workday. “In many jurisdictions, you’re seeingunprecedented surpluses, rainy day fundbalances resulting from the bounce-back in theeconomy as well as all of the federal stimulussupport that’s come to governments,” he said. Nearly 70% of respondents to our survey reportedthat the job market is as or more competitivethan it was three years ago. The surpluses include the $550 billionnew federal spending programencompassed by the InfrastructureInvestment and Jobs Act, in additionto previous pandemic-related recoverybills. The new funds flowing to allbranches of government, includingstate and local, can enhance howorganizations provide services, butalso present challenges in capabilities,especially with manpower. 111010100101010100101001010111110101001010101001010010101111101010010101010010100101011111010100101010100101001010111110101001010101001010010101111101010010101010010100101011When recruiting new employees,how competitive is the job marketcompared to three years ago? 101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011“Governments have more moneythan ever before, so they’re now ableto undertake big ambitious projects,whether it’s infrastructure or technologymodernization,” said Miranda. “But todo it, you need people.” 101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011Organizations need to not only findemployees, but specifically oneswith the critical skills to address thechallenges facing governments today.More than 90% of respondents reportsome degree of difficulty – from “moderately 101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011In particular, open positions soared during thesummer and tapered off only slightly in the fall.In October 2022, the Labor Department reportedthat 10.1 million positions were open across allsectors. According to the New York Times, thatmeans 1.7 unemployed workers for each openposition, “the highest proportion on record.” difficult” to “nearly impossible” – in filling openpositions with qualified employees. 101011101010010101010010100101011The pandemic experience has caused workers torethink their priorities, change tracks, seek higher-paying positions, decide to retire or simply leavethe workforce. 101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011101011101010010101010010100101011Organizations especiallystruggle to retain employees intechnical fields, where biggerskill shortages have rampedup competition for talent. Asalways, higher salaries inthe private sector may wooemployees away from thestability they find in governmentpositions. The Partnership forPublic Service pointed to datafrom the Office of PersonnelManagement revealing thatattrition has been particularlyhighest with GS 1-4 workersand third highest with GS 5-7workers, only slightly less thanSES workers, who are likely tobe retirement age. How difficult is it for yourorganization to fill open positions? 101011101010010101010010100101011At the same time, the “silvertsunami” looms; i