Human Resources In Government

With budget cuts, layoffs, reorganizations, and associated turmoil, I’ve heard that some organizations are choosing to postpone or completely cut out long-standing leadership development efforts.  For the last decade we’ve talked so much about succession planning, talent management, and employee development.  Now, within a six month period, our twitch-speed attention spans have shifted to survival mode, forgoing many of the initiatives we’ve been saying are important. 

I understand the need to live within our means–I do it daily with my own checkbook.  Still, I can’t help but wonder what consequences public agencies will experience by losing focus on such important initiatives.  Aren’t the veterans and baby boomers still going to retire (or at least leave the organization)  in the relatively near future?  Is anyone worried about the preparedness of the public sector workforce in terms of  leadership capacity? 

Your thoughts?

Last week the voters of California rejected five initiatives designed to close next year’s budget gap. According to the State’s Legislative Analyst, next year’s budget deficit is estimated at $24 billion (out of a $92 billion General Fund). There has been a great deal of speculation in the media why the voters decided, by overwhelming margins to vote down the proposal, which would have (allegedly) resulted in a balanced budget. Conservatives suggest that the vote was a signal to the liberals against new taxes; liberals argue that it was a message to the legislature and Governor that they need to take care of the people’s business and not reallocate previous voter approved funds from several programs to the State’s General Fund. At this point, the reasons are irrelevant.

Moreover, Washington has made it clear that there will be no bailout forthcoming.

Cleary the situation has reached a point that all the solutions under consideration will result in significant reductions in public services – from education, to public safety and public health. No programs regardless of its constituency are likely to escape huge reductions. Cities, counties and special district throughout the State are now preparing their budgets for next year; those budgets will include layoffs of large numbers of employees, wage and benefit freezes and reductions in direct program areas as well.

On a larger scale, both Democrats and Republicans are considering asking the voters to authorize a state constitutional convention. That should have happened years ago. Even Proposition 13 is on the table for review.

Human Resources Directors and staff will be called upon to provide leadership, fresh ideas and stability in an unstable environment. I hope that no HR Director in California has to bang on the decision maker’s door to get a seat at the table. Similarly, we have to live up to the expectations and be willing to tackle difficult situations with honesty, integrity and ethics. Are we ready?

In a follow-up to the November 2008 survey, IPMA-HR conducted a second survey from April 28 to May 13, 2009 asking members what actions they have taken and expect to take to address the economic downturn.

Only four percent of respondents said they expect to take no action in the next 12 months.

“These results underscore the pivotal role for public sector HR professionals.  As noted in both surveys, public agencies now, more than ever, have to aggressively manage their single greatest expense, the payroll and associated ‘headcount.’  To do otherwise is to avoid reality,” said Joe Lunt, IPMA-CP, the Association’s President and Personnel Director for the City of Shreveport, Louisiana. “The challenges for public sector HR professionals will endure, if not escalate, as the economic downturn continues to seek a firm bottom,” continued Mr. Lunt.

* 682 respondents completed the survey

During my thirty-two year career in local government, elected officials would ask me why can’t the human resources management system be more like the private sector?  Generally, I would respond by gently suggesting that they had the power and authority to change the system should they have the political will to do so.  That response would bring a quick end to the conversation.

Do we really want local government to operate more like the private sector?  Are we ready to abandon a system of values including fairness, equity, due process and transparency, which have been at the core of government for many years?  The current economic crisis with the failure of some of the most progressive, well-respected companies in the world suggests to me that “being more like them” doesn’t serve the public interest.  

Ironically, as our Country works through the current economic crisis, it’s the government that has come to the aide of the private sector!  And though government intervention, some of the business practices of the private sector have come to light, particularly in the area of executive compensation.  

I hope one of the outcomes of the economic crisis is an end to the mistaken belief that government ought to operate more like a business and less like a government.  The goals and objective of government are far different; we serve a broad constituency with high expectations for services.

So have you heard about the “goverati?” The term sort of reminds me of “The Borg,” for your Trekkies out there. 

To quote Mark Drapeau, who coined the term, it describes people who are familiar with government, how it works, and understand new social technologies to foster a more transparent, participatory and collaborative government.

Whew! All that with a ‘Berry or an iPhone? My oh my…

As someone who can remember the tolling of the administrative death knell when IBM Selectrics replaced Smith-Coronas, allow me a bit of well-earned skepticism.

Sure, technology affects how we do our business, no question. But isn’t our business people, and hasn’t it always been? When the tech gets in between public HR practitioners and their clients, is that really a good thing?

Most of us have probably been exposed to government “2.0″ by now. People in meetings twittering each other. Using texts and emails to displace face-to-face meetings. Cute? Under some circumstances. Clever? Only if removing ourselves from the client is.

I’ll own being old-fashioned, but fashion doesn’t change the nature of our business. We deal in and with people. It’s messy, chaotic, often aimless. Worse still, for some, it’s charged with emotion. And no matter how connected you are, you can’t deal effectively with emotions on an iPhone.

Me, I’d just as soon throw the Blackberries out the window when it comes to public HR practice. Our clients deserve the best they can get, and I just don’t think that’s ever going to be anything digital.

We’re all getting into the social networking thing these days. It’s fun to use Facebook to reconnect with old friends. Twitter is allowing me to follow Lance Armstrong’s attempt to reach the top of the cycling world once again. But can we use this hip new technology for something as mundane as performance reviews? Jena McGregor in this week’s Business Week says it’s being done.

According to McGregor, private firms, including Accenture, have developed a Facebook-like application which allows employees to post status updates and weekly goals. Managers can pose questions and comments related to employee performance. It’s real-time feedback that today’s employees crave and this technology provides the tools–supposedly.  Accenture is hoping to sell its software to outside clients once its ready.  They say the software is more about motivating employees than about evaluating them.

But could something like this work in the public sector? Most of the performance management systems I see are form-driven events that are more painful than developmental. Managers avoid giving feedback until they have to (if at all).  Employees have learned that “no news is good news.”  Could a real-time review system using today’s web-based tools be the answer to these long-standing problems with performance evaluations in the public sector?

As a manager you’ve probably faced some tough employee situations. Many of those “tough” situations often involve an employee not doing what you expect them to do or not delivering on what they were hired to produce. These situations are tough because they require you to have a conversation to address the issue. And, in these tight economic times, you and your organization cannot afford poor performance. Yet, many managers would rather avoid the conversation, waiting to see if the issue will resolve itself. Are you one of those who avoid the tough conversations?

Lesson #1: Employee performance problems rarely, if ever, resolve themselves!

Let’s face it. Having performance-related conversations comes with the job of being a leader. If you don’t address issues that impact productivity and morale, who will? One of your many roles as a manager must be to have the “tough” conversations when necessary so that the work group and the organization can function effectively. The first step is to own this responsibility and stop putting off the hard work. Management takes courage. It takes guts.

This month you are probably setting goals for your work group, your employees and maybe for yourself. One of those personal goals might be to have the tough conversations that you’ve been putting off. Think about the impact you can have on individuals, as well as the team, if you just begin the conversation. In the months ahead, I’ll offer more ideas for having those painless performance conversations. For now, have the guts to get started.

Suddenly everybody’s a compensation expert.  All they gotta do is read about another round of AIG pay awards, hit a couple clicks on Wiki, and voila:  people talk compa ratios, wage indexes, market ratios, base, participation, points on action, and the oh-so-stupefying “retention bonuses”.

Raise your hands:  who wants to work in the AIG comp division right now?

But while we may taste a bit of sweet watching a complicated, basically uncontrolled pay plan implode, we public sector HR practitioners need to take a deep breath and admit, at least to ourselves, that we’ve done pretty much the same thing, but maybe on a lesser scale.

It’s been different jobs at different times, but we’ve chased our own dragons.  Since I got in our business, that’s included engineers, IT (the job family formerly known as data processing), and most recently, at least since 9/11,  fire and police (perhaps the subject of a future post).

Specialness is rarely more than cute, and in organizational dynamics as well as pay, it cuts both ways.  We may be doing our agencies a service each time we suggest, gently or otherwise, that the organization consists of people with equal needs, despite different contributions.

But then, that kind of view is what HR is all about, right?

It’s almost a waste of keystrokes to say these are uncertain times. We hear it everyday. No matter what level of government you serve in, you’ve probably experienced economic ups and downs lately and your employees are probably asking or at least wondering:

• Is my job safe?
• Is the agency financially sound?
• What does the future hold?

In these scary times of budget cuts and layoffs, employees look to you, the Human Resources representative, for the critical information they crave. The reality is that you may not know the answers to their questions. Still, your responses send strong emotional signals about your ability to lead under pressure. Before you quickly attempt to respond to those answerless questions remember:

• We’re all human and humans naturally have fears. Don’t be surprised or take it personally if you are met with tears, anger, or other strong emotions. Everyone reacts in their own way during times of uncertainty.
• Tell them all you know. Hiding details or facts from employees rarely benefits anyone. And, employees eventually find out the full truth (often from the media). If you haven’t been 100% up front with the details from the beginning, your lack of transparency will work against you in the future. Guaranteed.
• Admit that you don’t know. In this environment no one knows all the facts or all the possible outcomes. The best thing you can do is to admit what you don’t know and let them know when you expect to have more information.
• Create a centralized “place” for keeping employee up-to-date. We know that employee communications is a central part of our role in human resources. Still, in these times, it’s even more critical to have a central place (website, hotline, Facebook page, whatever) where employees can find the most current information. A centralized spot for information also cuts down on the potential for rumors and gossip.
• Redefine your expectations for performance. Today we are faced with an opportunity to redefine performance expectations for each job. Employees need to know what will differentiate them from others. This is the perfect time to talk about superior performance and how to achieve it. Employees need to know what it is and your organization needs it now more than ever.

Finally, approach these conversations (and these difficult times) as an opportunity to focus on your own personal growth. It’s not going to be easy. You can choose to muddle through in a reactionary way or you can choose to learn new ways to be efficient, develop new skills, and develop the confidence you’ll need to successfully navigate these tough times. Choose to grow.

Public employers understand the many angles to the healthcare question. As employers they provide benefits to employees and their dependents sometimes well into retirement. They also administer workers compensation programs and comply with health and safety regulations. As public servants, they see state and local budgets hit by the high cost of providing healthcare to the uninsured. The February 24, 2009, issue of the Washington Post has no fewer than three stories on healthcare, leading with President Barack Obama’s plan to make healthcare reform his top fiscal priority.

One of the other two articles is about an agreement between Ford Motor Co. and the UAW on how to fund retiree health benefits. Unfortunately, what’s touted as a potential model for other car companies does not translate to the public sector. The agreement, which has yet to be ratified, calls for paying part of the cost of retiree health benefits in stock rather than with cash.

The third article that caught my eye was about a program in Howard County, Md., designed to provide health insurance at a very low cost (around $50 per month) to the uninsured. The Howard County program is one of only two such programs in the country, and while it may sound like an excellent idea, there is a problem—not enough people are enrolling. There are three reasons for this low enrollment: first, there is no extra money even for the small premium payment; second, there is a belief that insurance isn’t necessary because the individual is young and healthy; and finally, people don’t know the program exists.

Public HR professionals, because of their unique position in the community, should make their voices heard on the healthcare debate. What are some problems and what are some possible solutions? What would make it possible to continue to provide some level of benefits to retirees while maintaining the fiscal soundness of state and local budgets? Is universal healthcare the answer, and if so, are there concerns unique to the public sector that we should tell lawmakers about? The IPMA-HR Healthcare Taskforce recently came up with several principles to help guide the debate. We would welcome your input as well. Click here for more information.