Can Government Hiring Get Out of the Stone Age?

Can Government Hiring Get Out of the Stone Age?

Source: GOVERNING the States and Localities, February 2016

In the February 2016 issue of GOVERNING the States and Localities Katherine Barrett and Richard Green ask “Can Government Hiring Get Out of the Stone Age?”

Noting that “Urgency or not, many governments are locked in antiquated systems and outdated processes that stand in the way of bringing in the best and brightest. At a time when state budgets are loosening their strings and dormant programs are being refreshed, human resources departments are faced with the need to focus on improving their capacity to hire and to retain employees. Many governments are finding that if they want to hire the next generation of public employees, they’ll need to shift from the old ways of doing business.”

So what are states and localities to do? ask the authors. They then proposed and explain suggested changes in the following 10 key areas:

Enhancing benefits;

Loosening civil service requirements;

Reexamining minimum qualifications;

Changing your own expectations;

Recruiting online (and not just on your website);

Beefing up your technology;

Getting serious about interns;

Focusing on military vets; and

Changing the conversation.

The article is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-government-hiring-best-practices.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_content=email&utm_campaign=February%3A%20Number%20of%20state%20budget%20analysts%20decline%2C%20housing%20the%20homeless%20and%20more&utm_term=Help%20Wanted