Winning the war for talent: Part I--the challenges: the impending retirement boom and resulting worker shortage is one of many workforce challenges facing government agencies of all types and at all types.

• Author: Lavigna, Bob
• Position: Management & Careers

In many organizations, it has almost become a cliche that "people are our most important resource." The term "human resources" has even evolved into "human capital" to reflect the belief that employees are assets we must invest in, not resources that we use up. In other words, people are just as important (or even more important) as the financial assets shown on balance sheets.

Nowhere is the need for talented people more critical than in the public sector. Simply put, to succeed, government must have good people. Today, government agencies of all types and at all levels are engaged in a war for talent. Some agencies may not have faced up to this reality yet. If not, they are in denial. The public service faces an unprecedented onslaught of workforce challenges, including:

* A looming worker shortage caused by the impending retirement boom;

* A negative public image resulting from decades of government bashing;

* Changing employee attitudes about jobs and careers;

* Rapid change (e.g., in technology and the work we do) that requires new skills;

* Budget problems that limit compensation and financial incentives;

* Continued inability to effectively deal with poor performers; and

* Complicated, slow, and user-unfriendly personnel and human resource systems.

Compounding these problems are the even greater budget struggles ahead, the specter of privatization and outsourcing, and the growing call for government to be accountable and produce measurable results. In this complex environment, it's no wonder that government agencies face big challenges recruiting, developing, and retaining talent.

While the entire public sector faces this tough landscape, the financial community is particularly vulnerable because of the relative scarcity of talented financial professionals and the tough competition with the private sector to hire and retain them.

U.S. Comptroller General David Walker frames the challenge in the following terms: "[We] ... need to transform what government does and how it does business in the 21st century. Most agencies must come to grips with the fact that some of their most basic policies, processes, and procedures are years out of date. In the human capital area ... managers need to identify their own workforce needs and do a better job of recruiting and empowering employees, and recognizing and rewarding performance.... Modernizing the government's human capital policies and practices may mean the difference between success and failure in this war for talent."

In this, the first of two articles on public sector workforce issues, the focus is on the challenges--the bad news. In the next article, we will discuss the solutions--the good news--by highlighting specific examples of how government agencies are strategically and proactively adopting creative new solutions to attract, develop, and retain talent.

THE LOOMING WORKER SHORTAGE

The...