What government leaders across the world internalized in 2020 – constant change is needed to keep pace with today’s fluid world. Now, they want their employees to internalize it as well.
Today, we released our 2021 Workplace Learning Report, where we surveyed thousands of talent developers across the globe. As part of it, we surveyed 101 government talent developers to understand the unique challenges they face in the public sector.
What are those challenges? Here are three of our biggest findings:
1. More than any particular skill, government talent developers want their employees to embrace learning.
In previous years, government talent developers were focused on building in-demand hard and soft skills, like leadership and digital fluency. While both are still important, there’s a new focus area for government talent developers –
Teaching their employees how to learn and learn quickly.
Specifically, when surveyed, government talent developers said they are most focused on building the skills of adaptability and resilience among their employees. This is a sharp change from past years, where building leadership skills was their core focus.
Intuitively, this makes sense. This past year was the most turbulent in recent memory, particularly in government, with issues coming up faster than any of us could keep up with.
The lesson government talent developers smartly took from it – this is a time of change. And rather than just focusing on each individual change, government talent developers instead want to equip employees with the skills needed to quickly adapt.
One agency’s approach: State of Nebraska
When COVID-19 first struck, the State of Nebraska knew their employees were facing unprecedented change and disruption across their professional and personal lives. They wanted to help their employees build the skills of resilience and adaptability to get through this time, while also fostering a sense of community.
So, they tried something new. Daily, the Nebraska training and development team sent out a newsletter composed of relevant blog posts and online courses that addressed issues employees were facing, written with a personal touch.
“The narrative that we included was informal, conversational, supportive and hopeful,” Nebraska Training and Development Manager Renae Prieto said. “The links we included to LinkedIn Learning courses and industry articles were important, but our ultimate goal was to provide a human connection and sense of camaraderie. I was honest about my stress with my own kids. Feeling uncomfortable in the ‘new normal.’ We wanted everyone to know that we’re all in this together and that it’s okay if you are not okay.”
Recommended courses:
- How to Be an Adaptable Employee during Change and Uncertainty
- Developing Adaptability as a Manager
- Building Resilience
- How to Train Your Brain for Maximum Growth
2. Government talent developers are focused on helping their managers become better coaches, to drive adaptability among their employees.
How are government talent developers looking to develop the skills of resilience and adaptability among their employees?
Increasingly, they said they’re curating course recommendations on the subject and assigning to all employees. But the biggest lever they are pulling is leaning on their managers.
Specifically, when surveyed, government talent developers said they are focused on improving the coaching skills of their managers, to make their employees more adaptable. Research bears this out, as coaching has been proven to build far more adaptable employees than the “command and control” approach of yesteryear.
Reason being, effective coaching empowers employees, and gives them the confidence to make smart, fast decisions. Which is exactly what’s needed in an increasingly fluid world.
One agency’s approach: City of Seattle
The City of Seattle, like most government agencies, already had a leadership development program. But beginning in 2021, coaching has become an even bigger focus within it.
Why?
“We want to empower our people leaders to actively encourage their employees’ development and for us, that starts with coaching skills,” Seattle Workforce Development Manager Jennifer Healy said. “We need to give the managers the tools to have effective development conversations and guide their employees toward their professional (and personal!) goals.”
Recommended courses:
- Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers
- Coaching and Developing Employees
- Cultivating a Growth Mindset
- Coaching Employees Through Difficult Situations
3. Diversity and inclusion has stepped into the spotlight.
While it shook the whole world, the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed particularly shook the world of government. The message was clear – no longer would the world accept discrimination from its public servants.
Government leaders heeded the call, as government talent developers said that 66% of their executives have now made diversity and inclusion a top priority at their agency. Additionally, 39% of government talent developers said they will release a new diversity and inclusion program in 2021.
Clearly, for any government agency to be successful moving forward, it needs to embody a culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging. The data shows most government talent developers are committed to building those skills within their employees; right now, it’s just about the how.
One agency’s approach: City of Austin
The City of Austin is one such agency launching a new DIBS program this year. The focus, according to Organizational Development Manager Donna Stephans, is to transcend merely just having a diverse staff.
Instead, Austin’s goal is to create a culture where all city employees feel like they belong. And then, working off that base, for all government employees to treat all Austin residents in a way where they feel they belong as well.
To get a sense of where their people were, this past fall Austin conducted listening sessions across all of its departments, involving more than 1,400 employees. Additionally, they sent out an employee survey to understand employee sentiment on these issues.
From that, they came up with a three-pronged approach –
- A training for all employees that details Austin’s own troubled past with racism and then dives into how employees can remove their own implicit bias, to ensure history doesn’t repeat.
- An inclusive leadership training for people managers and executives, which outlines how to create a culture where all employees feel like they belong.
- Lastly, a grassroots champions program. Employees passionate about this issue can apply and become advocates for belonging within their departments. So far, 75 people have become champions.
“We realize this is the place and the time,” Stephans said. “And we’ll be able to move the needle in a way we haven’t been able to in years.”
Recommended courses:
- Unconscious Bias
- Skills for Inclusive Conversations
- Managing a Diverse Team
- Developing a Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Program
Want to learn more?
This was a cursory look at just some of the data featured in our 2021 Workplace Learning Report. Additionally, in it are the stories of talent developers across the world who have effectively addressed these challenges within their organizations.
