President Obama highlighted in his inspiring inauguration speech how the Nation’s challenges will be met face-to-face. Key to meeting these challenges is capitalizing on renewed interest in public service and the president’s commitment to “make government cool” again. This tremendous opportunity allows us to re-brand the concept of public service, as well as reach across the generational and cultural divides in government to access the skills and passion needed to improve services.

For many years, government has been “branded” an institution that is disconnected from what should be the core spirit of public service — that government is people helping people, not bureaucratic policies and practices. In the current environment, public servants can forget that they have an active role in defining and delivering vital programs and services because individual performance and appreciation have been diminished and de-emphasized.  The truth is that people are critical to the operation of “good government.”   

Our new president made it clear that improving government’s readiness to deal with the daunting challenges at hand requires new thinking, innovation, and collaboration. From a human capital management perspective, government organizations must endeavor to recruit new talent in the workplace. They not only need to “close the deal” with new recruits, they need to effectively manage these new public servants along with the four generations of staff already doing the business of government.  

It’s exciting to see that young people are ready to change the world through public service. The Partnership for Public Service recently released a report that underscores this concept. The report titled, “Great Expectations! What Students Want in an Employer and How Federal Agencies Can Deliver It,” highlights that federal jobs are an excellent match for young job seekers interested in both doing well and good.

However, it’s not all about recruiting young talent. By helping existing employees grow and evolve in their roles, government stays dynamic and is in better in touch with its mission of serving, securing, protecting — managing through change and continuing to raise the bar on performance.

Here are some actionable steps that government can take to “be cool again”:

• Present a different image that better reflects the true value of government service to citizens and the next wave of public servant recruits. Do this by reminding every citizen that their lives are impacted by government services every day.
  
  
• Provide a renewed sense of pride for all government employees — no matter what level  — and allow them to positively impact policy and programs.
  
  
• Make public service attractive, accessible, and meaningful to those who have the talents, desire and skills to perform admirably in a tremendous range of jobs and locations.
  
  
• Utilize cutting-edge technologies for our schools, hospitals, response teams, local municipal services and military — allowing them to be more efficient and up-to-date.
  
  
• Set goals and hold employees accountable for successful outcomes.
  
  
• Create a collaborative environment between generations, agency leaders and staff, as well as between political appointees and careerists, between government and citizens. 
  
  
• Embrace private enterprise and corporate America to develop and implement sound policies and needed programs.
  
  
• Invest in training. Ensure that every employee has a career path identified and knowledge of how to navigate the steps to succeed.
  
  
• Market your agencies to the public using uplifting and exciting job announcements and easy to understand policies that are relevant to today’s “world of work.”

Simply put, government needs to recruit and nurture the type of individual who is not afraid to innovate and take risks. The most dynamic candidates see themselves as change agents, and a government job should allow them to have a direct hand in changing the way government performs by helping influence decision-making by both peers and officials.

By helping employees grow and evolve in their roles, government stays dynamic and is in better touch with its mission to serve, secure and protect.

It is possible for government to be “cool” again — and now is the time for action.  

About the Author

Ms. Ruby Butler DeMesme is the Executive Director for Human Capital Management, BearingPoint.  She is an expert on policies affecting the government today in the areas of human capital transformation, electronic government issues, military joint training, and infrastructure initiatives.  After being confirmed by the Senate as an Assistant Secretary in 1998, Ms. DeMesme directed and managed Air Force policies, programs and a $20 billion budget for Human Resource and Military Construction initiatives, Health Care (TRICARE), Installations Operations, Equal Opportunity and Military Appellate and Review Boards Programs for over 2 million active and reserve members, civilians, and families.   

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