Government needs to develop employees as much as the private sector does

I came across this short summary of 20 trends in human resources put together by the Official Board. Although written from a corporate perspective, these trends are relevant to government reform efforts. I have long argued that managing in a government (federal, state or local) is more difficult than managing in most private sector companies. You have many of the same customer, workplace, and organizational complexities to deal with (e.g. rapid technology change, escalating customer expectations, workforce issues) and you have to manage in a fishbowl.  The public, press, and politicians watch everything you do.

Human resources and government reform are often not talked about together. We won’t have efficient and effective government without the appropriate talent working for government. The human resource trends that stood out for me are the competition for talent and the need to develop talent. Government must put the more effort into recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining that talent. That is no small task given the government culture where HR which is transaction and compliance oriented and not strategic.