Cutting the Future
Of course local government is suffering under
the sad cocktail of a general economic downturn, a cut the
size of the government mantra and a
zeal to limit or lower taxes (especially on property).
So what else is new? In the HR Doctors career of 35
years as a city and county HR director and a chief
administrative officer, there have been repeated cycles of
Cut government. No, wait, add
new government programs. The cycle looks like an EKG
strip in a cardiologists office.
The current reduction trend however, is
likely to remain in our future for several years. The hope
however, is that the cutting doesnt become mindless, wanton,
and designed to mortgage our future, condemning our kids and
grand-kids to live in a less civil
society.
The future state of public administration is,
without doubt, the most compelling of all HR and public
administration issues. Elected officials serve for limited
terms. County and city managers come and go. Most bureaucrats
come to realize later in their careers that they only rent
their chairs from the taxpayers. We are all replaceable.
Despite all of this, there remains one
absolutely compelling urgency towards being a good steward of
the public interest long-term: that is to plant seeds now to
create a future where government leaders are full of hope,
optimism, respect and innovation. That objective can only be
fulfilled when we make investments in the career development
of others. Without that investment, administration decays in
the same way that bridges, roadways and buildings decay.
If creating this future is the real
imperative in public excellence, why is it that one of the
first thoughts of those responsible for putting numbers in
Excel spreadsheets for budgets, accounting or auditing often
point first to the opportunity to cut training, internships,
employee education and supervisory development?
A short-term whack in the budget a change
at the expense of the future is frequently a very poor
long-term choice. We come to look back and realize what could
have been, and how our actions late one night before a budget
deadline create, in effect, administrative malpractice years
later.
A time of fiscal distress and worry about the
future is the very best time to reinvigorate the organization
with internships, volunteer opportunities, youth employment
programs, supervisory training, and mandatory programs for
personal accountability and personal behavioral excellence in
government.
Usually cutting budgets also has the effect
of cutting morale. There are fears of layoffs, furloughs, pay
cuts, benefit slashes, as well as fears about how programs
will be maintained. Out of the fear comes uncertainty and the reduced
willingness to risk innovation. The very employees with
valuable experience and knowledge about how to do things
better become reluctant to step up to accept new
responsibility for change. They worry about what the change
might mean for them and their families. In fact, a crisis is
exactly the time when the stepping up concept itself needs
to be stepped up in the organization.
This articles defense of training and
development absolutely does not mean simply continuing
programs the way they have gone before. In fact, as in many
areas of public service, including HR, just doing things the
way they have always been done leads to a build-up of rust
and barnacles on the hull of the USS Local Government.
This is also a time to innovate in how training is done. It is
a time to reduce costs and make training more meaningful and
less mindlessly repetitive.
There are many ways to do this, however they
all begin with asking questions. Does the current training
program equip the organization to defend a lawsuit or other
challenge after a critical incident such as workplace
violence? Do we have clear policies, in which employees have
been trained? Does every supervisor know not to walk by
something wrong? Are we in a position to say we have a
mandatory supervisory academy? In fact, no one should be
promoted to supervisor without having to complete the academy
curriculum. Do the training programs measurably reflect
enhanced public service?
Are we able to say that our training programs
are delivered with a great respect for peoples time and the
avoidance of overtime costs? Can we say that we use multimedia
approaches that make training available online at 3 a.m. for
insomniac firefighters as well as in a classroom with 25
semi-conscious employees? In fact, is the training presented
in an interesting, compelling way so that people emerge more
awake and aware at the end of the program than when they first
entered the room?
Does each personnel file contain signed
receipts by employees acknowledging that they are aware of key
policies in the organization, received training about them and
accept their responsibilities under those policies? The latter
will include non-discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying
and violence prevention and intervention as well as
organizational ethics, conflict of interest prevention and the
proper use of government property.
The assessment of where we are in our
training efforts represents a GPS waypoint. By knowing
where we are, we can create the vision of future plans to do
more, better and more effective training for the same or less
money.
That more better, less cost model may be
achievable through partnerships with other agencies. After
all, these agencies also have very similar if not identical
training needs. It may be achievable through collaboration
efforts with local colleges and universities. This is
especially true of the growing capabilities of public
community colleges.
Success may be possible through partnerships
with private businesses in the area
which also have training needs, facilities and
resources government agencies may not have readily available.
There can be a public-private sharing of cost. For many
agencies it may involve cost-effective consulting arrangements
to help in the design and conduct of training. The HR Doctor
would be more than happy to provide such an arrangement fully
appreciating the cost concerns. The latter may even involve
major training activities such as semi-annual management
stand-down days in which current practices can be reviewed,
updated and presented, often by an outside speaker, in a
compelling context which would not
occur otherwise in the press of day-to-day business.
Stepping back from the urgency of an instant
budget fix, it is very important to recognize the need to be a
Johnny Appleseed administrator. Looking for opportunities to
build capacity for the future makes attention to training and
development more important now than ever before.
This importance is further
evidenced by recognizing what will happen soon, as huge
numbers of baby boomers leave the workplace. They will
leave in the hands of the next generation of employees the
stewardship of public programs. A huge number of air traffic
controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration, for
example, are now eligible for retirement. Imagine that
you are on what the airlines regrettably refer to as final
approach to an airport in a jumbo jet where the air traffic
control staff is full of rather new employees just out of air
traffic controller fantasy camp.
This is not a pleasant scenario for
passengers to think about, but perhaps it brings home the
importance of training and development even when we think its
not affordable. In fact, what is really not affordable in
serving the public is to risk malpractice by failing to plan
for and create an affirmative public service future.
Phil Rosenberg The HR Doctor http://www.hrdr.net/
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