From the summary:
The way we work is changing. While government work is becoming increasingly complex, the public sector workforce structure, designed for the clerks of the 1950s, remains relatively unchanged. Moreover, when changes are made, they tend to be reactive, creating new, permanent structures that look a lot like the old ones. Given the well-documented budgetary pressures and burgeoning debt in countries around the globe, the status quo of simply adding layers of government agencies is unsustainable.
How, then, can governments change to meet future work trends? Creating an adaptable government workforce would require providing an unprecedented degree of flexibility. To accomplish this, we could draw from a game-changing concept in the technology world: cloud computing. Major organizations and small startups alike increase their flexibility by sharing storage space, information, and resources in a "cloud". Why not move beyond computing and apply the cloud model to the workforce? A cloud-based government workforce, or GovCloud, could comprise employees who undertake creative, problem-focused work. Rather than existing in any single agency, these workers could reside in the cloud, making them truly government-wide employees. Cloud teams could be directed by thinner agencies than those that exist today. Agencies and cloud teams could be supported by government-wide shared services that prevent the establishment of new, permanent structures by assisting with ongoing, routine work.
This report details trends in work and technology that offer significant opportunities for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the government workforce. It outlines the GovCloud model and includes a tool to determine cloud eligibility as well as some future scenarios illustrating the cloud in action. Learn how GovCloud can change the face of public sector work, allowing governments to move beyond the workforce structure of yesterday in order to confront the challenges of tomorrow.
]]>The Office of Personnel Management and Merit Systems Protection Board attribute race disparities in federal employee performance ratings to rate bias. Those claims ignore research findings, particularly meta-analysis, consistently showing Black workers exhibiting worse absenteeism and other Organizational Delinquency Behaviors (ODB). Research also consistently shows blacks scoring lower than others on objective measures of job knowledge, work quantity and quality, and on work sample tests.
Research on rater race effects does not support claims that White supervisors rate Whites higher and Black supervisors rate Blacks higher. Generally, all raters rate Whites higher and Blacks lower, as predicted by the data on objective performance and ODB. Consistently, the Black-White ratings gap is narrower when raters' subjective ratings substitute for or are combined with, objective performance measures.
Finally, the paper proposes a practical stepwise approach for applying recent research findings to allegations of rater racial bias in federal and other public agencies.
]]>...But with the recession squeezing city budgets, all expenses are under scrutiny. And 311 systems, despite their popularity with both city managers and constituents, are no exception. Over the past couple of years, the costs of 311 calls and 311 call centers have received a closer look, and some of the results have been surprising....
...311 of the Future - Three Trends Worth Watching
As technology evolves, new possibilities arise for using 311 systems in more sophisticated, intelligent ways. Here are three trends 311 vendors see developing today and in the future....
1. Mobile Technologies and Social Media
2. Enterprise Approach
3. Integrated 311 and 911
See also:
A Work in Progress: Philadelphia's 311 System After One Year
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, March 2010
Some governments report savings from the program, others question the results.
Related:
Irving, Texas, saved millions as a result of Lean Six Sigma (Audio)
Source: American City and County, Vol. 127 no. 1, January 2012
From the abstract:
This case study reviews the enactment and implementation of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) in the U.S. Department of Defense. Proponents of reform seized the opportunity to enact reform in the aftermath of 9/11, basing their arguments on national security concerns. However, the policy-making process did not produce a consensus for reform among key stakeholders in the personnel management policy community. Instead, the NSPS angered and alienated the Office of Personnel Management, the public employee unions, and a number of congressional Democrats. Implementation of the NSPS became problematic as Defense Department officials attempted to move quickly and independently to get the new system online, eventually forcing the department to put the system on hold. In the end, Congress imposed limits on its implementation, advocates for the system disappeared, and a new president supported the repeal of NSPS. This case provides useful insights into the formulation of future strategies for personnel management reform.
From the abstract:
How have environmental initiatives and "going green" permeated the human resources realm? This article, through a nationwide survey, examines the extent to which cities have incorporated environmentally friendly human resource practices. Results reveal that income, education, environmental awareness and presence of preexisting successful environmental programs have an impact on technical and strategic human resource practices in U.S. cities. This article discusses the implications for public administration.
...In an ideal world, we believe, this would be a time when governmental entities would be able to devote more energy than ever to the use of analysis to make sure that the limited dollars they have to spend are used most effectively and efficiently. Sadly, our ideal world is far from the one any of us live in. In fact, states and cities seem to be moving in precisely the opposite direction. From coast to coast, the very people who have historically been responsible for this kind of thinking are finding themselves out of work. And it's far more difficult to run a smarter government if you cut out its brains one budgetary shovelful at a time....
...At its peak in 2002, the California Research Bureau (CRB) had more than 40 staffers. Now it has 16....Just north, in Washington State, the state government has been cutting back funding for its well-respected auditor's office...Go to just about anyplace that compiles studies of local and state performance or cost-effectiveness, or other reports on government activities and you'll see the dropoff in production.
]]>New York reforms its procurement practices to maintain services while lowering local government costs
Big problems call for big solutions. And so, with the states mired in historically unpleasant fiscal times, many have decided they need to go far beyond Band-Aid solutions in favor of tourniquets and transplants....But although there's a real attraction to restructuring government in a variety of ways, it's not easy. Unless these efforts can actually reduce staff, increase productivity or save money by combining back office operations, it can be like reshuffling the chairs on a leaky boat (we hesitate to use the usual cliché because we don't really think the federal government or the states are as bad off as the Titanic).
See also:
Reorganization Magic
State and local governments are questioning the need for large, centralized, costly IT departments.
Edited by Rosemary O'Leary and David M. Van Slyke Sponsored by the Phanstiel Family and the Maxwell School of Syracuse University
From the introduction:
...Our contributors offer evaluations of progress to date and chart many paths forward that reconceptualize the breadth and depth of government involvement; the multisectoral
engagement in the work of governance; and the organizational, policy, and management changes and tools that might be employed to improve decision making and results, both domestically and internationally...As this special issue of PAR goes to press, one thing is certain: public challenges are not going away. The profession and the scholarly study of public administration, while changing, will not diminish in scope and importance. In 2020, the major forces affecting public administration most likely will include globalism, security threats, aging populations, enormous budget deficits, climate change, environmental pollutants, food distribution disparities, regulatory challenges, workforce issues, and information technology. The jobs of public administrators in local, state, federal, and international organizations in most countries around the world will only become tougher, more complicated, and more challenging. It is safe to say that most public challenges will continue to be larger than one organization can handle, and that public managers will continue to do more with less. Technology will continue to flatten hierarchy, yielding changing views of leadership and management. There will be a greater role for the public, a greater need for collaborative governance, and a greater appreciation for deliberative democracy. Clearly, partnerships are at the heart of the future of public administration in 2020...
Sections include:
- Part I: 2020: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Part II: The Future of Local Government
- Part III: Public Organization of the Future
- Part IV: The Future of Strategic Management
- Part V: Have we missed the Boat on Strategic Planning?
- Part VI: The Past as Prelude: Were the Predictions of Classic Scholars Correct?
- Part VII: The Future of Public Administration as a Scholarly Field
...Launched in March 2003, 311 now fields on average more than 50,000 calls a day, offering information about more than 3,600 topics: school closings, recycling rules, homeless shelters, park events, pothole repairs. The service has translators on call to handle some 180 different languages. City officials tout a 2008 customer satisfaction survey, conducted by an outside firm, that compared 311's popularity to other call centers in both the public and private sectors. 311 finished first, barely edging out hotel and retail performance but beating other government call centers, like the IRS's, by a mile. (At the very bottom of the list, not surprisingly: cable companies.)...The 311 system has proved useful not just at detecting reliable patterns but also at providing insights when the normal patterns are disrupted. Clusters of calls about food-borne illness or sanitary problems from the same restaurant now trigger a rapid response from the city's health department. And during emergencies, callers help provide real-time insight into what's really happening.
]]>Each year NASCIO conducts a survey of the state CIOs to identify and prioritize the top policy and technology issues facing state government. The top ten priorities are identified and used as input to NASCIO's programs, planning for conference sessions, and publications.
Most cities and counties that have started using citizen relationship management systems (CRM) primarily see them as tools for managing information and requests from residents. However, the technology has broader applications. The following tips point out five ways cities and counties can use CRM technology more broadly in their operations.
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