Quote of the week
“Gaps in competency data may be hindering workforce planning…”
— Government Business Council
Editor’s Corner
A report by the Government Business Council in the U.S. called Planning for a Robust Federal Workforce surveyed federal government leaders to get their views on how long-term workforce planning is working.
Some of its findings might be of interest to governments in Canada looking to implement improved talent management systems.
What the study found was simple: there isn’t enough good long-term workforce planning happening in their organizations.
Managers reported that they too often have to depend on informal or incomplete information when planning talent management. Tools they have include personal notes and blank spreadsheets, to give two examples: the fact is that only 22 percent have access to organizational-wide talent management software.
Similarly, managers indicated they don’t have data on employee competencies: 34% said their agencies don’t collect this data at all and 24% said it’s only collected informally.
Talent management is about anticipating what human resources or human capital is needed in an organization, and then planning to meet those needs.
It’s not just about moving people; it’s about knowing what competencies are or will be required where (future) and knowing who has them (now), and then preparing (training and development).
Effective talent management in government needs to be an organized, system-wide approach in which data on people’s competencies, development needs, and progress toward meeting them can be tracked.
What the U.S. study shows is that government organizations in the U.S. are not good at this. Canadian governments can learn from them and to do better.
