Avid readers of any daily paper have been inundated with news of the Great Resignation and, at the same time, covered as a phenomenon experienced by the private sector. Recently, according to the Rockafeller Institute, we’ve learned that agencies see the same trend. Driven by the pandemic, retirement, and other employment options, these leavers have left behind open positions and possibly overworked staff members.
According to Liz Farmer of the Rockafeller Institute, “state and local government employment peaked at nearly 20 million workers until the onset of the pandemic, resulting in the sector losing 1.5 million jobs. About 607,000 positions have come back, but state and local governments are still 928,000 below where they were before the COVID-19 crisis hit.” Farmer continues, “While other sectors are also experiencing higher quit rates, only the government and the leisure and hospitality sectors are now consistently seeing actual worker declines.”
Many agencies are already running with low headcount. These trends are worrisome for those that remain, executive staff, residents, and, yes, even vendors. What can they do to keep staff members in their positions?
Provide Flexible Tools Such as ECM
While it's usually impossible to change the mind of a staff member who is leaving over salary, promotions, vacations, or politics, some ways of working can be encouraged by the agency, such as:
WFH- When staff has tools that allow them to work anytime, anywhere––securely, this will enable them to do their job, serving the residents without a daily commute. Laserfiche solutions provide access to business-critical information regardless of location - whether that be in the office or working remotely. Agencies are leveraging ECM solutions to increase workflow efficiency, storage, security, and compliance and simplify the flow of business information in areas such as Public Records Requests, permitting, business licensing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, human resources, and contract collaboration.
Automate IG processes- Your average government knowledge worker may not know the ins and outs of records management and compliance, especially newer tools implemented during the pandemic. Information governance policy automation with tools like Laserfiche is vital for organizations to maintain compliance. Organizations adopting collaborative applications have APIs, enabling document capture from the tool or a shared network folder. Retention schedules and security controls can be applied via templates to speed up document search.
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