Neil ReichenbergThe following post is courtesy of one of our newest board members, Neil Reichenberg.  Neil is the Executive Director of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR).  IPMA-HR is a nonprofit membership organization representing public sector human resource managers and professionals, undertaking research on human resource issues, as well as providing professional development, education, and information on pending legislation and regulations affecting HR issues.

March Madness started early for me this year, as I caught seven men's college basketball games in three days at a conference tournament. During the hoopla, I thought about the importance of talent management (perhaps heightened since my Terps did not win the championship), whether it is for a college basketball team or an employer in any sector of the economy. While it is important to recruit and select the best available talent, ensuring that, once selected, they are developed, engaged, and led effectively are critical to success.

Having worked for the past 35 years for a human resources association whose members are employed in human resource management in the public sector, I know that the governmental sector faces the same challenges as the private sector. The public sector also faces the additional challenges of fewer employees than prior to the start of the recession, continuing budget pressures, growing citizen demands, an aging workforce resulting in a large number of retirements, and increasing criticism from political leaders. Government at all levels provide critical services that impact everyone and they need to remain employers of choice in order to continue to provide services in ever challenging environment.

A recent report, “Creating People Advantage in the Public Sector,” which was released by the Boston Consulting Group, stated that “many countries are experiencing a crisis in public-sector human resource management stemming from mounting pressures on a number of fronts.” The report calls for government to take steps to enhance the ways in which they recruit, train, and manage talent and for those working in human resource management to become strategic partners. The three areas the report found requiring urgent action in public sector HR are: 1) talent management and leadership, 2) engagement, behavior, and culture management, and 3) HR strategy planning and analytics.

These challenges are similar to those found in several research projects undertaken by the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) where I work. To highlight a few:

Following my first board meeting with The Workforce Institute in December, it's apparent that many of these same pain points from the public sector - talent management, training, succession planning, engagement, and use of analytics - are echoed in the private sector.

How are organizations - private or public - combatting these challenges? We'd love to hear what you're working on to prepare for the future.

covey priorities matrix-for-job-aidsMarch Madness?  Those of you who follow me know I'm not much of a sports aficionado, so I'm not referring to the college basketball tournament.  My madness is due to  yesterday being the first day of spring, and I'm still looking at piles still frozen snow outside of my window where temperatures languish at levels inhospitable to human happiness.  Three days out of the next ten are likely to produce more snow according to the Weather Channel.  I ordered lavender, dahlias and blueberry bushes from a garden catalog this week and hope that the ground will be thawed by the time they arrive for planting.

Yup - this is a time of year when we yearn for the balmy days of spring and summer ahead while we continue to deal with the dim grey reality of early spring in New England.  We are 9 weeks away from our next national 3-day weekend holiday and we have to stay strong.  One way to get out of the doldrums is to give yourself something to be excited about at work (beyond that distant long weekend).

For most organizations, the first quarter is about to end. What progress have you made on those innovative projects you said you were going to do this year? The chart here comes from Stephen Covey's wildly popular book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".  Originally published in 1989, this book is still worth reading 25 years later. The chart's a tool to help you think about how you're investing your time, especially the kind of time that actually helps you make progress.  Quadrant II represents the time you invest in the short term that is intended to produce results in the longer term - planning, exercising, connecting with others who matter to you at work and home, envisioning the path to your longer term objectives.

How much of your time are you making for the "important but not urgent" work?  That's where innovation and personal growth flourish and boredom gives way to optimism about the future.

Nothing to do with the world of work, but is cracking me up this week:

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHvExOg4NI0&w=560&h=315]

We're reading this week:

Bring The Customer (Literally, Sort of) To Your Meeting http://ow.ly/uF6RS via @hrbartender

The comeback of #manufacturing and the future it holds for all Americans: http://ow.ly/uHIFv #WeAreMFG

Top 5 Things Employees Need To Be Happy And Productive http://ow.ly/uHJwr via @AOLJobs

Trademarks of a great boss: Empower your people http://ow.ly/uKfCt via @SBLeaders

Are Millennial Employees Truly Different, or Just Younger? http://ow.ly/uMOzS via @TLNT_com

Kronites are writing about:

New Time Well Spent #Cartoon: http://ow.ly/uF5vV #KPIs #marchmadness

RT @SmarterCafe: Whether you agree w/ #FLSA changes on #overtime or not @KronosInc helps you pay employees accurately http://ow.ly/uOXT0

Zero Hours Contracts - Are We One Step Closer To A Truly Agile Workforce? http://ow.ly/uKnnN via @simonmacpherson @KronosUK

Is Technophobia Preventing Your Business From Reaching Its Full Potential? http://ow.ly/uMRYM via @simonmacpherson

When is Absence a Good Thing? http://ow.ly/uMO9w via @fmoreno44

Today's Kronos Virtual Conference Camera Obscura http://ow.ly/uOXGJ via @SmarterCafe

Scotty, beam me more headcount http://ow.ly/uOXJe via @SmarterCafe

Watch what you will experience at #KronosWorks 2014: http://ow.ly/uF8l6. Register now: ow.ly/uF7XG

Kronos Awarded U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance Workforce Management Contract http://ow.ly/uHI4i

How do you gain insights from #bigdata that will provide real value to your business? http://ow.ly/uMNH5 pic.twitter.com/LGKq9n6yGs

 

 

 

 

 

Though I possess no sports fan genes whatsoever, even I know we're in the midst of March Madness.  Everybody's making their picks and excited about the outcome of the tournament.  (Is that what you even call it?)

I, on the other hand, am struggling with March Malaise.  The snow and rain just keep coming.  You've heard  that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  If this source is correct, the origin of the expression comes from the stars.  Specifically, March begins as the Constellation Leo is crossing toward the meridian. Leo is the Lion. As Leo marches away, the Constellation Aries begins to rise toward the end of the month. Aries is the ram."

Hmmm, this weather certainly feels more ram-y, then lamb-y to me.  And on top of that, we don't have another federal holiday until Memorial Day weekend - another nine weeks away.  In Punxsutawney,  they're even suing groundhog Phil in over his inaccurate forecast of the arrival of spring.  I predict the first day the temperature goes above 60 degrees here in Massachusetts, we're going to have a lot of desperate people suddenly "coming down with something".

If you're despairing of ever seeing the sun again, perhaps you can put your agitation to good use and peruse the following...

Turn the Big Game Into a Reason to Come to Work - Friday Distraction: http://www.hrbartender.com/2013/employee/turn-the-big-game-into-a-reason-to-come-to-work-friday-distraction/

Ten Apps to Increase Your HR Work Productivity: http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/HR-Administration/HR-Strategy/zns-10-apps-increase-HR-work-productivity

How Should We Measure Clouds?: http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/software/how-should-we-measure-clouds/240151231

To Build Trust in Cloud Engagements, Ask These 3 Questions: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/03/19/business-cloud/

Companies Turning to Tools to Manage Contingent Labor: http://www.workforce.com/article/20130319/NEWS02/130319980/companies-turning-to-tools-to-manage-contingent-labor#

Play or Pay with Obamacare: http://www.tlnt.com/2013/03/20/play-or-pay-with-obamacare-employers-wonder-which-way-to-go/

Against the collaborative workspace: http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2013/03/14/an-office-of-ones-own/

Is Leading While Learning Really Effective http://ow.ly/j9ujB via @hrbartender

Look For Employees With High EQ Over IQ http://ow.ly/j9tPm via @Forbes

5 Reasons Telecommuting Is Still Beneficial To Your Employees http://ow.ly/j9v5W via @blogging4jobs

Why Hopeful Employees Are 14% More Productive http://ow.ly/jcSAX via @HPGoodNews

Pushing the Boundaries of the Workplace http://ow.ly/jcTdy via @nytimes

5 Easy Ways To Motivate - And Demotivate - Employees http://ow.ly/jcTsD via @Forbes

The True Power of Treating Employees Right? Customers Will Benefit, Too http://ow.ly/jfdEi via @TLNT_com

RT @mikewcassidy: More evidence that analytics drives better decision making and financial performance. #kronos http://ow.ly/jirq5

Whose Job Is It To Help the Bad Fits? http://ow.ly/jhLPI via @Conferenceboard

Kronites are writing about:

New Time Well Spent #Cartoon: http://ow.ly/j9pTM #ACA #AffordableCareAct

Real Time Information - Are you ready? http://ow.ly/j9qwD via @simonmacpherson @KronosUK

The Madness of Lost Productivity http://ow.ly/j9Uyg via @SmarterCafe #marchmadness

RT @Jacquifenn: Retail Week Live 2013 - review of the event by @andrewbusby http://ow.ly/jirxf

Talking with @williamtincup and @sharlyn_lauby (@hrbartender) about #mobile workforce management http://ow.ly/jfc3u via @WF_Institute

Did you know we can test your Kronos system to figure out its stress level & help prevent system failure & data loss? http://ow.ly/jcZJp

Join Me For Leading Workforce Management Event http://ow.ly/jfiQb via @simonmacpherson @KronosUK #KronosLive

RT @SmarterCafe: #NASA rover #Curiosity a-bandoned and a-scared on #Mars. Needs a software update. http://ow.ly/jfigA

RT @smartercafe: #Bigdata or small, your workforce data can save you BIG. http://ow.ly/ji9NN #Kronos

@ClemsonNews Adds More Innovation in Workforce Management with @kronos http://ow.ly/j9rOv

RT @KronosUKRetail: Join us at #KronosLive EMEA! Sessions include how #bigdata & #analytics are shaping the future: http://ow.ly/jb0kq

Pay or play? Determining your company's best solution to the #AffordableCareAct #ACA: http://ow.ly/j9voV

#KronosLive 2013: You're invited to a FREE local customer event! Register now: http://ow.ly/j9wCn

Interested in speaking at #KronosWorks13? Speakers receive complimentary conference registration! Sign up now: http://ow.ly/j9xEq

Kronos Survey Reveals Nurse Fatigue is Pervasive in Healthcare & Directly Linked to On-the-Job Errors http://ow.ly/jfbey #AONE2013

Live Demo: Workforce Ready Time & Attendance http://ow.ly/jhvXy Tuesdays 1-2pm ET.

#Kronos Tips & Tricks! See what's new in KnowledgePass: http://ow.ly/jhwpo

Taking the Kronos Cloud Tour: FREE. Value of taking it: PRICELESS. http://ow.ly/jhx3c #cloud #KronosCloud

Experience Workforce Innovation That Works at #KronosLive 2013 http://ow.ly/jhxcs

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