Optimizing the Federal Workforce to Meet the Challenges of Tomorrow

In March of 2021, the Government Accountability Office released its report on high-risk areas within the federal government. Each area selected by the GAO calls attention to areas where there is suspected fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement or because that area is “in need of transformation to address economy, efficiency or effectiveness challenges.”

Strategic Human Capital Management, or HCM, was a new addition to the list. 

Among other reasons, HCM was added to the GAO’s list as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the recent spate of resignations in government. Additionally, the GAO highlighted that HCM efforts have not gone far enough when it comes to addressing critical skills gaps like those pertaining to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and cybersecurity.

“Historically, the federal government has not experienced a shortage of talent, or even skill gaps widely across the workforce. But macro-level impacts have caused this situation to change quite rapidly. Agencies are beginning to realize as more people are leaving their workforce, they do not possess enough talent with adequate skills to support their evolving mission,” says Michelle Oltmans, Federal Solutions Strategist at Workday.

For agencies, addressing this talent gap is critical business, because not only does it threaten greater economic prosperity, but it threatens an agency’s ability to deliver on mission-critical objectives. To resolve these shortfalls, public agencies should look to workforce optimization, a strategy that promotes the automation of essential functions like data collection, so that human resources teams can make data-driven decisions regarding hiring, retention and upskilling.

To learn more about workforce optimization, click the image below to download a brief guide.