Your public sector organization depends on skilled professionals. But how do you find them? Learn how to recruit and retain top talent in this post.

In today’s working world, the employee experience is in trouble. Employees in the U.S. are up to twice as likely to be disengaged at work.

And this disengagement can cause problems. Gallup finds that organizations whose employees are actively engaged reap substantial rewards (vs. unengaged peers) such as 41% lower absenteeism, between 24 and 59% lower turnover, and 17% higher productivity. Clearly, organizations simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of the employee experience.

2020 started with the promise that it was going to be my best year yet as an HR professional. I was going to accomplish every resolution this year. From launching a new training program for managers, initiating a diversity & inclusion program, and my personal goal of reading every book I could find on being a first time dad. That all changed when the COVID-19 Coronavirus put much of our lives on pause. The idea of "social distancing," toilet paper hoarding, and sanitizing delivery boxes were completely foreign concepts just a month or two ago. The lifestyle inconveniences turned into real fear as I started witnessing the early effects of this virus that we still don’t have any solutions for. 

When recently surveyed about the impact of Coronavirus on HR, 89% of public sector respondents said that keeping employees healthy was their biggest concern. Given that 92% still have some portion of their employees working from the office, that means the majority of HR professionals are being forced to rethink how they conduct daily operations in their physical environments.

As we approach a month since the first COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were put into place, HR professionals in the public sector are still waiting for the dust to settle from the upending of their daily operations. Transitioning employees to remote working, maintaining critical services to the public, and concerns about layoffs or shuttered departments have all been top of mind as we continue to confront uncharted territory.

A recent survey of HR professionals by Gartner found that 88% of organizations have encouraged or required employees to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In public sector and higher education organizations, however, there are unique challenges to successfully implementing a work remote program for employees while also maintaining critical services. Whether it be utilities, police and fire, online schooling or other functions deemed essential, working remotely may not be as simple as it is for private sector companies.

As the sun rose on the Mirage Conference Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, October 8th, the NEOGOV team was excitedly anticipating the start of the CONNECT 2019 User Conference. The registration bags were all packed, filled with goodies like a Yeti water bottle with the NEOGOV logo and a colorfully designed agenda jam-packed with both valuable sessions and fun events. The team was prepared for the kickoff of CONNECT, a user conference designed to bring public sector HR professionals together to learn about NEOGOV products and enhancements, interact with their peers, and gain insight into the state of public sector hiring.

With the end of 2019 approaching fast, it’s time for employers to take steps to comply with California’s substantially expanded sexual harassment training requirements.

EL SEGUNDO, CA - NEOGOV, a market leader in public sector human resources software, announces the release of the 2019 Job Seeker Report, a research study to understand the state of public sector hiring and tips for how to attract high-quality candidates.

ARLINGTON, Va; March 25, 2019 – U.S. state governments face growing challenges attracting, building and retaining critically important talent and workforce skills, according to new research from the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) in collaboration with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and NEOGOV.