the
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GOVERNMENT 1
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contents 2 Executive Summary 3 State & Local Government Workforce Stats 4 Technology Implementers 10 Human Resources Developers 16 Program & Policy Innovators 22 Communication & Customer Service Trailblazers 28 Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Protectors 34 Implementations Producers 40 Bonus Job! Profile of Arizona’s Bat Man 42 Hot Jobs: A Look at Must-Have Positions in State & Local Governments 43 About & Acknowledgments
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x Executive Summary y Have you ever wondered who actually works for state and local governments? Have you asked who exactly is sending your Social Security check, those pesky DMV notifications or even fixing the potholes on your street? We certainly did. There are more than 12 million state and local government employees, and over 5,000 different job classifications, all of which have a unique role in helping to make this country operate effectively. In this new GovLoop guide, we’ll explore 12 high-profile jobs and the people doing them at the state and local levels that will continue to influence the future of government for years to come, including: i. Technology Implementers: those responsible for buying, implementing and marketing new technologies both within government and to its citizens. ii. Human Resources Developers: the people charged with taking care of the hiring needs, training and benefits of employees who work for state and local government. iii. Program and Policy Innovators: the ones who take new programs from a seed of an idea to implementation. iv. Communications and Customer Service Trailblazers: folks who help craft the government’s message in a timely, appropriate and effective way. v. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protectors: the staff tasked with ensuring that state and local governments are as secure as possible both online and in the real world. vi. Implementation Producers: those working behind the scenes to make all city and state services run smoothly. To fully explore the implications of each of these job areas, we interviewed 10 different state and local government employees to find out what they do, why they do it, and how their job fits into the overall mission of their agency. In these interviews and profiles, we examine the challenges and opportunities that each position holds, and explore the size and scale of each given role. We also feature statistics on state and local government workforce challenges at large. Finally, we explore which states have the most government employees, which positions are most in demand and where the opportunities for future government employment are. More than a third of the state and local government workforce is eligible to retire in the next five years. Given the myriad challenges that silver tsunami leaves, state and local governments must find ways to preserve and even advance its workforce. This guide will help you better understand the workforce of today and how these roles are positioned for the next generation of government.
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State & Local Workforce Stats Top 5 States for Gender Equality Women's percentage of men's earnings from 2012
District of Columbia 94.8%
Arizona 86.8%
Workforce Changes 2014-2015
Employment Trends 2014-2015
73% 42%
California 86%
36%
Interpersonal 64% Technology 60% Written Communication 41% Management 29% Other 24%
All state government grew by about 33,000 or.65% and all local government employment grew by 17,000 or.12%
Finance 18% Public Speaking/Presentations 11% Social Media 5%
Most Successful Recruiting Practices Online Job Advertising 84%
Broad-based pay increases
17% 11% 6% 4%
No changes
Government Websites 51% Monthly job openings averaged 408,000
Early retirement incentives
1%
Pay cuts
Social media 28% State/local newsletters 17% Job fairs 8% National Newsletters 4% Conferences 3%
Hiring freezes
Layoffs
Florida 84.9%
Skill Sets Most Desirable in New Hires
Hired employees
Hired contract or temporary employees
Maryland 85.2%
Monthly layoffs and discharges averaged 82,333
In the second quarter of 2015, the 12-month change in employer costs for employee compensation represented an increase of 1.9% for wages and salaries and 2.7% for benefits.
Most Difficult Positions to Fill in Current Economic Climate Accountants
Firefighters/EMS
Project Managers
Building officials
IT professionals
Public works
Corrections officers
Management (mid + upper)
Seasonal Employees
Dispatchers
Mental health professionals
Skilled trades
Engineers (all types)
Nurses
Finance (all types)
Police officers
Social Workers Water treatment plant occupations 3
Sources: PEW, Size of Gender Pay Gap | SLGE, Local and State Government Employment | SLGE, State and Local Government Workforce: 2015 Trends
technology implementers
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Long gone are the days when cities and states could sequester their information technology employees, keeping them away from the workforce at large. Now IT is integral to almost everything government does. From the way citizens pay parking tickets to the way the government sends out notifications, state and local governments have gone digital. And that demand for digital means cities and states need leaders who are willing and able to shepherd new technologies into government. Technology implementers are responsible for buying, implementing and marketing new technologies both within government and to its citizens. In this section, we will highlight two senior roles in the new era of state and local government technology.
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Creating a unified Tech Message AMY TONG Director of California Department of Technology & State Chief Information Officer
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR
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Tong has worked in IT for the state of California for 22 years. She served in the state’s Environmental Protection Agency and Health and Human Services. Tong said that perspective “allows me to better understand how new technologies will be perceived on the ground.”
CALIFORNIA OPERATIONS AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY (DIRECTOR: AMY) 99 IT PERSONNEL
JOB DESCRIPTION Tong’s job is to provide direct technology services to the various state entities, as well as provide quality assurance and service delivery of new technology solutions. Think of her as the Yelp for government technology. She does the assessing, rating and provides quality assurance for the technology end users – the 70 California state agencies. Her team also provides oversight and vision for how the state agencies can best utilize the various technologies to help the public sector deliver services to citizens.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES The state of California is the eighth largest economy in the world. The sheer size and scope of the technology requirements for a state with a GDP of more than $2.4 trillion, Tong says, is her biggest challenge. “We are custodians of the largest technology suite in state government. The amount of information, the number of public servants and the population that we are supporting is incredibly large, complex and diverse. This diversity translates to various levels of needs of technology. We can be that technology enabler, but we have to do it right, and it’s my job to oversee its proper implementation". Tong has dealt in part with this challenge by relying on her history of innovation. “I come from the programmatic departments in California government, where I was really on the ground floor implementing these technologies. And we were always looking for ways to deliver services in a faster and more high-quality way. I bring that same spirit to my role as CIO. Sure, we have to provide quality assurance, but we can also support the workforce that is looking to innovate,” she said. Tong focuses on training and development for the entire IT staff to help enable faster and more efficient technology implementation.
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In order to encourage more robust cybersecurity practices, Tong is spearheading the development of a Cybersecurity Integration Center that will share cyber intelligence across the enterprise.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS The role of the CIO is really a technology adviser for government. “It’s not my job to actually run each one of these systems, it’s my job to look across all the agencies and help decide which systems are best and most cost effective,” Tong said. The role of the CIO is fairly new to government, only popping up in the last 15 years, but the evolution from a technology implementer to adviser has made a big difference. For Tong, it allows her to take an enterprise view of government IT and not just focus on one individual system.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Tong explained the CIO office is not a technology developer. “We are here to utilize technology,” she said. To do that, Tong and her team think about how a new technology will impact the way the government operates. Then she works with business partners to set realistic expectations of how the government could use the system. “Technology will not solve all of our problems, but with focus, technology can be utilized in a way in which process and people are ready to deliver,” she said. The key for Tong is clear communication. She noted technology can be confusing and cumbersome, so it’s her job to make the implementation as smooth as possible.
Tong oversees the largest technology department in state government – in fact, the IT departments of Connecticut, Oregon and Utah combined have fewer IT employees.
TECH COMPONENT It will come as no surprise that the Department of Technology’s CIO knows a thing or two about how technology enables government. But Tong emphasized that from her office’s perspective, technology is more part of the business of government. “It’s my job to make sure we create realistic expectations with technology businesses about how and when we will use their products,” Tong said. Technology is the enabler, but for Tong, ensuring technology is implemented correctly is paramount.
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Simplifying State Procurement SHERRY NEAS Central Services Division, North Dakota Office of Management and Budget
GOVERNOR OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET CENTRAL SERVICES DIVISION (SHERRY) 26 DIRECT REPORTS
JOB DESCRIPTION Neas’ job is to support state government by providing internal government agency customers with quality products and services, enabling them to accomplish their mission. Under Central Services, Neas and her team provide procurement services, operate a central supply of office products, manage vendor registry, operate a central printing and duplicating service and manage the distribution of surplus state and federal property to eligible entities.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Besides the complicated nature of procurement in general, Neas says some of her biggest challenges involve simply taking good care of state employees. “We have a big mission here, and a great time,” she said. “So whether it’s procurement, surplus, printing supply or vendor registry, my employees are the ones who are providing the customer service to our wide audience. Our customers are state agencies or people who are buying surplus, so for me as the division director, I need to make sure that the people that are working under me who are doing that first-line customer service have all the support they need.” Neas has dealt in part with this challenge by assigning some of her employees to be direct liaisons to agencies and working to empower her employees to solve their own problems and manage their own solutions. Bigger problems get escalated to her, but she trusts her employees to do their jobs without micromanagement.
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The North Dakota ffice Procurement O a contract recently set up aste for hazardous w rst time disposal – the fi one the state had d that.
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People joke that it’s love that makes the world go around, but now I think it’s IT that does.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS Procurement serves the nuts and bolts of government to keep it running, from acquiring technology to office furniture to other services. “The beauty about all the central services programs is that they are all about meeting the needs of the customers,” Neas said. “If the customer needs something, whether it’s printing, or office supplies, or they’re looking for a good opportunity to acquire surplus property, that fulfilling of needs is important and gives me such satisfaction. There are times where I’m out in the town and an orange truck will drive by, and I recognize that my office procured that. Or I see some organization is using an online system, and I know our office had a role in procuring that technology that now everybody’s using.”
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Neas explained that many in government perceive procurement as a very complicated or cumbersome process, and it’s her job to help simplify it so that government employees can have the tools they need to do their jobs. “We really try to keep procurement very factual. It’s getting enough information to make good purchasing decisions. We want to keep it simple and help make people more comfortable with the procurement process,” she said.
TECH COMPONENT “People joke that it’s love that makes the world go around, but now I think it’s IT that does,” Neas said. “IT is the driver for everything in my field of state procurement. Our customers communicate their needs to us online, and then everything we do is managed with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Technology is a huge driver in how we do our business for others, and it’s a big chunk of what our workload is.”
Neas started working in procurement in college and immediately knew she had found her vocation. “It’s a multidisciplinary job where you get to do everything,” she said. “You need to be able to write, to do financial analysis, to team-build.” 9
Human Resources
t D E V e l O P E R Su
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Currently, there are more than 12 million employees who work in state and local governments. Each of those employees must be recruited, hired and retained by the government. They must be paid correctly and promptly, given benefits and leave. All of these services require top-notch human resources officers who are able to accommodate the needs of a larger and more mobile workforce. Human resources developers are those in charge of taking care of the employees who work for the state and local government. It is their job to make sure that the largest workforce in the United States is properly trained, retained and ready to do their jobs.
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Putting the Human t Back in HR u CHRISTOPHER O'NEAL Interim Deputy Secretary for Human Resources and Management, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES 500 HR PROFESSIONALS
JOB DESCRIPTION O’Neal has enterprise responsibility for all human resource and management functions under the Governor’s jurisdiction. In other words, O’Neal sets rules, regulations and norms for all the commonwealth’s human resources departments to follow. O’Neal and his team control all HR policies that revolve around compensation, benefits and creating collective bargaining agreements with the more than 20 unions that support commonwealth employees.
HR DEPTS. WITHIN AGENCIES
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES O’Neal’s team manages more than 2,800 different job classifications for its 80,000 employees. “We literally have every occupation working for us. As an employer, that diversity can be incredibly challenging. You don’t find that same number of classifications at private-sector companies,” he said. O’Neal calls the job of putting the right people in the right classification with the right benefits a balancing act. “We need to make sure we are attracting the right individuals to the right occupations, and then tailoring certain trainings and opportunities to the right occupational groups,” he said. Since the commonwealth is a single employer, however, O’Neal must be cognizant that all policies need to be consistent across occupational jurisdictions. “If you have one agency that has more favorable benefits to another, it could create a competitive disadvantage for the other agency. It could lead to one agency trying to steal employees from another. We have to strike the balance of catering to the employees as individuals, but at the same time make it fair and equitable across the enterprise,” O’Neal said. For example, if an employee wants to move from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Human Resources, he or she can carry the same level of benefits (paid time off, health care, pension) across the enterprise. 12
O’Neal says most difficult aspect of this job is remaining in touch with the unique HR needs within the many agencies under the Governor's jurisdiction and ensuring that his HR team provides timely solutions that meet those needs. “It is important to keep your ear to the ground and to be ready to listen to all of your customers. It is our job to provide policies and services that enable them to be successful in fulfilling their missions to the public.”
WHY THE JOB MATTERS O’Neal says human resources management matters because people in an organization matter. “The only way that you make an organization better is to make sure that your employees are well cared for and that you have policies that are fair and consistent,” he said. O’Neal cautioned that if you don’t have a happy and motivated workforce, they’re not going to treat the customers on the outside the way that you need them to. “It’s our goal to make sure that we take care of employees so they can take care of everybody else,” he said.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT The role of human resources is to empower and enable employees to do their jobs. “We don’t lead programs or implement new technology, it’s our job to provide the best service possible to agency employees, because they are the ones who actually do the work for the public,” he said. O’Neal sees his role as being the steadying force for government employees. In the last 10 years, the commonwealth has had three different governors. “When priorities shift and things change with new administrations, we are there to help provide some continuity and consistency,” said O’Neal.
TECH COMPONENT O’Neal equates technology to oxygen. “Technology is our life support. We have been very fortunate to leverage a lot of technology in Pennsylvania that has helped us provide a better experience for our employees and provide them more flexibility, but also provide for our management groups and our administrators better oversight and administration.” The commonwealth recently moved all of its official employee personnel files to an electronic format – eliminating the paper personnel file. Now employees can access their personnel files 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the touch of a button.”
In order to create a more seamless transition between retiring employees and new hires, Pennsylvania has created a mentorship program, where throughout the yearlong program, a retiring employee must teach and hand off one program or project to the younger employees. The program has been so successful, the commonwealth is expanding it in 2017.
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The Govie With the Money DARIUS SHAHINFAR City Treasurer, Albany, New York
MAYOR OF ALBANY DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (DARIUS) 20 EMPLOYEES ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
TAX COLLECTION
ACCOUNTING
JOB DESCRIPTION Shahinfar is an elected official and functions as the Chief Financial Officer in the city of Albany. His responsibilities include all things financial, which ranges from receiving taxes to ensuring parking violations are paid. Essentially, Shahinfar handles the intake and outflow of all city money.
PARKING TICKETS
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES The most significant challenge Shahinfar and his department face is modernizing the office environment and processes. The lack of modernization has particularly impacted tax system software. “Every year we go through the same issue of making sure our tax information is updated accurately so bills go to the right people and we are accounting for monies properly,” he said. Updating files is cumbersome and could be done more efficiently with more innovative processes. Despite these challenges, Shahinfar emphasized, “we have our system down pretty well.” For example, even though there are no lawyers in his department, they function as such when they adjudicate parking tickets. By tackling this challenge head on, the department has worked out the kinks and has been able to provide customers with the service they need to navigate the adjudication process.
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It is rare that Shahinfar is an elected CFO in a city. He explained that most towns in the state of New York elect their CFOs but it is much less common for cities to have elected CFOs.
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The only way I retain my popularity is because I disperse the city’s payroll, otherwise I would just be seen as the receiver of taxes and the parking ticket guy.”
It is unusual that Shahinfar is the CFO and the head of the Parking Violation Bureau. He explained that typically, the police department or the court system in a city handles parking violations rather than the treasury.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS “The cash inflow and outflow to the city is up to $176 million this year,” Shahinfar said. This in and of itself is a huge responsibility. Shahinfar, however, has gone above and beyond to innovate in the position. “I have the opportunity to make some overdue changes in City Hall that would allow my government and my city to operate as best as it can,” he said. One of the programs Shahinfar implemented was a Food for Fines drive. He explained that the department wanted to make a dent in unpaid parking tickets, so it initiated the program where people would have their unpaid parking fines waived in return for donations to regional food pantries. At the end of the program, the department raised about $300,000 and was able to erase 5,000 tickets off the books.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Shahinfar explained that his department is “more or less the bank for the city government.” This means that Shahinfar’s office not only pays the bills and makes sure that agencies’ lights are kept on, but it also handles all agency procurement requests. When requests come in, the Treasury Department ensures that any sort of procurement comports with the budget. Essentially, Shahinfar and his team make sure that the monies it sends out are appropriated properly to the budgetary process.
TECH COMPONENT Despite the challenges the department has faced with modernizing technology, Shahinfar emphasized that it is crucial to day-to-day processes. The ability to utilize technology has allowed Shahinfar’s team to track things more efficiently and make fewer mistakes. If mistakes are made, he underscored that they are much easier to fix with the help of automated processes.
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program wpolicy innovators 16
The state of Nevada has five programs to help residents move into affordable housing. The city of Chicago has four different adolescent and school needs programs. And New York City has more than 200 active transportation projects around the five boroughs. These are just a few of the thousands, if not millions, of different projects and programs that cities and states are working on a daily basis. In order to ensure that these projects progress properly, the government needs strong and thoughtful project managers and developers. Program and policy innovators are the ones who take a new program from a seed of an idea to implementation. In order to be successful, these innovators rely on data, an awareness of budgets and deadlines and a desire to see projects completed.
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Data & the City AMEN RA MASHARIKI Chief Analytics Officer, New York City
MAYOR OF NYC OFFICE OF OPERATIONS The Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics was created in 2013 by Executive Order No. 306
OFFICE OF DATA ANALYTICS (AMEN) 4 ANALYSTS
1 FELLOW
JOB DESCRIPTION “My first role is to create the strategy for how analytics will be used to further administration goals,” said Dr. Mashariki. Those goals include improving the efficiency of NYC government operations, as well as partnering with NYC Agencies to improve the quality of life for city residents.
1 INTERN
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES For Dr. Mashariki, one of the biggest challenges is sharing best practices and lessons learned with other government agencies. While many municipalities and state governments are embracing the power of data analytics to improve decision-making, few are focusing on core data science and analytics. Dr. Mashariki has a less than optimal number of compatriots with whom he can share best practices and resources. What’s more, Dr. Mashariki said his office differs in some ways from many of the existing analytics and data departments of other cities. Unlike departments in Chicago and Los Angeles, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA) doesn’t have any programmers, developers or IT staff to build solutions. Instead, MODA only retains data scientists to focus on algorithm development and analytics. That data focus also impacts Dr. Mashariki’s job description beyond analytics alone. “I also serve as the Chief Data Officer – not by title but by role in terms of understanding where data is in the city, and what data is being used for in the city and how we can integrate data to solve intractable city problems,” he said.
Today, the MODA team is composed of five analysts, one fellow and one intern. But Dr. Mashariki expects that the size of the department will double as the city continues to derive value from data analytics 18
15-45 AVG # OF MINUTES RA MASHARIKI SPENDS AT HIS DESK EACH DAY
WHY THE JOB MATTERS Ra Mashariki and MODA apply data to citizen problems, in an effort to improve every resident’s quality of life. For example, using data from 311 complaints, the city’s Department of Finance and the Housing Preservation and Development Agency, MODA created a predictive model to identify where tenant harassment was likely to occur in the city. That algorithm helps city employees protect the rights of rent-controlled tenants and identify landlords who are breaking tenant harassment laws.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT While data has immense potential to change government operations and services, deriving real value from data requires strategic governance models to organize information and processes to analyze it in real-time. A Chief Analytics Officer makes sure the city or state he or she serves is able to use data as an asset to make better decisions through the creation and deployment of systems, technologies and policies.
TECH COMPONENT While we often think of data as a purely technical concern, Dr. Mashariki explained real analysis requires both a cultural and technological shift. “A lot of people in my position and other technology leadership roles are always faced with having to determine if a needed solution should be a technology solution or a cultural solution,” he said. “One of my biggest challenges is being able to determine the right combination between the two for any given problem.”
Deriving insights from data is often compared to finding a needle in a haystack, but Dr. Mashariki says his job is to burn down that haystack so other government workers can get directly to the needle and do their jobs more effectively.
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Show Me the Money BRIAN MAXWELL Director of Delaware’s Office of Management and Budget
GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE Maxwell manages more than 400 personnel both at the Office of Management and Budget and at the individual agency level.
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET (BRIAN) BUDGETS
BENEFITS
PENSIONS
FACILITIES
GOV SUPPORT SERVICES
JOB DESCRIPTION In addition to his role as the enterprise human resources management policy lead, Maxwell is also tasked with creating the plan and structure for benefits for the state’s current and retired employees. “We are the administrative distribution arm for pension checks, we also hold pre-retirement workshops and administer the pension fund,” he said. And if that wasn’t keeping him busy, Maxwell leads the budget planning and administration division under the Office of Management and Budget. In this role, Maxwell and his team develop the budget, execute the budget and make sure agencies stick to their budget projections. And to cap it all off, Maxwell is also in charge of maintaining the state’s physical footprint by overseeing management of the state’s more than 200 facilities.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES As the central state agency, the Office of Management and Budget regularly acts as a support agency to other departments. If an agency runs into a fiscal issue, the OMB does its best to remedy the situation. The challenge is making sure to continue to balance the budget, while giving agencies the fiscal flexibility to make necessary adjustments. Think of it like a budgetary seesaw. Maxwell says the Department of Correction’s drug costs is a perfect example of how OMB acts as a support agency. “The Department of Correction is legally obligated to provide medical services to its inmates. However, the cost of pharmaceutical products for certain ailments has gone up significantly in the past year,” Maxwell said. The increase in drug costs could create a budget shortfall in the middle budget cycle. When that happens, Maxwell explained, “the DOC would come to the budget office and say, ‘We’re running into an operating deficit with regards to our pharmaceutical bills,’ and it would be my job as OMB Director to find resources to satisfy that obligation.”
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WHY THE JOB MATTERS Just 10 years ago, Delaware’s Office of Management and Budget was split into two separate organizations. The two offices, the Budget Office and the Office of Administrative Services, were brought together during a consolidation effort, because, as Maxwell explained, “the two departments are so tightly related, you can’t really separate management from budget.” Now, under the consolidated approach, what used to take two individuals to approve can be reviewed by the central office, which saves the state time and money. Even better, the consolidation eliminates any confusion over who needs to review a document, which streamlines processes and makes employees happier.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT One of the primary responsibilities of OMB is to find efficiencies within state government to maximize the taxpayer’s dollar. Maxwell says since OMB acts as a central support agency, “We see the needs across various agencies and we try to propose solutions that will satisfy multiple agencies.” For example, the Department of Health and Social Services and the Children, Youth, and Families Agency, require employees to have similar training courses. OMB got stakeholders around the table and built a statewide learning management system that both departments can use.
TECH COMPONENT
In addition to his work at OMB, Maxwell is also the chief negotiator to the Legislature for budget issues for the state.
$4 BILLION
budget for the state of Delaware
$174.6 MILLION yearly budget for the Office of Management & Budget
For Maxwell, technology is the great transparency enabler. “We live in the era of providing more transparency in government. The only way to effectively do that is to use technology,” he said. Using technology, Maxwell and his team have posted state expenditures online. “Now citizens can literally track where their tax dollars are being spent,” said Maxwell.
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&
communication
customer service
TRAILBLAZERS
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There are more than 90,000 local governments in the United States. Each one has a specific mission, motto and method of dispersing information. It’s up to the communication and customer service officers to make sure that the proper information is getting into the right hands. Are you getting your Medicaid benefits? What about that pothole on your street? Got a ton of unpaid parking tickets? All of these questions and more come under the purview of the communication and customer service offices. Communications and customer service trailblazers are helping craft the government’s message in a timely, appropriate and effective way.
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King County's Social Media Master DEREK BELT Digital Media Manager, King County, Washington
KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE BRANCH OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY E-GOVERNMENT TEAM (DEREK) 20 STAFF
JOB DESCRIPTION While Belt’s official job is to manage the enterprise social media program for King County, he explained that he, "teaches the staff how to leverage communications tools so they can do the work themselves." He doesn't actually do a lot of the posting on social media in his day-to-day duties. Rather, he uses trainings, team meetings and 1-on-1 coaching to empower King County's subject matter experts to better connect with their target audiences digitally.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES In the beginning of Belt’s tenure, the civic engagement program relied heavily on traditional media relations. Departments would issue press releases and wait for the media to disseminate the information. Belt understood that the nature of how government engages with people and businesses was moving away from traditional media and towards a self-publishing model. As a result, Belt grew King County's social media following to more than 300,000 and redesigned the country's content strategy to eliminate the media middleman. He launched a successful blogging program that focuses on telling authentic stories about county employees and services, and Belt explained that the county's 30+ blogs are on pace to reach a million page views in 2016.
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Geographically, King County is about the size of Rhode Island, so it’s not surprising that the IT Department employs upwards of 400 people. Belt’s e-Government team, however, is significantly smaller, with about 20 staff.
I get to go out and become a part of a team where I am needed. Sometimes it takes an hour, and other times it takes a day, or a month or even a year, but I just become part of their working group and be a resource and a friend to every department in King County.
”
WHY THE JOB MATTERS Belt’s work touches every department in King County. He explained that many government agencies work in silos, which can stunt innovation and lead to same-as-always government communications. King County’s IT department, and especially Belt’s e-Government team, works across every branch of government to provide technology services to all. Belt emphasized, “I get to go out and become part of a team where I am needed. Sometimes it takes an hour and sometimes it takes a year, but I can be a resource to every department and together we put in place digital solutions that meets their needs.” Belt’s agility makes his role crucial to technology innovation across his county.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Bureaucratic red tape often hinders innovation in government, said Belt. “Government does change, but it takes a while and there is often resistance,” he explained. Belt tackled this resistance in King County head-on because the county and its residents were demanding more information that was more convenient to access. As a result, Belt took on the role of a change maker and set about challenging the status quo with realistic ideas of where King County communications could go next. He transformed the role of social media specialist from content manager to consultant and coach. Belt said that by teaching staff to successfully manage their own social media pages inside the frame of a consistent program, the county as a whole is less dependent on any one person to do the job.
TECH COMPONENT For Belt, everything he does in digital media is driven by technology and easy access to tools such as Facebook, Twitter and WordPress. His e-Government team tracks metrics across social media platforms, draws insights from this analysis and uses data to understand public sentiment and drive change inside the organization. Belt’s team won a Digital Strategy & Impact Award from GovDelivery for its pioneering use of data to track which reporters on King County’s media list were interested in specific subjects such as public health and the environment.
While most state and local governments have some sort of media manager, Belt emphasized that his role as a teacher is relatively unique. He explained that since he is not the sole poster on King County’s social media platforms, the program is sustainable and will not fall apart if he leaves.
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How Media & Communication Mix ADAM GIORGI Deputy Communications Director, Minnesota Department of Administration
GOVERNOR DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION COMMUNICATIONS (ADAM) 2 FULL TIME COMMS STAFF
JOB DESCRIPTION Giorgi’s job is to oversee the communications for the department, particularly digital communications. “My baby at work over the last four to five years has been our web presence and email communication,” he said. As a crusader for modernizing the department’s web communications and social media, Giorgi focuses on strategies for improved marketing to help better connect with the citizens of Minnesota.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Two particular challenges Giorgi cited were: 1) silos; and 2) attracting new talent. When his department needed to work with other state agencies to discuss high-profile projects, there weren’t any communication channels for them to talk and share ideas. Additionally, as a government communicator, it is especially difficult to craft ways to help government attract the next generation of talent. This is a result of high turnover and the “silver tsunami” of the retiring government workforce. To address the silos and internal communication challenges, the IT office at the Department of Administration created MN.IT services, which partners with state agencies to deliver technology solutions that transform how government connects to provide services for the people of Minnesota. Now there are better channels for internal communication across state agencies. As for retaining talent, Giorgi said it’s important for all government communicators to craft the right messages to people about why government is a good place to work. “Recruiting and HR tasks don’t always come across my desk in my day-to-day job, but I can channel my communications role to make sure that we are selling the organization and bringing in vibrant and dynamic young talent,” Giorgi said.
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For Giorgi, state and local governments’ impact is on the street level. This job was his first work in government, and he’s had a deep appreciation for state and local government ever since.
500
While there are only two full-time communicators in Giorgi's office, there are at least 500 employees in the overall Department of Administration
WHY THE JOB MATTERS
Giorgi's work ranges from working on Minnesota Arch eolo Week to suppor gy ting disability progra ms for the state.
Without good communications, especially digital communications and social media, how can government be in touch with the needs of its citizens? It’s up to Giorgi and his team to make sure the digital services and web interface of the agency are easily accessible for users. Additionally, they help a lot of entities in the public sector with communications. For example, he and his team one day may help the State Demographer get a published report out in the media. The next day, he might help the State Archeologist organize an event for public outreach. Without Giorgi and his team, it would be impossible for the citizens of Minnesota to know all the great things its government is trying to do for them.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Giorgi’s communications role isn’t reserved for his own department. In fact, his department provides central administrative services for the rest of Minnesota’s state government, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health. “We help pull all the levers and push all the buttons of government so that more high-profile agencies can do the things they need to do,” Giorgi said.
TECH COMPONENT As someone who works in digital communication, Giorgi finds technology essential to his work. With the various web projects he works on, he also focuses on HTML sites as well as the content management environment. “Having the technology you need really helps achieve the things you need to achieve,” Giorgi said.
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cybersecurity infrastructure +
protectors proteCtors
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As technologies continue to evolve, the way the government collects, stores and protects data will continue to change. The same is true in the physical world, because as new construction, developments and even roads pop up across the country, the nation’s infrastructure will continue to evolve. In order to do so safely and securely, however, the government must focus its attention to privacy and security. Cybersecurity and infrastructure protectors are tasked with ensuring that state and local governments are as secure and effective as possible – that the roads citizens drive on are as safe as the government networks they access.
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Protecting Cyberspace in a Disaster DANIEL HANTTULA Director of Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery and Cyber Exercise, Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services, Information Services
JOB DESCRIPTION
GOVERNOR COO
CISO
CIO
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & ENTERPRISE SERVICES (HANTTULA) 24 DEDICATED SECURITY PERSONNEL
Hanttula leads a disaster recovery team responsible for ensuring Oklahoma government technology services are sustained in case of an emergency or threat. This task entails more than simple preparation for disasters or cyberattacks. Since the Office of Management and Enterprise Services consolidated the state’s IT infrastructure, it is also responsible for running and maintaining the technology on a daily basis.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES It can be hard to prove ROI of spending on cybersecurity measures and threat preparedness for state IT. This can put security teams at a disadvantage when they request funds. This challenge is a present one for Hanttula and the Information Services team. They are trying to determine the best way to make their services benefit-oriented for consumers, in order to more visibly demonstrate the value. To accomplish this goal, Hanttula and the other security professionals are starting with each agency that they maintain technology for. By gaining a complete and detailed understanding of how each agency uses and depends on their tech infrastructure, the team can better manage the system. “For example, if I’m managing one agency’s ability to take fishing licenses, their need to be able to continue if a tornado wipes out the building is far different from if we’re working with public safety information that could mean life or death,” Hanttula explained. Understanding the importance of the data the team manages is the first step to demonstrate its value to citizens.
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If Oklahoma has to declare a disaster, 12 members of Hanttula’s team undertake a “secret mission” to restore tech services for the state. They fly on two different planes to their backup center in Colorado to get systems back online from the tape backups of all their systems.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS Without the disaster recovery team, Oklahoma would have a rougher time recovering in the case of a natural disaster. Its work to preserve a backup of state data at another site in Colorado provides a safety net. Furthermore, OMES’s work to help consolidate every agency’s technology has helped move important and valuable infrastructure out of subpar, unsafe buildings around the state into a single, highly protected building in Oklahoma City.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT State agencies benefit significantly from OMES’s efforts. By outsourcing maintenance of their tech infrastructure, state agencies can focus their efforts on their missions without worrying about the status of their software and servers. As the security partner for the government, OMES Information Services is the backbone of agency technology. Furthermore, Hanttula has built a disaster recovery team by drawing on the talent of IT specialists from each agency and increasing collaboration across the departments and divisions.
TECH COMPONENT Technology is critical to Hanttula’s work because advanced technologies are necessary to preserve and protect the state’s data. Through use of tech programs and software, the disaster recovery team can inventory and track each agency’s individual system. This information allows it to decide what to include in a data recovery from a disaster and how to prioritize the state’s resources.
The coolest experience Hanttula has had in his job, he said, was participating in a cyber exercise run by the Department of Homeland Security. He got to help perform a simulated cyberattack on Oklahoma to test the state’s defenses and response system.
Hanttula’s building houses an enormous data center built to withstand tornados with an F5 rating (winds in excess of 250 mph). This is the central location for all state government servers and technology.
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Making Maps Matter TINA HANSEN GIS Analyst, North Richland Hills, Texas
JOB DESCRIPTION Hansen runs a one-woman GIS shop down in northeast Texas. But this does not stop her from providing the best GIS capabilities possible to the entire city. Additionally, Hansen is optimistic that the GIS division will be expanding soon and she will gain a colleague to help further explore GIS capabilities for her city.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGERS INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT GIS OFFICE (TINA, ONLY GIS EMPLOYEE)
As a Geographic Information System (GIS) Analyst, Hansen uses data to meet her city’s needs. In this role, she is responsible for creating, managing and sharing city-related spatial data. The first step involves coordinating with city staff to “collect, map and analyze data in order to create meaning with it,” Hansen said. “Once you have the data, you have to manage it, which involves maintaining core enterprise data on streets, utilities, parks and other city facilities and services.” Finally, Hansen has to coordinate the sharing of the data. Dissemination of the data is arguably the most important part. “It doesn’t do any good if you don’t get the data you've created and managed out there to the city staff and the public,” she said.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES The biggest challenge Hansen has faced is keeping the city’s capabilities up to date with the technology. She explained that “our software has been updated to reflect technological innovation, but I just don’t have a lot of time to develop projects utilizing many of the newest geographic information technology tools." In order to counter this, Hansen has been picking low-hanging fruit. For example, she is utilizing the web and cloud to make mobile maps and apps that practitioners can use in the field. City staff are using these apps across issue areas, from collecting data on manholes to providing FEMA's floodplain information on the city's interactive web map.
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is very Hansen ing sure n mak the valkeen o knows e n ong o y r e was am on that ev his city up “T k . ic IS p ion to ue of G g e out r e a nate b t in th passio the firs or is p n e im s an the GIS," H g citizens on n n w it ca educati f GIS and ho o . e c e v n ta eir li s help th
WHY THE JOB MATTERS GIS capabilities go far beyond just data and maps. For example, Hansen explained that she used GIS to combat the West Nile virus when it was prevalent a couple years ago. She collaborated with GIS departments in other cities and was able to pinpoint areas among local creek beds that frequently tested positive for West Nile. Mapping out this information allowed the city to better target its resources to combat the mosquitos carrying the virus. Without GIS capabilities, Hansen and the city would not be able to solve these unique problems and improve the lives of citizens.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Making the most of GIS capabilities is truly a collaborative effort. Hansen explained, “it is important to realize that the city has to maintain several areas of expertise and services. They do street maintenance, public safety, city finance and so on, because all of these have some location or geographic aspect, GIS can offer new perspectives and support to city staff." The platform pulls data together and makes everyone's information useful. This enhances how the city engages with and provides services to its citizens.
TECH COMPONENT
Even though GIS technology seems like a recent development, Hansen has been at it for over 19 years. She hasn’t let the longevity of her position turn her complacent, however — she recently received a graduate certificate in GIS from the University of Texas, Dallas, as well as her GISP certification.
For Hansen, the impact of technology on her job cannot be overstated. “Technology is everything, from the way we collect and store data, to the way we access data, to the way that we share it out,” she said. This includes both hardware and software, as well as the cloud and the city’s intranet. “Technology is our backbone and it’s only getting better,” Hansen said. 33
Implementation
producers
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You never want to see how the sausage gets made, right? Oftentimes the same thought process is true for government services. Citizens rarely care about how their local park was constructed as long as it is safe and visually appealing. Residents don’t care how the city creates its website as long as the information they need is at their fingertips. Implementation producers are the ones working behind the scenes to make all city and state services run smoothly. They are planning cities and building websites with citizen needs in mind.
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Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan BRIAN FORSCHNER City Planner, Xenia, Ohio
CITY MANAGER CITY PLANNER (BRIAN) 3 FULL TIME EMPLOYEES + 1 SEASONAL EMPLOYEE
JOB DESCRIPTION As a city planner, Forschner is in charge of providing long-range planning guidance for future land use and development in the community. “Through this comprehensive plan, I set our goals and objectives for future growth and improvement of the community,” he said. Additionally, Forschner also advises on and enforces zoning codes and regulations in the city.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Forschner explained that as a planner and an organizer of the city, he also has to organize and foster cooperation between all of the people involved in planning and developing Xenia. “Getting all the stakeholders and players to row in the same direction is often challenging because stakeholders are very diverse,” Forschner said. While some parties want to regulate everything, others want no regulation at all. Forschner works to balance these expectations by involving the stakeholders in key discussions and making sure a variety of voices are illuminated in the comprehensive plan.
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Forschner has local roots. He started out his state and local career as an intern for the city of Dublin, Ohio.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS “Xenia is home to about 26,000 individuals, and while we have that small town character, we also have a lot of room to grow,” Forschner said. In order to achieve the growth the community wants, Forschner includes them in the process by conducting surveys, brainstorming sessions and outreach. Through this, he is able to get a good idea of what the community needs are. “When the goals of your strategic plan specifically meet the needs of the community, you will be much more successful in implementing that plan,” he said. With each new project, Forschner makes sure to set a plan and make it clear that it is a plan created by the public. This reinforces to the Xenia community that the projects Forschner and his team are working on are not wasteful and they are strategically meeting the goals that the community put forth.
Forschner explained the planning department used crowd-sourcing to reach out to the community. It set up a website where people could respond to questions, submit ideas, have discussions with one another and vote on one another’s ideas. Through this, Forschner was able to determine what projects were most important to the community at that time.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT The planning department fosters innovative infrastructure in the city of Xenia. For example, Forschner is working on a water park project, a new bikeway and a downtown redevelopment project. Additionally, one of Forschner’s recent plans won an award from the Ohio chapter of the American Planning Association. This kind of forward thinking in community development allows Xenia to thrive and expand while keeping the community satisfied and engaged.
TECH COMPONENT Forschner underscored the importance of technology in Xenia’s planning department. He explained that they have digitized the permitting systems and developed a database that manages the system. This is crucial, because it frees up time for Forschner to work on strategic projects and enhances the overall citizen experience. Technology has also been helpful in overall decision-making. Forschner explained that through GIS, he is able to help people visualize a problem and find solutions to it.
While Forschner’s official duties revolve around the city’s comprehensive plan, he also deals heavily with redevelopment. He is working on redeveloping an old Kmart property, as well as several park improvement projects.
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Web Coordinator Helping Protect Citizens DAVID MOHRMAN Web Coordinator, Division of Financial Regulations, Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services
OREGON STATE GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE BRANCH DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER & BUSINESS SERVICES (900 EMPLOYEES) Mohrman is the only web developer in his division. Only one other member of the administrative team works with the website, and he handles the tech support side for citizens.
DIVISION OF FINANCIAL REGULATION (DAVID)
JOB DESCRIPTION Mohrman’s central responsibility is to design and maintain the website for the Division of Financial Regulations. The forward-facing website is primarily used by citizens. The division oversees insurance and banking, and its website offers a variety of resources and licensing for consumers and companies.
150 EMPLOYEES
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Mohrman has not had the official title of web coordinator for the Division of Financial Regulations for long. In January 2016, the Insurance Division where Mohrman worked merged with the Division of Finance and Corporate Securities to create a single branch overseeing both insurance and banking in Oregon. To accompany this merger, a new joint website also had to be created to showcase both the insurance and banking resources. This already formidable task was further complicated because the two pre-existing websites were not hosted by the same company, and as such, required substantial work to prepare for the switch. To ease the transition, Mohrman and his team has worked to learn as much as possible about the new website host and the associated programming tools. Additionally, his team has focused on identifying and advocating for the website features that he knows are important. This style of user-centric design has given the division a rallying point to guide its website. Subsequent discussions about features or design will hopefully rely on the same focus, which is the citizens the department serves.
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Mohrman’s job classification is actually electronic Mohrman’s job classification is actually electronic publishing design specialist. He thinks this poorly publishing design specialist. He thinks this poorly matching title heralds back to the government’s matching title heralds back to the government’s confusion about how to classify coders once confusion about how to classify coders once departdepartments began to go digital. ments began to go digital.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS Balancing the desires of management with the needs of the consumers is always tough, but it’s especially difficult when both sides try to agree on complex technical procedures. As web coordinator, Mohrman helps negotiate this equilibrium between fellow government officials and the citizens his website serves. By maintaining the successful tools and changing those that are unsatisfactory, Mohrman has kept the division’s website accessible, responsive, compliant and citizen-centric.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT In today’s technical age, the primary way that citizens access government services is via the internet. For this reason, agency websites are critical to sustaining a positive relationship between governments and their residents. Mohrman is on the front line of this effort thanks to his work on the insurance and banking online resources for the Division of Financial Regulations.
TECH COMPONENT As a web coordinator, technology is wrapped up in virtually everything that Mohrman does. Lately, his tech work has centered on the division’s website, which is now hosted by NIT USA on SharePoint. This new system has a number of differences from the previous host, many of which are changing how Mohrman and his coworker do their jobs. In particular, the department is working to adjust to the new template system, as well as different limitations on HTML code use.
Originally, Mohrman hoped to work in graphic design, particularly in print. After taking a web design job, he fell in love with coding and now cannot imagine doing anything else. 39
*BONUS JOB!* ARIZONA'S BAT MAN RANDY BABB Wildlife Viewing Program Manager, Wildlife Recreation Branch, Arizona Game and Fish Department
The Arizona Game and Fish Department handles everything to do with hunting, fishing, boating, shooting, wildlife and recreation in the state of Arizona.
ARIZONA GOVERNOR GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT WILDLIFE RECREATION BRANCH WILDLIFE VIEWING PROGRAM (RANDY)
JOB DESCRIPTION Babb’s main goal is to foster wildlife appreciation among the public. In order to do this, he and his team come up with opportunities for people to experience wildlife. This personal experience with wildlife (mostly with bats and other small wildlife species) creates a better appreciation, which ultimately leads to conservation efforts.
1 OTHER EMPLOYEE
33 Babb knew he wanted to work with wildlife for as long as he can remember. This has led to a 33-year tenure with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
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OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Babb’s job to foster community involvement in wildlife conservation is becoming increasingly difficult. This is partially a result of insufficient funding. Babb explained it is just him and one other fellow working in his department, and they do not have a lot of funds, so they make every dollar count. They largely do this through community-based education efforts. These include lectures, flier distribution, local media coverage of events and social media outreach. Additionally, Babb has partnered with the National Parks Service and the Forest Service to stage new programs on their property that promote community engagement in wildlife. Working through these challenges is crucial for Babb. He explained that in today's gadget filled world, a lot of people don’t have a strong connection to wildlife. This means they have little incentive to promote and participate in conservation efforts. Through Babb’s work, he hopes to create avenues for the public to connect with wildlife, making the issue of conservation tangible and important to them.
WHY THE JOB MATTERS Wildlife conservation is necessary if we want our children and grandchildren to have the same or better opportunities to experience wildlife. Can you imagine if your great-great-great grandchildren didn’t know what a tiger was? Or if they thought Yellowstone was simply a yellow rock? Without Babb and his team creating ways for the community to engage with and see the importance of wildlife, these things could become realities.
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For Babb’s program, the state has allocated $163,000. This funds the staff, which just includes Babb and one other colleague as well as the outreach they do. Babb emphasized that with such a modest budget, they have to get creative with conservation outreach and utilize strategic partnerships.
HOW THE JOB IMPACTS GOVERNMENT Babb explained that the mission of the Game and Fish Department is to conserve, enhance and restore wildlife resources. This mission, however, is much bigger than that of his department, he noted. At its core, the Wildlife Recreation Branch focuses on “fostering appreciation for wildlife that will hopefully lead to people getting involved with the department and conservation,” Babb said.
TECH COMPONENT Babb is using technology to make his work relevant. He explained that recently, his department has set up wildlife cameras that livestream cool nature events that take place in remote areas of Arizona. These camera streams are critical because they broadcast Babb’s work to national and international audiences.
Babb is known to spend time netting bats and using black lights to search for scorpions on nature hikes. 41
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About & Acknowledgments ABOUT GOVLOOP GovLoop’s mission is to “connect government to improve government.” We aim to inspire public-sector professionals by serving as the knowledge network for government. GovLoop connects more than 250,000 members, fostering cross-government collaboration, solving common problems and advancing government careers. GovLoop is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a team of dedicated professionals who share a commitment to connect and improve government. For more information about this report, please reach out to info@govloop.com. www.govloop.com | @GovLoop
THANK YOU Thank you to Akamai, GovDelivery, Granicus and Kronos for their support of this valuable resource for public-sector professionals.
AUTHORS Emily Jarvis, Senior Online & Events Editor Courtney Belme, Editorial Fellow Margaret Schaack, Editorial Fellow Francesca El-Attrash Ukaejiofo, Staff Writer Hannah Moss, Senior Editor and Project Manager Catherine Andrews, Director of Content
DESIGNER Kaitlyn Baker, Graphic Designer
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