I've got one final link of note from my list of interesting Governing.com material today. And this one could serve as good advice for the Nutter team as they seek to build a new administration.
Ken Miller, author of We Don't Make Widgets: Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government From Radically Improving, writes that a city's hiring process may stand in the way of any attempts to change its work culture.
He asks, "what is the first experience a new employee will have with your agency?" and includes an insightful anecdote from a recently hired government employee:
"I had to fill out ridiculously long forms; I couldn't get hold of anybody to help me; I got notified of my interview a day before; was told the wrong place to go; had to take a test that reminded me of my drivers exam; and then I waited and waited and waited and called and waited some more. Finally I got the offer, showed up for work and goofed around for a month before I could get a phone, a desk and access to the computer system."
Does this sound familiar? If so, it's because you remember the story of Joan Hicken, a talented woman whose frustration with the way things work (or don't) in Philadelphia city government led her to resign from the post of recycling coordinator shortly after taking the job:
Others said that almost from the beginning, Hicken had been frustrated.
[The city's first recycling coordinator, Maurice] Sampson [2nd] met with her shortly after she started, when "she was going through the kind of shock professionals go through when they come to Philly."
Nine weeks into the job, she still had no city e-mail address.
I was tempted to bring this example up in during the press conference with Clay Armbrister yesterday, just to get his reaction to this story and see to what extent he would work to make sure that new hires are up an running as quickly as possible, but I anticipated the answer would be of the "that kind of thing won't be acceptable" type.
Anyway, in his column, Miller says that episodes like this, starting in the hiring process and continuing through the orientation time, leave a terrible first impression on new hires. No matter how earnest and talented someone is, this kind of example makes it really easy for them to fall into the trap of just showing up, "goofing around," and drawing a paycheck. They may want to work but the city isn't letting them. How can any professional function without even an email address (for nine weeks!) and what message does it send when they have to use their personal email address or cell phone to conduct business?
Soon these enthusiastic new hires, the "best and brightest," just get caught up in the system. I read with shock as Miller recounted an conversation he had with a supervisor about the behavior of some longtime employees who regarded attendance at work as optional. See if you have the same reaction:
There wasn't anybody working. Or more precisely, most of the people weren't there, and those who were weren't really working. As I talked to the director, she nearly broke down in tears.
Where is everyone?
They show up when they want to.
And when do they want to?
A couple of days a week. Sometimes they disappear for weeks at a time.
So why don't you free up their future for them?
Do you have any idea how long it would take to replace them? It will take a year to get them removed and then almost another year to get them replaced. I can't go two years with no work getting done. I'd rather have two days a week than no days a week.
Granted, for appointed employees, the firing process is a lot easier but if the hiring process is so difficult, any supervisor could be tempted to make do with what they have. Also, please note that these examples are not drawn from Philadelphia city government (as far as I can tell) and don't reflect the known behavior of any city employees. They're more of an indictment of a bureaucratic system that leads to this kind of behavior.
Fortunately, according to Miller, these problems can be fixed and his column offers some examples of government agencies who have done that.
With over 3000 resumes to comb through and hundreds of positions to fill at all levels of government, the Nutter administration can't afford to ignore any problems with the hiring process. The hiring process itself should be the first task of Nutter's new transition team.
Comments (1)
Guess what. Improving the work culture is a dead pleading cause.
There is no such thing as securing the best and the brightest. Unfortunate for Nutter's Administration the best and brightest are employed elsewhere " lol ".
Its a fact and a traditional occurrence , city government can't endure excellence. " The city government thing to do ". Is wait until Nutter takes position , then do what city government does best. Hire the patronage gophers " lol ".
Posted by Jasper Zeigler Jr | November 29, 2007 10:24 AM