INSIDER

Partnership Targets Unique Government Learning Challenges

By George Miller

June 22,2006—Facing massive retirements within a huge and diverse organization imbued with an entitlement culture, the United States federal government is taking action.

Bersin

The U.S Office of Personnel Management, through its GoLearn program office, has entered a strategic partnership with research and advisory concern Bersin & Associates. The partnership targets the unique needs of government learning organizations. It makes available learning-related research and advisory services, including the Fast Lane to Learning program, to federal agencies at special pricing and with less bureaucracy.

“Government agencies have so many missions,” said Josh Bersin, president, Bersin & Associates, in an interview. “In enterprises, the mission is to make and to sell. But the government provides services,” he said, making for more complex training requirements.

In addition, the government workforce has a high proportion of older workers. “The retirement problem is bigger [in government] than in any other workgroup,” said Bersin. “Learning and talent management are critical issues for federal agencies, with an anticipated 30% of workers reaching retirement age within the next 10 years.”

Federal agencies need to—and are beginning to—identify skills gaps as people retire. When they fail to do so and to prepare to bridge those gaps, costly contractors fill vacancies.

GoLearn assists agencies with all phases of what it calls “the human resource development lifecycle.” The program’s mission is to be a catalyst for transforming the way government manages human capital.

The Training Challenge

Until now, learning among government employees has been “an option, a career opportunity, or a resource available,” said Bersin. “There’s been much more of an optional approach to training, making it hard for the training organization to know what’s important.”

This “option” aspect, coupled with the pay scales and accompanying salary increases implemented in most federal agencies, yield an entitlement culture in government rather than the performance culture at work in profit-making businesses.

All in all, said Bersin, government learning requirements are diverse, and a lot of training is required. Unfortunately, federal agencies don’t often have the opportunity to share best practices. “Many [government] training organizations talk to one another, but they don’t take advantage of what’s available in the outside world. That’s why we’re offering them the research.”

The two parties have also created the Fast Lane to Learning program, an advisory program to aid in strategy development, education, and change management. The program includes an organizational assessment, scorecard and recommendations, custom workshops and webinars, and ongoing access to analysts.

To use the program, an agency representative expresses a need (e.g., trying to do a skills inventory). A contract is set up for the agency to hire Bersin & Associates at a pre-negotiated rate. “It’s a mini consulting engagement,” said Bersin. “They don’t have to write a request for proposals and go out for bid.”

Through the partnership, learning executives and managers can access Bersin & Associates research library of some 9,000 pages of research, best practices, and case studies.

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George Miller
Site Editor
gmiller@questex.com