leadership: laying the foundation for a better workforce

Leadership: Laying the Foundation for a Better

WorkforceDavid E. Keller, Assistant City Manager/CFO

City of Weston, Florida

9 May 2012 FGFOA Annual Conference

This session will cover:

• Issues for governments: Demographic data/the “generation gap”

• What is a “Leader”?

• Developing the next generation and identifying “rising stars”

Agenda

Issues for governments:Demographic Data/the

Generation Gap

Baby Boomers are generally defined as that group of persons born between 1946 and 1964.

Approximately 76 million people were born during that period.

Baby Boomers

In 1964, boomers represented about 40% of the US population.

Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers

Birth Rate per 1,000: 1909 - 2009

Baby Boomers

Births per year 1930 - 1990

As of January, 2011, an average of 10,000 Boomers will turn 65, every

day.

Boomer Status

For the next 19 years

Boomer Status

That is roughly 69.4 million people turning 65 during the 19 year period.

Boomer Status

Boomers represent 27% of the population today.

By 2030, boomers will be between the ages of 66 and 84, and make up about 20% of the population.

Over 50% of boomers live in only 9 states, of which Florida is one.

Long Term Financial Planning

The Census Bureau reports 3.12 million persons working in public administration.

Boomer Status

The following chart shows the government sector to have a significantly older workforce.

In particular, where private sector workforce had only 48.0% older than 40 in 2006, local government had 63.5% older than 40.

Issues for government workforce

Characteristics of Workforce

On average, public sector employees are five to seven years older than the private sector counterparts.


The following chart shows the government sector to have a significantly more educated workforce.

In particular, where private sector workforce had 45.9% with no more than a high school degree, local government had only 27.0% who had not advanced further in education.


Furthermore, 47.0% of local government employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Only 24.9% of the private sector can claim that accomplishment.


The chart shows that better educated federal, state and local government sector employees will be retiring, and equally educated replacements are not available in the private sector pool.


As the economy has transitioned from manufacturing to service oriented, the nature of work requires different skills.

“Knowledge” workers require specialized education, training and skills.

Examples are educators, health care workers, legal professionals, engineers and managers.


The following chart shows that while only 32.2% of workers in the private sector are classified as “Knowledge” workers, in local government 67.5% are so classified.

There are not enough young government sector Knowledge employees to replace those who are leaving. And the private sector does not have them at any age.


Also, more public sector knowledge workers are older.

In the private sector, approximately 25% are over 55 years of age. In the public sector, it is over 33%.


The projected slowing in the growth of the labor force, coupled with the loss of skills and talent as boomers retire, means the public sector must develop an effective ingress strategy.

The strategy should:• Attract new workers• Retain younger workers• Energize and prolong careers


About 60% of public sector workforce is over 40. More than half will retire within ten years.

It will be critical to reach out to minorities, the groups that will account for the greatest growth.

Currently, Hispanics account for 13.2% of the workforce, but more than 20% of population under 15 years of age.


The 90,740 state and local governments across the country had 16.6 million full-time equivalent employees in 2010.

Of that, 12.2 million are in local government.

The 2010 amount is 203,321 lower than the 2009 total.


Apparently morale for senior level staff is tanking under the strain of having so much more to do with so much less.

Between May 2010 and May 2011, 25% of retirement-eligible state and local government employees moved up their retirement dates, a rate more than double the previous year.


A report by Mary Willett of Willett Consulting reported that 77 million Americans will reach age 55 between 2007 and 2020.


States and Local governments will feel the impact of aging workforce before private sector employers.

The public sector has a higher percentage of boomers than the private sector, and many public sector employees, particularly police and fire personnel, retire earlier.


In 2000, the Department of Labor listed the employment categories that would be hardest hit by boomer retirements as:

• Registered nurses• Administrators in education• Public administration officials• Police and fire personnel• Lawyers• Social workers• Plumbers, pipe fitters and steamfitters


Local governments have minimal bench strength.


For decades, surveys showed the vast majority of college students viewed government work as full of inflexible red tape, a dead end, inefficient, and bureaucratic.


A 2010 Gallup poll found that 37% of Americans aged 18 to 30 expressed affirmative interest in government

jobs.

This group reports that doing good for society is as important to them as

doing well financially.

Some good news

Younger workers want more than just a paycheck. They want to:

• Be part of innovative, creative, and challenging working environments;

• Quickly assume leadership roles;• Collaborate as partners with equally

bright peers and mentors

These are all traits that our younger workers prize highly.

Gen X, Y, Millennials

Hey old guys!

What is a Leader?

One good way to find out the characteristics of a leader is to compare and contrast those of a leader with those of a manager.

Both are essential to public service and are responsible for the health of the organizations they work for.

Leaders vs Managers

Long Term Financial Planning

Managers have subordinates. Their authority is vested in them by the

organization.Management style is transactional.Managers have a work focus.Managers seek comfort.

Managers

Leaders have followers. Their authority comes from their

charisma and their ability to inspire people to follow them.

Leadership style is transformational.Managers have a people focus.Managers are more comfortable with

risk.

Leaders

Leaders vs. Managers

Webster dictionary defines the two as follows.

Lead: to guide on a way especially by going in advance; to direct on a course or in a direction.

Manage: to handle or direct with a degree of skill; to make and keep compliant.

Leaders and Managers

Leaders and Managers: Core differences

Leadership is Synthesis; Management is Analysis.

Leadership has long term impact, management has shorter term goals.


Leadership is an intention of climbing to some next level, management is the process of efficiently executing the plan.


With all of those differences, it is important to note that most leaders are also managers, and many managers are also leaders.

Both leadership and management exist at every level of management


Leaders optimize the upside; Managers minimize the downside.


Leaders envision possibilities; Managers calculate probabilities.


Leaders focus on the ends; Managers focus on the means.


Leaders prepare beyond the limits; Managers focus execution within the limits.

Results based Leadership

Leaders generate energy; Managers preserve energy.


Leaders seize opportunities; Managers avert threats.


Leaders amplify strengths; Managers reduce weaknesses.


Leaders do the right things; Managers do things right.


In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

Thomas Jefferson

Quotes on Leadership

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.

Henry Kissinger


When nothing is sure, everything is possible.

Margaret Drabble


Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.

Marian Anderson


Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln


Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all the good characteristics like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure.

Admiral Arleigh A. Burke


Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.

Sandra Carey


People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

Theodore Roosevelt


The real leader has no need to lead – he is content to point the way.

Henry Miller


To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone.

Harry Truman


If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams


He that cannot obey cannot command.

Benjamin Franklin


Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy


The led must not be compelled; they must be able to choose their own leader.

Albert Einstein


A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

Rosalyn Carter


I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.

Mohandas K. Gandhi


The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

Theodore Roosevelt


A leader is a dealer in hope.

Napolean Bonaparte


A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.

Dwight D. Eisenhower


Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Steve Jobs


Because a thing seems difficult for you to accomplish, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.

Marcus Aurelius


The secret of successful managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the four guys who haven’t made up their minds.

Casey Stengel


So we have looked at the generational issue and why it is an issue for governments.

And we have been considering some qualities and characteristics of leaders and leadership.

How do we begin in our own organizations?

Identifying Rising Stars

There are five leadership traits that can assist us in identifying rising stars.

These are five traits that people look for in a leader. By inference, if we identify these traits in someone, we are identifying someone who can be a leader.

Five Leadership Traits

The first trait is:

Honesty


The second trait is being:

Forward Looking


The third trait is:

Competency


The fourth trait is:

Inspiration


The fifth trait is:

Intelligence


Again, in summary:

• Honesty• Forward-looking• Competent• Inspiring• Intelligent.


Look for these traits in persons in your own organization.

They are the ones with the potential to be future leaders!

Look for theTraits

Identify the “Rising Stars” in your organization

Once you identify those with the potential, support them.

Make sure they have the tools and environment they can flourish in.

Encourage continuing development and education.

Rising Stars

Take a chance on them! Give them some responsibility and see how they do.

Listen to them. They want to be part of the decision-making team.

Rising Stars

It’s not the time to stick your head in the sand…

It’s part of our responsibility to deal with the present and prepare for the future

Thank you.