Public service work is never easy, but in recent years, budget constraints, hiring freezes and reductions in force have exacerbated workforce challenges. Government workers looking to climb the career ladder need not despair, though, said two experts at the recent NextGen Summit. They can take control of their career growth and find renewed purpose in their work.
“The opportunities for career advancement rarely arrive fully baked,” said Max Wyche, Director of Human Capital Business Development and Client Engagement at YRCI, a workforce management consulting firm. In some ways, that’s a boon because it gives workers an opportunity to forge their own path. “Your job description is your foundation, but it’s not your boundary.”
After all, no one knows your motivations and goals better than you, and “if you don’t care about your career path, no one else will,” added Traci DiMartini, Chief Human Resources Officer for Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Don’t Lie In Wait
Many government workers think that to get ahead, they need to wait for a vacancy to open, Wyche said. But really “your power lies not in waiting, but actively shaping the conditions for your next opportunity,” he said.
He offered five strategies for taking ownership of your resume:
- Become an expert. Be the person who knows how to do something that is key to the organization and crucial to moving special initiatives forward.
- Build strategic visibility. Volunteer for cross-functional projects, especially those tied to leadership priorities. That makes you known not just in your unit, but across departments.
- Strengthen relationships. Work to solve problems with people in different program offices, be it IT, HR or finance, and check in regularly with your managers to communicate your interests.
- Spot and solve gaps. Look for outdated or inefficient processes and propose ways to fix them. “Being known as a problem solver is essential to your growth and development,” Wyche said.
- Practice internal entrepreneurship. Pitch ideas for new services, create new knowledge hubs and show what the future could look like, rather than just talk about it. “Develop prototypes or drafts instead of waiting for approval…and present those as possible solutions,” he said.
Bust Through Barriers
Many government workers already feel maxed out, but don’t let common barriers stand in the way of your career goals. Here’s how to reframe them, Wyche said:
- “I don’t have time.” Everyone has time constraints. Find something you want to change and break it into manageable steps rather than commit to holistic change.
- “I’m not in leadership.” You don’t have to be a leader to make immediate and lasting impacts on an agency. Take action, get noticed and gain influence.
- “The system is too rigid.” Many agencies have defined career paths and actively managed career programs on navigating career advancement. If you want to adjust your path, figure out what jobs you need to take to launch to where you want to go.
- “I don’t want to step on someone’s toes.” Collaborate, communicate and listen.
Not All Heroes Wear Capes
Public servants can do more than chart their own courses, DiMartini added. They also can change the narrative about public service.
“I truly believe when you enter public service, whether it be in a government organization, a nonprofit or what I call the helping professions like law enforcement or healthcare or teaching, you have already made a career decision to put mission before profit,” said DiMartini, who held human capital officer roles at the General Services Administration and Internal Revenue Service.
She pointed out four of government workers’ superpowers:
- Stereotype-smashing. “For far too many years, we have allowed people to demonize public servants,” DiMartini said. That includes calling them lazy or part of a patronage system. “Most of you probably work far beyond your 40 hours because we’ve also seen a real dearth in decrease of opportunities in government jobs due to shrinking budgets. … We are at a critical point now where there is not only not enough people left to do all the important work, we’re putting our core work in jeopardy.”
- A commitment to integrity. Surround yourself with “people in your organization that you admire, that you trust and that you know have the kind of qualities that you would like to emulate in your career,” she said.
- Skill development. “While you have one job title, you’re probably doing several different jobs on any given day to keep things running smoothly,” DiMartini said. “So, even if you are working in a program area, you are developing far more skills than you’re giving yourself credit for. You’re also learning how to build relationships across different parts of your organization that are so critical to getting the work done.”
- Curiosity. “We always want to do things better,” she said. “We want to be inclusive and make sure that we are solving the real problems that exist and not fake problems that come up due to political party allegiances or campaign promises.”
Click here for more on-demand insights from the NextGen Summit.
