Fall 2014 issue of Horizons

they can be replaced?) but speaking in this manner is in the best interests of the organization. Perhaps reporting layers in the organization can be eliminated altogether, or reporting and oversight of an area from a soon-to- depart employee can be given to another especially driven and competent employee. While there otherwise might be a pay freeze at the government, giving a strong employee additional responsibilities can allow the government to justify creating a “new” position that would pay more than the previous position paid. Overall, the government would incur less in payroll expense by increasing one person’s salary than if it had to hire another person. Other opportunities for job redesign often begin by identifying a desired output (for example, pay a bill) and determining if there are technological solutions to streamlining the current process of paying a bill. Often a thorough analysis of technological solutions will require outside consultants who can explain the details of different options. Sometimes redesigning a specific job to fit a current employee is not the best solution, but outsourcing the function altogether is. A large number of support functions can be outsourced to skilled private contractors.

demographics is something that should be addressed.

Understand the Age Demographics of Your Organization and Involve Others To understand the potential impact of turnover from retirements, the government should map out the organizational units and age composition of key members in those organizational units. Color the units green where there are no significant pending retirements, yellow for those with moderate concern, and red for those where there is a concern of significant retirements in the next 5 years. This visual aid will help focus on the areas of the organization that need the most attention. In order to properly address the impact from retirements, there must be involvement in the analysis from other key members of management and from governance. The other key members of management know the severity of the impact of the loss of a particular individual who reports to them as well as how deep the talent is in that portion of the organization. Involving governance in the discussion makes the retirement issue more transparent, and will allow for the development of an understanding of what is going to be needed from them (approvals of resource allocation or organizational chart changes, for example) prior to the retirements actually taking place and forcing a hurried process. Organizational Reporting and Job Redesign Understanding where there will be significant retirements can provide an opportunity to reconsider the organizational reporting structure. Effective analysis requires candid discussion among management, and may even require the participants to imagine transitions in their own positions.

Talking about “letting go” of responsibilities might feel awkward (who wants to admit

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