I am not picking on younger government workers. On the contrary, I have seen some fantastic young folks who came in and really surprised me with their work ethic and capacity and willingness to learn and they have turned into amazing government professionals.
I started working in the Federal government in 1983 as a GS-3 clerk-typist. I had just gone through a divorce and was a single mom of 2 children working part-time so I really needed a job. The government paid well, had good benefits, and most of all, it was a secure job. During that period, bases did not shut down and DOD had little to no budget constraints. And Civil Service has always had pay equity – if you are a GS-11, it makes no difference whether you are a male or female, you get paid the same amount.
During the last 33 years, I worked hard and listened. I listened to the mentors. I was (and still am) a sponge for knowledge. I wanted to grow in my career field. I was lucky to work for the government at a time when all three of my degrees (Associates, Bachelors, and Masters) were paid for by them.
I did the things to make career progress occur – obtained professional certifications, got my Master’s degree, became a contracting officer, became a supervisor. I eventually got a GS-13 procurement analyst position competitively. So to say that the government has been good to me (and my family) would be an understatement.
Back to the millennials. In the 17 Nov 14 issue of the Federal Times, an article stated: “The problem is that once millennials are exposed to the federal workplace, they often don’t like what they see.”
The article stated the gripes of young federal workers (poor leadership, poor performance management, lack of empowerment, and recognition) are getting worse instead of better. Younger federal employees are more disgruntled than their peers on several issues and the government is struggling to keep them.
Today there are more than 336,000 people born after 1980 in the federal government (about 16% of the workforce) and that will grow to 75% by 2025.
Statistically, millennials are staying in the government an average of 3.8 years according to OPM. Millennials are unhappy with the work, lack of accountability for results, and managers’ inability to deal with poor performers. Millennials satisfaction rates were between 5-8% lower than older co-workers.
Millennials love to be creative and innovative – traits the federal government does not encourage nor reward. They are appalled by the “slow” career advancement in the federal workplace.
So do I agree with the millennials? Do I share some of their concerns? Can I see their point of view?
To be honest, I think poor leadership has always been a problem in the federal workforce. When I started in the government, the men in management had no formal management training and they were often supervising folks who had higher educations than they had. Today’s leadership issues are simply a product of the culture we live in. The federal government workplace is a fish bowl and every manager is so afraid of breaking some unwritten or perceived rule that they cannot be effective. When you are always trying to edit everything you say, it’s hard to provide constructive feedback and mentorship.
Poor leadership is nothing new. Why does it bother the millennials? Do they understand what leadership means? They lived at home and went straight through high school, college, and master’s degree. Many did not work while getting their education or worked in environments (like fast food) where “leadership” is really baby-sitting. They want to come into the government workplace to be mentored by the “gray beards” and learn all the secrets of life. Sorry folks, those guys have retired. You are working for someone who is probably not much older than you with 5 years government experience.
Poor performance management? In the government? Say it ain’t so! That one had me laughing. The good thing about working for the government is that it usually takes an act of God to get a federal worker fired – that’s also the bad thing about working for the government.
Why does this bother the millennials? They want to work where everyone is held accountable. Soon they see that “Joe” works his butt off while “Bob” sits and does nothing all day while both are collecting a GS-12 salary. They are told “Bob is a poor worker. He’s been moved around and now we just hope he retires soon.” (That is a direct quote I heard from a manager once.) So the ones that want to work and learn are discouraged while other take the “Bob” approach – it’s worked for him for years, so why not?
Lack of empowerment? If you are looking for empowerment, the federal government is probably not the place for you to work. When I first started, there was much more flexibility in how you approached work processes and managerial backing for new, innovative approaches. No matter what BBP 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 say, we are not only inside the box – the box is getting smaller every day.
My advice to any millennial government worker is to slow down, take your time, listen to the mentors who are left, do good work, advance in your career, and become the new leaders that change the government by allowing creativity and flexibility; hold people accountable with applicable penalties when they are not; allow managers to “manage”; and ONLY reward exemplary performance.
Be the change you want to see, millennials!