https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Co-op Solutions


Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

Article

Procurement staffers have gone the extra mile to keep governments supplied during COVID-19

Procurement staffers have gone the extra mile to keep governments supplied during COVID-19

  • Written by Michael Keating
  • 15th December 2021

The pandemic has taken a toll on procurement teams. “Government employees—such as acquisition professionals—kept working amidst massive global disruption during the pandemic to allow government suppliers to keep people employed,” says Sydney Heimbrock, chief industry advisor for Government at Qualtrics, which offers a secure, agile, online platform that is a common framework for organizations to design and improve customer and employee experiences. The experience management platform helps consistently drive innovation in a time and world where people demand more from products, brands, and experiences.

“State and local government were overrun with work, and specific areas of government—such as Health and Human Services agencies—saw an exponential increase in workloads during the pandemic. Employees were learning emergency procurement roles in real-time and putting together quick solutions to ensure that the government had what they needed to keep running,” Heimbrock tells Co-op Solutions.

Some staffers have become exhausted because of this sudden work increase. “Stress and burnout are the main reasons that over half of managers, directors and executives plan to leave their jobs to look for new opportunities across the board, which is only compounded in government,” Heimbrock says. Her firm’s research spotlights this trend. She adds that before the pandemic, government retirements were happening at a steady rate; however, there has been a statistically significant increase in retirement across the board after the pandemic.

One bright side that governments may experience, Heimbrock predicts: “With the forced increase and development in procurement professionals due to the pandemic, governments now have scalable solutions and are much more equipped to handle similar situations in the future.”

It’s important, Heimbrock explains, for existing employees to weigh in on solutions designed to boost efficiency on procurement teams. She says cooperative procurement contracts are one way to increase efficiency. “But more important than the individual method is for organizations to gather employee input throughout the process, from design to deployment. This allows for targeted solutions that do what they need to and are quickly developed and easy to adopt, designed by people who know how the job works.”

Heimbrock adds that automation could give a shot in the arm to a team’s productivity. “Taking advantage of automated solutions can also substantially increase the volume of work that local government procurement departments can handle with limited and stretched staff.” This approach, she adds, can enable government employees to quickly adjust to feedback from customers without feeling too overwhelmed.

As workers retire or leave the agency for another job, Heimbrock suggests that department heads start their recruiting efforts at educational institutions. “Creating pipelines and connections with local high schools, undergraduate and post-secondary educational institutions allows the government to foster talent.” She says the first step in making these connections is doing away with the typical notion that a new hire must have all the necessary skills to be qualified for the position. “The focus should be finding candidates who are willing to learn, a passion for working in the public sector and a genuine interest in improving government systems through contracting.”

She says organizations such as the Partnership for Public Service can help connect government agencies with higher education, allowing them to foster growth through mentorship, internship programs, and community outreach. “This encourages students to gain more government experience and provides the agency with a steady stream of candidates who already have an interest in working in the government.”

As they recruit, organizations must use data to understand what prospective employees are looking for and how they can shape the workplace to those needs. “New hires statistically want three things out of a workplace: the ability to create social impact, the opportunity for career progression and the chance to learn additional skills. Ensuring that these values come across to candidates is vital,” Heimbrock explains.

She adds that it is necessary to ensure that employees feel a sense of belonging in an organization. “Employees who feel like they belong are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged at work than those who feel like they don’t belong. This is according to Qualtrics’ “2021 Global Employee Experience Trends Report.” The study shows that employees will be more likely to leave if they feel they do not belong. “Engagement drivers have also shifted from opportunities for development and leadership to a sense of belonging and pride in an organization’s purpose in recent years—with 73 percent of respondents saying they feel like they belong at their organization,” Heimbrock says.

Having a flexible work environment can have a positive influence on prospective candidates, according to Qualtrics research. About 56 percent of women and 43 percent of men say that flexibility is an important characteristic they look for when searching for a new place to work. “Being flexible with remote work can also allow for more diverse hires, as people will be able to apply from a much larger geographical range,” Heimbrock adds.

Several techniques can help boost diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in recruiting, hiring, onboarding and training in local government procurement offices, Heimbrock tells Co-op Solutions. “Part of monitoring for candidate experience is also looking at trends in the hiring process to ensure there are no factors such as unconscious bias. DEI experience gaps are systemic, which means organizations must track these metrics at multiple touchpoints in the employee journey.”

Heimbrock urges procurement department recruiters to pay attention to correlations between candidates who drop out of the hiring process and diversity measures. She says those links can reveal unintended factors such as unconscious bias. “For example, whether a resume includes a name can have a significant impact on which candidates are chosen for an interview.” Here is a Qualtrics resource on DEI technologies.

Heimbrock says another way an agency can diversify its workforce is to diversify where it recruits talent. “Organizations cannot rely on places they have historically pulled from; they must expand their reach into non-traditional areas. Employers may be pleasantly surprised to see that community college graduates are often well educated, job-ready and motivated.”

Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].

 

Tags: homepage-featured-2 homepage-featured-4 Administration Cooperative Purchasing Procurement Co-op Solutions Co-op Solutions Procurement Article

Most Recent


  • Phoenix
    Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs
    Joe Giudice, public works director for the city of Phoenix, says the influx of new residents is driving a lot of construction in his community. “Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States. It is one of the fastest growing cities in a fast-growing region, which influences infrastructure product and service demand. This […]
  • ARPA funds
    Spending American Rescue Plan Act funds: A primer for municipalities
    The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 is a $1.9 trillion legislative package that includes funding for states, local governments and tribal nations to respond to the economic and public health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While initially restricted, subsequent guidance from the federal government has expanded what those funds can be used for. […]
  • recruit
    With a few strategies and tools, public procurement directors can recruit new, diverse staffers
    Yes, being a public purchasing professional is a much-coveted career that can have a big impact on a community, says Celeste Frye, principal and CEO of Public Works Partners, a WBE/DBE/SBE-certified urban planning and consulting firm. “From purchasing quality foods for school lunches or environmentally sustainable trucks for trash collection, procurement managers have a significant […]
  • green building
    Green building and clean energy: Key considerations for municipalities during the planning process
    Each day, it becomes more and more clear how important it is for municipalities to embrace green building and clean energy projects. Once thought of as novelties, elements like solar power and renewable building materials are now all but essential. They advance environmental sustainability and represent new opportunities for economic growth. These strategies also have […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • As boomers head for the exits, government administrators need to expand their recruiting via social media

WHITE PAPERS


Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations

24th January 2023

Preparing Your Community Now for the Next Generation of Older Adults

18th October 2022

Helping Government Fleets Achieve Their Goals

30th September 2022
view all

Webinars


How To: Evaluate Digital Government Service Delivery Technologies

23rd January 2023

Using Technology to Enhance Communications

29th November 2022

Learn the benefits of transforming and automating your Contract Management process

4th November 2022
view all

Podcast


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand

26th January 2023

10 American cities with a great downtown

24th January 2023

Miami leads the way in FT-Nikkei ranking of best U.S. cities for foreign companies

20th January 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Report: With increase popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters, there’s a need for ‘safe and connected infrastructure’ dlvr.it/ShlKmJ

31st January 2023
AmerCityCounty

New York mayor announces city-wide curbside composting program, impacting 8.5 million residents by 2024 dlvr.it/ShhRk1

30th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs dlvr.it/ShhBtf

30th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShYNcx

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Shifting city demographics present an opportunity to build coalitions, address inequality dlvr.it/ShYMMm

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Spending American Rescue Plan Act funds: A primer for municipalities dlvr.it/ShXzvl

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand dlvr.it/ShVhBW

26th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Managing landslides along road corridors using remote sensing dlvr.it/ShTpL6

26th January 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.