Frameworks For Good Government

Frameworks are a beautiful thing, the ability to take complex challenges and to work to find solutions often requires a value-based approach that can align strategy to your business goals and desired outcomes. It begins with having the right talent, team, and approach. Connecting the roles, with the subjects, and the skills has been our north star at Cornerstone OnDemand. Just as the Presidential Management Agenda has provided us a framework to foster good government, I thought to share a few other frameworks for thought.

I was so pleased to see this report from the CDO Council released last November on the curated data skills inventory library. The Curated Data Skills Catalog supports the Federal Data Strategy by providing a list of learning opportunities to help agencies develop competencies for managing data as a strategic asset and making data-driven decisions.

Only a month later I was inspired to read about the Data Strategy for the Department of Education and felt this framework speaks volumes to transformation, development, and compliance that folks there are working tirelessly to accomplish within the 18-24 month timeframe with the emphasis being on developing and implementing data literacy program.

When we can effectively bring different perspectives, a diverse set of team members to the table that can innovate and drive outcomes with a multifaceted team that relies on evidence-based decision anything is possible. That is why I believe we must seek to support those in public service with digital and technical fluency for leaders, HR, and Talent Management as well as employees across the Federal workforce, which is more important today than ever especially in mission-critical occupations given the pandemic and the Future of Work. As many agencies are facing retirement eligibility at 30% or more it is imperative that performance and succession planning systems account for this new world of remote work.

Just as agencies seek to attract and retain talent that can leverage new platforms and technologies to design, develop and deploy solutions that serve the American public to achieve IT Modernization, it is frameworks that become the common language that can help us all make work a place that can work for everyone.

Given the persistent challenges that exist for agencies in addressing Human Capital Management as per our client at the GAO, just look at the High-Risk List where we can see that skills gaps are certainly a priority today:

• Mission-critical skills gaps-Of the 34 other high-risk areas, skill gaps played a significant role in 16 areas?
• The shortfall in one or more talent management activities such as robust workforce planning or training.?
• Gaps in leadership and institutional knowledge, 31.6 percent of permanent federal employees who were on board as of September 30, 2017, will be eligible to retire in the next five years. ?

Given this information who among us can't relate to this recent popular meme.

In our Cornerstone Resource Center a year ago where a lot of my colleagues share insights on various topics related to talent management, I can always find practical insights to questions like these "So how do we develop and implement an effective talent management strategy", often the hardest part is getting started with the right framework for the strategy and plan. Just wait till this November when we will bring more innovation to market at our Convergence conference. But not to digress, Ideally, a strategy and plan that is also supported with content anytime, anywhere, and available to your workforce in the flow of work can help to mitigate risks and work to support agency missions for compliance to adapt and accelerate change. So I am pleased to share that Cornerstone has a new Technology subscription available today to help spur digital literacy for the 6,000 clients and 75M users that rely upon us for a unified talent management approach that can deliver learning content, within the LMS and across social learning via our LXP. For more ideas check out our updated Content Hub here to see what may resonate with your people across a multigenerational workforce that may require several modalities to spur engagement.

As employers seek to address skills gaps, often overlooked is how does your agency communicate across stakeholder groups and your ecosystem when change is the only constant? Digital literacy and education are the keys. There are all kinds of types of channels available to us if we listen and pay attention. Extending learning outside as well as inside is what holds promise for developing the skills sets that can harness creativity, inspiration, and innovation.

Many years ago I recall a wonderful framework for engaging across social media and collaboration tools and platforms - given the need back then for collaboration that came out from Harvards' Yasmin Fodil and an FCC study ( image below) some might argue that social media has proven to be a catch 22 perhaps. Well at least given recent events specific to the weaponization of social media that occurred on Jan. 6th but even more pronounced is the need to align resources, strategies, and a plan to address the skills gaps relative to cybersecurity competencies that can map to the NICE Framework, or even the opportunity around workforce development that holds great promise for public-private sector partnerships - these are the things that make me optimistic. Not to mention the need to advance on issues of Diversity Equity & Inclusion concerns given the new Executive Order - what very well could be the framework to create a more equitable society?

EO 13985 on “Advancing Racial Equity & Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” calls for a bold comprehensive approach for the Federal Government to transform itself for fairness and equity to become not just ideals, but principles. This framework from Project Evident resonates with me and I am excited to see what may come from the Interagency Working Group on Equitable Data (Data Working Group).

I was pleased to see that Loudoun County School District of which my children are a byproduct of had embraced this notion #DEI to provide resources and networks of support for ongoing and proactive professional learning related to cultural literacy, equity, and inclusion with a Culturally Responsive Framework.

We have to Partner Up for Shared Success To Harness the Power of Government Partnerships and it is Frameworks that will help us do that albeit from a marketing perspective or even in terms of the Acquisition. DoD’s new Adaptive Acquisition Framework takes new approach to tailoring procurement strategies.

So just as Corporate Social Responsibility gives way to a new framework to embrace the theory of Corporate Civic Responsibility, data literacy, skills and talent will become the connective tissue that can empower and foster the understanding for the changes we may need to make in creating mutually beneficial symbiotic relationships post-pandemic across key stakeholder groups, to break down the silos, and foster interdepartmental and Intra-agency collaboration.

It's all about creating a positive experience from the customer to the employee and yes of course Gartner has a framework for that too.

Appreciative of the OPM Human Capital Business Reference Model which illustrates all the varied components that go into a robust Federal Talent Management framework.

Or Fosway Group an independent research firm that shares all the ways that we should be thinking about evaluating GOTs, COTS, and emerging solutions for talent management.

Frameworks can help us to make the complex simple and digestible like where to go for what at which agency when we are looking to go to the government for resources.

And frameworks can help us chat about things like which agencies face the highest risks in terms of retirement eligibility.

Or perhaps which agencies other than NASA are pushing for more STEM talent to attract to fill the open positions from aging workforce where less than 6% are under the age of 30 perhaps.

So as we enter the world of AI, ML, and skills ontologies I am so excited to share things that are coming like our Skills Graph - the ability to leverage new tools like Blockchain for credential management across a consortium of talent management technology providers. I love this framework to standardize what has come from our partners at the Velocity Network.

When we consider this framework from IAB and all the ways programmatic media, omnichannel marketing, and mar-tech have the ability to dynamically serve up content to key audiences this framework illustrates how important your Brand and even your Employer Value Proposition is to the central message your evangelizing and all the ways it can be activated when cookies are used, that is when we can set aside certain provisions of the paperwork reduction act.

So as we look at the Talent Acquisition Ecosystem TTL Ecosystem 9, don't be dismayed there is a framework for that as well, either you are all in on ERP and one solution fits all philosophy, or you may be looking for best of breed and industry-leading point solutions. I recently heard on a Bersin podcast that some organizations may have as many as 140 apps. My goodness, I would rather have an adaptive highly interoperable system that can address my needs save money on pre-built integrations but also provide a solid foundation in learning and development with a skills-based approach that empowers my people to realize their potential and provides a cost-effective solution.

Ok, I like my current infrastructure but what is the right media mix to attract talent and generate higher conversion rates from my careers website, this framework helps to show what types of media and the right mix will help optimize my efforts to recruit the diverse digitally savvy talent we may need from my alma matter previously known as TMP. BTW with Cornerstone, you get unlimited career websites and talent communities.

Forgive my rank on Frameworks but given the challenges we face isn't it time we reframe the problem and come up with new solutions. If you would like more insights into how a solid framework for learning content can help your agency save time, money and address mission-critical skills gaps, don't hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn. We have a lot of folks that can help and be sure to register for our all free and all virtual annual convergence conference where Cornerstone OnDemand will be announcing some exciting new innovations that can change the equation with how you may be thinking about developing a framework for IT Modernations that takes a skills-based approach to development and workforce transformation.

Follow me @JohnBersentes, views expressed are my own.