Uniting Civil Servants From Across the Country
New College Graduate Desperately Seeking Progressive IT Environment.
Until about three weeks ago, I had never heard the word millennial used in the context of referring to a specific group people. I first heard the word when I was in an hour long IT session, Web 2.0 Technologies. The presenter used the term millennials to describe college students who will be entering the workforce looking for the same functionality they use on the web to help solve business problems. Like most cliché technology words (solutions, beta, streamline, The Cloud, ect.) I've heard over the last three years, I did not pay this one any attention. Now, everywhere I turn, this word is working its way in to the business vernacular. It seems now that word is really starting pick up some steam. It will not be long, if it has not happened already, before we see Rick Sanchez twittering and talking on CNN about millennials.
If you are not sure what a millennial is then, join the club. Millennial is another name for Generation-Y. Depending on where you look you will find different number, but basicly millennials are anyone born between 1977 to 1998. These are today's teens to early thirty something's that have grown up in the internet age. Some key attributes of this group are the early adoption, multitasking, no brand loyalty, and the need for on demand services. Most millennials care more about functionality, simplicity, user collaboration while appearance is secondary.
A recent article I read in Computer World magazine, Vol. 32, Number 38 (September 22nd 2008), pushed me to write this post. The publication dedicated two pages about how "Millennials Demand Changes in IT Strategy." This article talks about a new generation of internet savvy users who are more likely to work for companies that take advantage of progressive web 2.0 technologies. It the same regard, companies that have strict policies are likely to lose talented young workers.
Herein lies the problem, if you are an upstart business with minimal data restrictions building a mobile and dynamic environment, attracting young talented workers is easy. There are many pitfalls for government funded state organization . The major issue for this type of change is security. Government organization cannot sacrifice security for usability. There are so many restriction that have been legislated on government agency to protect information it is virtually impossible to get anything done due to the fear of being sued or in violation of outdated government mandates.
Very soon this governmental inability to progress forward is going to lead to a bigger issue than security. It was hinted in the Computer World article that the lack of hiring young talented replacements will come to a head as soon baby boomers start retiring. This mass exodus of institutional knowledge coupled with the fact that most of the talented college graduates are not looking to work for the government is going to crush the public sector within the next ten to fifteen years. As the pace of information moves steadily faster and faster, government Information Technology departments are doing all they can to stay afloat. With budget crises across the county, any type of progressive projects or recruitment within State and Federal government IT is limited. The fact is that millenials, who may be able to find solutions to upcoming technology issues, are going in to the private sector because of the antiquated policies of government. This is the basic "Catch 22" that need a solution now, not later!
What are your thoughts on the state of Government IT or millenials?
If you are not sure what a millennial is then, join the club. Millennial is another name for Generation-Y. Depending on where you look you will find different number, but basicly millennials are anyone born between 1977 to 1998. These are today's teens to early thirty something's that have grown up in the internet age. Some key attributes of this group are the early adoption, multitasking, no brand loyalty, and the need for on demand services. Most millennials care more about functionality, simplicity, user collaboration while appearance is secondary.
A recent article I read in Computer World magazine, Vol. 32, Number 38 (September 22nd 2008), pushed me to write this post. The publication dedicated two pages about how "Millennials Demand Changes in IT Strategy." This article talks about a new generation of internet savvy users who are more likely to work for companies that take advantage of progressive web 2.0 technologies. It the same regard, companies that have strict policies are likely to lose talented young workers.
Herein lies the problem, if you are an upstart business with minimal data restrictions building a mobile and dynamic environment, attracting young talented workers is easy. There are many pitfalls for government funded state organization . The major issue for this type of change is security. Government organization cannot sacrifice security for usability. There are so many restriction that have been legislated on government agency to protect information it is virtually impossible to get anything done due to the fear of being sued or in violation of outdated government mandates.
Very soon this governmental inability to progress forward is going to lead to a bigger issue than security. It was hinted in the Computer World article that the lack of hiring young talented replacements will come to a head as soon baby boomers start retiring. This mass exodus of institutional knowledge coupled with the fact that most of the talented college graduates are not looking to work for the government is going to crush the public sector within the next ten to fifteen years. As the pace of information moves steadily faster and faster, government Information Technology departments are doing all they can to stay afloat. With budget crises across the county, any type of progressive projects or recruitment within State and Federal government IT is limited. The fact is that millenials, who may be able to find solutions to upcoming technology issues, are going in to the private sector because of the antiquated policies of government. This is the basic "Catch 22" that need a solution now, not later!
What are your thoughts on the state of Government IT or millenials?
Comment
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Comment by VerticalGambit on October 5, 2008 at 10:32pm - Wow .. not much I can add to that, but to say I agree!
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Comment by Stephen on October 5, 2008 at 10:02pm -
The problem with IT in state government is that IT demands people to embrace change. The government has been run the same way by (pretty much) the same people for 200 years. The introduction of IT was a huge stepping stone and seems to only be updated because they have to keep it running. The people in charge of government, at least at the highest levels, seem to only be concerned with getting their files and keeping the version of MS Office that they are comfortable with. Nobody wants upgrades, and the people who can make it happen are too scared to stir the pot.
To make millenials get interested in Government IT work you have to promise them a fast paced, dynamic, and open environment. They want to go to a place where they can have the freedoms to try and make the intranet of their organization more social. If you think about the state of the internet today, everybody is trying to tie people together. You have hundreds of blogs or social networking sites where people are building communities and learning from each other. People who are coming out of school want to have an opportunity to build something new, fresh, SOCIAL. They all want a job at Google, Digg, or the next Web 2.0 startup. I know government work isn't necessarily designed for this kind of behavior, but with all the Web 2.0 flare that people are getting into, it's almost expected that the intranet of the organization work the same way.
Why not have an internal site where people can share documents and spreadsheets with each other? Why not allow every employee to have a profile viewable by others who work there (voluntarily of course)? Why not allow employees to post their thoughts on the next big department project? Most importantly for IT, why not support the engineers and new hires who want to make something like this? Allow them to use Open Source alternatives so it doesn't cost a dime. Get the server people to drop a VM somewhere with extra space so these people with big ideas can play. Let them do it as a downtime project and then see what comes out. It may be total crap, but at least you gave these new graduates with big ideas a chance to try something.
Government is avoided because it is viewed as too stuffy, political, and OLD. Open the minds of the administration and show them that just because the young guy says "social" in a meeting, doesn't mean that he wants people to share "hot pics" and waste time. I know government work isn't set up for you to enjoy it, but if you give people the freedom to try things, or stretch their mental legs, then you will find that they are happier and more likely to do a good job with their main projects. If anything they will work harder just to get back to the personal project they are working on, one that they hope will help the department.
Openness is the new trend. If you want new, young, excited talent, then show them that you support new ideas and want to hear them. Show them that you care about trying new things and hearing what they have to say. Nothing will make them work harder than the feeling that you actually notice and care about what they are doing. Appreciate your people and LET THEM KNOW IT!
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