The People Factor

Linda Bilmes' Op-ed on the Federal Workforce in The Boston Globe

In an op-ed in The Boston Globe, Linda Bilmes explains why a hiring freeze on federal jobs won't help the budget deficit in the short term--and will have unintended consequences in the long run.

Government today desperately needs to hire in order to replace retiring employees and fill growing workload demands. Nearly 80 percent of the new hiring is taking place in just five agencies - Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the State Department.

These civil servants are caring for our wounded and returning veterans, providing essential support for our troops fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and protecting the country from terrorist threats at airports and land borders and through intelligence work.

Read the full article.

Federal News Radio cites The People Factor

Alan P. Balutis, writing for Federal News Radio, draws on The People Factor to illustrate the true size of the government. According to the book, although the number of civil servants directly employed by the federal government has declined over the past two decades, a rise in the number of private contractors has offset the decline.

- Read more in the article The Shadow Knows.

- Learn more about The People Factor.

Linda Bilmes and W. Scott Gould in 'The Federal Manager'

Investing in the people who make government work

In the Summer 2009 issue of The Federal Manager, Bilmes and Gould discuss how the U.S. can deal with the some of the most serious challenges it has seen in a half century. They argue that overcoming the crisis will require a new and revitalized federal government on a scale and scope not seen for generations.

Read a synopsis of the article [pdf].

What will America do without skilled workers?

The People Factor cited in the Federal Times

“A survey of federal agencies commissioned by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, discovered that between 1997 and 2000, federal agencies spent about 1.9 percent of their financial payroll on training, while the private sector spends 4 percent and leading organizations even more,” stated a recent article in the Federal Times. With the economic slowdown, there is heightened need for skilled workers in the United States, but with the continuous downsizing of even the wealthiest firms, companies are tempted to downsize their human resources also. But is this truly possible? What repercussions await a great country with workers of little skill? The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service, by former Commerce Department Assistant Secretary Linda Bilmes and W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, addresses the issue.

So what can America do to increase its number of skilled workers? The People Factor argues that the country cannot prosper without a strong, highly functioning federal work force to manage the government. Bilmes and Gould call for a $10 billion investment to improve recruiting, better training and enhanced management of the federal workforce predicting that the investment will yield $300-$600 billion in productivity gains.

In an age where human resources remain the most important factor for global growth, The People Factor urges the nation to invest in its greatest resource—public service.

- Get more information on The People Factor

- Learn about America’s “people factor” in the full article by Tim Kauffman of the Federal Times

What is "The People Factor?"

In the time it takes to watch this video, Federal government agencies will have...

• Solved multiple crimes

• Supervised the safe take-offs and landings of hundreds of airplanes

• Paid food stamps to hungry citizens

• Issued a national weather forecast

• Monitored the skies for any sign of enemy attack

• Rescued struggling ships at sea

• And processed some $50 million in banking transactions.

But after a century of neglect, the cracks are beginning to show. Due to rapid globalization, business has changed and adapted in order to survive. By contrast, the government systems and structures that served an earlier age are still in place. In The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service, Linda J. Bilmes and W. Scott Gould provide a compelling business case for investing in the civil service so that it may better serve the nation. By investing $10 billion to improve recruiting, training and management of the federal workforce, the authors predict that investment will yield $300-$600 billion in productivity gains.

- Watch The People Factor, the video

- Learn more about The People Factor, the book

Op-Ed by Linda Bilmes in The Boston Globe

Help wanted in public service

A SLOW FUSE is burning under the federal government that threatens to derail the Obama administration's ambitious plans for economic recovery, healthcare reform, financial regulation, and much else. That problem is the looming crisis in government staffing. Nearly half of all federal employees are on the verge of retirement - including 90 percent of the managers who run the biggest programs. Meanwhile, decades of neglect have left the rest of the government workforce chronically weak, poorly trained, understaffed, and facing an acute skills shortage.

Check out the full article.

Now Available!

The People Factor
Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service
by Linda J. Bilmes and W. Scott Gould

Facing its greatest domestic challenges since the Great Depression, America is waking up to the realization that government is still important. In their new book, The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service, Harvard professor Linda J. Bilmes and IBM Vice President W. Scott Gould argue that the country cannot prosper without a strong, highly functioning federal work force to manage the government. The authors call for an investment of $10 billion to improve recruiting, training and management of the federal workforce predicting that investment will yield $300-$600 billion in productivity gains. Packed with cost and performance data as well as new research on what motivates applicants for government jobs, these former government executives provide a compelling business case for investing in the civil service so that it may better serve the nation. A must read for policy makers, civil servants and citizens who demand more from government.

The Authors

Professor Linda J. Bilmes is a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a nationally recognized expert on public finance. She is coauthor with Joseph Stiglitz of the New York Times bestseller, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. She has served as CFO and Assistant Secretary for Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce and as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.

W. Scott Gould is vice president, public sector strategy and growth, at IBM Global Business Services. He has also served as CFO and Assistant Secretary for Administration at the Department of Commerce and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for finance and management at the Treasury Department. Gould is a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.) and a former White House fellow.

Advance Praise for The People Factor

"In recent decades, we have allowed the quality of public service in America to deteriorate badly and we are all paying the price. Bilmes and Gould have written exactly the right book at exactly the right time—a thoughtful, wise plan for overhauling government that will inspire a new generation of men and women to serve their country." —David Gergen, Professor of Public Service and director of the Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School

"I devoted thirty-eight years in uniform to building competent organizations that perform at the highest levels, even in the midst of crises when senior leaders might be changed out on short notice. The People Factor trumpets brilliantly the critical need to make similar investments in our federal workforce. By providing the requisite training, equipment, and leadership development, our federal workforce can perform the way Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coastguardsmen do—selflessly and mission focused." —General Eric K. Shinseki, U.S. Army (Ret.)

"Ultimately our welfare as a nation depends on the quality of our government, and government in turn cannot be better than the people who staff it. Government staffing rarely makes the front pages but it is profoundly important to our future. This important book shows how we as a country can do much better." —Lawrence H. Summers, Director of National Economic Council

"The People Factor is focused on how the government can achieve a better return on its most valuable asset—federal employees. It is a high-quality, comprehensive, and timely work on a topic that is little understood—but vital for the future well-being of our government." 
—David Walker, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former Comptroller General of the United States

"Good government starts with good people. Bilmes and Gould provide a thoughtful and compelling primer on why our next president needs to take that principle to heart." —Max Stier, President, Partnership for Public Service

"The shortage of good people is the single biggest limitation on good government today. In Washington’s welter of transition-year policy books, none takes on a more important subject, or deserves more attention from the new administration, than The People Factor." —Ashton Carter, Harvard University, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy

Learn more about The People Factor.