This year, we’re making a real investment in the public sector. Find out more about the unique challenges that public sector organizations face when tackling their digital skills gaps and discover ways of solving these in our latest article, packed with data, insights, and actionable tips.
What challenges do public sector organizations face when tackling their digital skills gaps?
If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s the appreciation for everything the public sector and its dedicated staff do for us, often working behind the scenes with limited capacity and resources.
And now, public sector organizations are facing another serious challenge—the growing rate of digital transformation, leading to a global digital skills shortage. This challenge comes in many shapes and forms.
1. Pressures to undergo digital transformation without having the right support systems or funding in place
As the world becomes increasingly digitized, governments around the globe are driving public sector companies to embrace innovation and boost the efficiency of their IT systems, often resulting in the implementation and adaption of fast and efficient cloud-based solutions.
However, a recent study of US Government leaders found that more than half (61%) say their organization is “not keeping pace with the private sector in its adoption and implementation of modern technologies,” many of whom state bureaucracy and budget restrictions as the leading contributing factors of this.
To tackle such concerns, governments have implemented a digitization strategy. For example, the UK Government’s Central Digital and Data Office published its three-year roadmap to transforming the online delivery of public services, promising a whopping £1bn in savings between 2021 and 2025 if the measures outlined in the report are implemented. The roadmap identifies the need to send thousands of civil servants on “digital bootcamps” to grow their digital skill sets, as well as the pressing requirement to replace outdated IT systems and make service delivery more efficient.
However, digital bootcamps may not always be tailored to the specific day-to-day needs of each public sector organization. The obvious answer to this challenge would be to employ consulting firms that can build a custom training program. But this is often a costly undertaking, beyond the means and funding available to public sector organizations. In such instances, the burden of training and upskilling may fall on more senior members of the team, who are already struggling to meet the demands of their increasing workload.
At Revolent, we offer a cost-effective alternative to digital bootcamps, tailored to the individual needs of each public sector organization we work with. You have the option to nominate just one employee or an entire team to either upskill and gain more advanced Salesforce certifications or reskill from another technology entirely, all in just a few weeks time, with minimal disruption and impact on productivity. Find out more.
2. The expectation to become more 'customer-centric' paired with a lack of Salesforce expertise in the Federal space
We live in an increasingly digitized world and customer expectations have grown exponentially over recent years, especially with advancements in cloud technology. Whether someone is approaching a public or private sector organization to solve a specific challenge for them, they will expect the same level of customer service and seamless experience, where it feels like the different departments of an organization are all working together to provide them with the most efficient service possible. According to recent research by the world’s leading CRM, Salesforce, “66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, yet 66% say they’re generally treated like numbers.”
To become more customer-centric, many public sector organizations have already embraced cloud-based solutions such as Salesforce. Those that haven’t will need to undergo digital transformation rapidly to meet the shifting demands of customer expectations.
Whichever stage your organization is at in your Salesforce adaptation journey, you’re likely to encounter another challenge: the general lack of Salesforce expertise in the Federal space. There are a number of Government clearance requirements in place that skilled Salesforce professionals would need to have, in order to be permitted to even start engaging with different public sector projects and initiatives. It’s hard enough finding certified Salesforce talent—let alone talent with the required Government clearance.
To tackle this, many public sector organizations have shifted their strategy to recruit and onboard individuals with the required clearance first, and then proceed to teach them Salesforce. With access to hundreds of recruitment specialists, and the largest number of Salesforce-certified in-house trainers globally, we are in a position to help. We’ll source experienced tech talent who meet the necessary Government clearance requirements for your projects, and cross-train them as qualified Salesforce specialists, deployed business-ready to your site, all in as little as 8-12 weeks. Book a meeting to find out more.
3. Matching salary expectations for in-demand cloud talent with the private sector (particularly for onshore development talent)
Public sector organizations need skilled tech talent just as much as private sector companies do. Without the talent to successfully implement and manage cost-effective solutions like Salesforce CRM, public sector organizations can’t reap the full benefits of cloud-based solutions, making them slower to adapt to the increasingly digitalized world we live in. However, this also means that public sector companies are competing for tech specialists, using the same talent pools as private sector organizations who can often provide more lucrative salary and benefits packages to entice candidates, which the public sector simply doesn’t have the resources to offer.
This is especially true for organizations looking to employ onshore development talent. According to the US Labor Department, the demand for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is likely to grow by 25% in the next decade. By 2023, the global shortage of software engineers may even reach a whopping 85.2 million. With tech talent (and developers in particular) being so in-demand, the competition is fierce, especially in desirable and high-grossing locations such as New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.
To solve this challenge, businesses operating in the public sector need to follow Gartner’s advice and look for innovative and “non-obvious sources of talent,” such as talent creation schemes and upskilling programs. At Revolent, we have access to a broad pool of experienced developers with the ability to cross-train into Salesforce specialists, ready to start on-site, wherever you are based geographically, in as little as 8-12 weeks.
4. Public sector culture can make agile ways of working more difficult, deterring remote and hybrid candidates
Since the pandemic, employee expectations have shifted considerably, in terms of what they want to see from their company culture. According to recent research by one of the leading publications of hiring trends in the Salesforce ecosystem, Mason Frank’s Careers and Hiring Guide 2022-23, 44% of candidates surveyed agree that the ability to work from home would entice them to accept or consider a new role, making it the top hiring perk in the ecosystem, ahead of more paid time off (41%) and receiving a bonus (31%). People also look for more agility from the senior leadership team and speed to execution, making the working culture more open, inclusive, and efficient. Although public sector organizations do have much to offer in terms of their company culture, often lauded as being more ‘human-centric’ than the private sector, agility is still a struggle.
To create a more agile working environment, public sector organizations should look to address the four barriers to agility within the public sector, as identified by McKinsey. These barriers include hierarchical structures, talent and capability gaps, outdated organizational structures, and a complex procurement and partnership environment.
5. A lack of diversity across the public sector
Although the public sector has become more diverse overall, there is still a considerable lack of representation among public sector organizations. According to MissionSquare Research Institute, the police force is seeing a particular shortage in the representation of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and women. What’s more, African Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented within local government administration, especially in managerial positions. This lack of representation can make it more difficult to not only recruit but retain diverse talent, and lead to further issues of trust within the wider community that’s supposed to be represented by these institutions. In addition, it is incredibly challenging to fill certain roles within the public sector—information technology being one of them—according to the 2021 State and Local Government Workforce Survey.
In order to foster openness, creativity, innovation, and trust, public sector organizations need to go out of their way to reach and retain as wide a pool of candidates as possible. This can be achieved by investing in the following initiatives, referenced in the survey:
- Leadership development programs
- Workplace ED&I training
- Cross-training programs (such as Revolent)
- Internships and apprenticeships
- Mentoring programs
- Collaborative and/or distributed leadership
- Stay interviews
- Employee affinity and/or resource groups
How Revolent can help you solve the digital skills gap in your team
Finding skilled, business-ready cloud professionals with the right skills is a real challenge for many companies across the globe, but especially those operating in the public sector. At Revolent, we have an in-depth understanding of the specific challenges public sector organizations face and we’re keen to do our bit to help you solve them. We can help you source the specialist cloud talent you need while building advanced, long-term cloud capabilities for your internal teams.
1. Building a cost-effective cloud talent pipeline
Our cloud programs are designed to help you find the talent you need to solve the specific skills shortages within your teams. With access to dedicated Salesforce recruitment specialists, we can hire, cross-train, and deploy delivery-ready Salesforce talent (with necessary Government clearance) in as little as 8-12 weeks. After completing a work placement of up to two years, 83% of our ‘Revols’ tend to stay with the organization they’re deployed to, which could help you significantly cut down on recruitment costs for contractors and boost retention rates in your teams.
2. Upskilling or reskilling your existing teams
For companies looking to build internal capabilities in specialist cloud technologies, including Salesforce, we also offer the option to ReSkill and Upskill existing talent without losing time to productivity and minimizing disruption.
