Pennsylvania Earns National Recognition for Millennial Recruitment Initiatives

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The state Office of Administration is being recognized for its efforts to attract Millennials into the state government workforce.

For the second year in a row, the National Association of State Chief Administrators presented the Office of Administration with its Innovations in State Government Award in the area of personnel. The awards recognize programs and projects that exemplify best practices and innovation and create efficiency and effectiveness in state government.

"In order to effectively deliver the programs and services that Pennsylvanians depend upon, we must attract and retain quality employees to work in state government," said Secretary of Administration Sharon Minnich. "We need to work to make public service an attractive option for the next generation of talent entering the workforce."

While Millennials comprise 35% of the national workforce and 33% of the workforce in Pennsylvania, they are just 17% of the state government workforce.

In order to address this trend, the Office of Administration (OA) has embarked on a comprehensive plan to improve recruitment and retention, which includes:

• Reinvigorating relationships with Pennsylvania colleges and universities to establish pipelines of talent for interns and graduates.
• Working with the State Civil Service Commission to create the Commonwealth Public Service Internship program as a flexible path from college to careers in state government.
• Creating The William Penn Fellowship Program to bring advanced degree holders into public service to work on targeted projects.
• Forming a volunteer group of Millennial-age state employees to provide insights, conduct research and make recommendations for how the commonwealth can strengthen its recruitment and retention strategies and its brand as an employer.
• Creating a sense of community among younger employees through networking events, activities and technology.
• Developing recruitment videos that feature public service as a career opportunity.

OA will also make the hiring process for non-civil service positions more user friendly through a redesign of its employment portal and allowing applicants to apply for specific job vacancies rather than broad categories of positions. Legislation signed earlier this year by Governor Wolf allows the State Civil Service Commission to also adopt vacancy-based hiring as well as increase the pool of applicants an agency can consider for a position and communicate with applicants through means other than U.S. mail. 

To learn more about the awards, visit http://www.nasca.org

Media contact: Dan Egan (OA), 717-772-4237

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of Administration

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us