NLPES 2001 Conference Notes: Roundtable on Workforce Issues

NLPES Site Map Joint Fall Training Conference Notes

Roundtable on Workforce Issues - Roundtable C-Medium to Large Shops (more than 20 staff)
Friday, September 7, 2001

Moderator: David Dean, Senior Auditor, Secretary of State Audits Div (Oregon)

This roundtable discussion on workforce issues addressed the topics of writing, management issues and recruiting.

Writing

Problem: Developing new staff skills and getting reports completed in a timely fashion.

Arizona gives staff the opportunity to write and provides in-house training. They often struggle with what the message is trying to communicate – they try to develop the message throughout the fieldwork process.

Texas has message meetings and has also hired two technical writers. Staff often struggles with writing style; only 1-2 people may get experience per project, but they gain experience through work papers.

Florida produces short, simple reports. They have a message meeting two thirds through the project. They also have a mentoring program. They have a "write as you go" philosophy. Having a progressive report works well by providing quicker feedback – making changes as the report develops eliminates the need to completely redo the report near completion. Rather than set individual deadlines, fieldwork, data analysis and writing are combined into one deadline.

South Carolina sets out several objectives, then writes on each objective as they do it. They encourage all team members to participate in the editing process, working together and editing as a team.

California sets the hypothesis up front (after the planning phase), then modify it as the project continues.

Michigan conducts informal progress discussions and has an informal outline to initially work from.

Management Issues

Problem: Flexibility and scheduling

Most states provide flexible work schedules, but this presents challenges to be considered - there are drawbacks for those who have to manage the schedules and staff needs to remember that the needs of the audit/evaluation come first and that they need to work with agency schedules

Most offices have comp time and business casual dress code while one office allows telecommuting.

Recruiting

Problem: Recruiting and staff retention

Recruiting and retaining quality staff is a concern for all states. Qualifications were also discussed.

Georgia originally used career fairs to recruit staff, but the retention level was low. They now target MPA and MBA programs and do presentations to college classes.

Wisconsin sends staff that graduated from the school to speak to classes at the school.

Oregon does guest speaking and helps develop programs. They require primarily business and accounting related degrees with a preference for MBA.

Florida provides temporary and part time positions for students working on their masters degree as well as an intern program. They look for research-oriented skills.

Kansas feels that being a good auditor requires common sense.

In closing, it was determined that "thinkers" are needed. Analytical ability is needed. Don’t hire the degree; hire the ability.