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How can state and local governments, which are facing a talent crunch due to numerous workplace trends, attract new workers and retain the best of the ones they now have?

When employees leave state and local government jobs, they often cite retirement, advancement at another public employer, and a lack of competitive compensation as the top reasons for leaving, according to their exit interviews.

Likewise, when HR Directors at state and local governments were asked about the competitiveness of their compensation and benefits packages, 92% say that the benefits package is competitive, yet just 60% say that the compensation offering is competitive, according to the same report.

Today, major generational shifts are happening that immediately impact government agencies. With Baby Boomers retiring, there is a major loss of institutional knowledge within many agencies; and Millennials currently make up just 27% of the public workforce. Clearly, public employers need to make investments in talent attraction and retention now.

With the ongoing labor shortage driving up compensation, it is unlikely that public sector employers are going to be able to compete for talent on compensation alone. This means that state and local government employers need to get more creative in order to attract new recruits and retain existing employees. Here are several examples of what the most innovative public employers are doing:

Public employers should outline what they want to be known for in the marketplace. For example, do you want your agency to be known as one that highlights employees work/life balance or focuses on the jobs purpose and impact? Do you want a workplace that can be depended on to promote veterans transitions or the re-entry of mothers? Or, do you want to offer strong career advancement and development and stability and security?

To start the process, the hiring professionals within these agencies should ask their long-time, most productive employees why they stay. Then, analyze the employee experience through the lens of a productive, engaging, and enjoyable work experience. Next, understand the experience your competitors are offering, and engage in a social marketing strategy through story-telling to communicate your agencys unique value proposition. Indeed, public sector candidates interact with prospective employers an average of 7.4 months prior to being hired.

For example, the state of Indiana used social channels on LinkedIn page to triple the level of prospective candidates awareness of available positions, according to LinkedIn.

Remember to highlight purpose and meaning in your social narrative. For a public service job to allow an employee to contribute to something larger than oneself is a big reason why employees choose their jobs and stay with their employer across generations. Because serving the public needs is the mission of the local and state government, highlighting purpose is a logical first action to take to attract and retain employees.

To compete with private sector, government agencies should consider these innovative ways to increase the value of employment:

The use of employee and employer feedback is an often underused tactic to help retain key employees. Some of the ways the public sector employers can retain their most valuable employees by leveraging feedback, include:

Conduct stay interviews In todays competitive labor market, employers more than ever need to keep an eye on how employees, especially high performers, are feeling. Stay interviews, which help managers understand why employees stay and what might cause them to leave, are a mechanism for doing so.

During these less-than-30-minute conversations, managers ask standard, structured questions in a casual manner. Asking certain questions can help employers understand what are the specific aspects of each employees role and workplace that keep them engaged, what are each employees career and life goals, and how the manager can support each person in achieving them. Further, these interview may shed light on what factors might tempt certain employees to leave.

Upskill existing employees by investing in digital professional development One of the top factors of employee retention is the availability of learning opportunities. With many options of online learning platforms available to employers, its relatively easy for employers to invest in upskilling and offer a plethora of options for skills development for their employees. For example, the state of Missouri improved employee satisfaction by 54% by investing in LinkedIn Learning for its employees.

Promote and hire by valuing power skills over technical skills To meet the agility demands of knowledge workers today, power skills, such as self-awareness, and understanding power dynamics, collaboration, leadership, communication, and cultural competency, are often the unspoken requirements for high-performance team culture.

These skills are critically important for todays employees, from Millennials to Gen X to Baby Boomers, and any who rate purpose and meaningful work as top factors when considering a job at a government agency or public sector employer.

Excerpt from:
Innovations for local and state governments to attract and retain workers - Thomson Reuters

Nine in 10 people (91%) across APAC and Japan (JAPAC) believe it is not enough for businesses to say they are prioritising environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) - they need to see it in action and proof. According to the study "No Planet B" by Oracle and Pamela Rucker, CIO advisorfor Harvard Professional Development, even though half of the respondents (50%) believe businesses can make more meaningful changes on sustainability and social factors than individuals or governments alone, 75%are fed up with the lack of progress by businesses to-date.

Close to three in four (74%) respondents wouldbe willing to cancel their relationship with a brand that does not take sustainability and social initiatives seriously, with 72% saying that theywould even leave their current company to work for a brand that places a greater focus on these efforts. On the other hand, 89% said that they would bemore willing to pay a premium for their products and services if organisations canclearly demonstrate the progress they are making on environmental and social issues, along with 87% and 86% who said they would work for and invest in such companies respectively.

Close to nine in 10 respondents (89%) also believe businesses would make more progress towards sustainability and social goals with the help of AI, while 66% believe that "bots will succeed where humans have failed".

Human bias and operational challenges are holding businesses back

Almost 93% of business leaders believe sustainability and ESG programmes are critical to the success of their organisations. Around nine in 10 business leadersbelieve sustainability and societal metrics should be used to inform traditional business metrics, and 92% want to increase their investment in sustainability.

Yet business leaders face major obstacleswhen implementing sustainability and ESG initiatives. Obtaining ESG metrics from partners and third parties (39%), a lack of data (37%) andtime-consuming manual reporting processes (35%) were some of the common barriers cited by business leaders.Nonetheless, business leaders want to step up on their sustainability and social efforts as they help increase productivity (42%), strengthen the brand (40%) and attract new customers (37%).

The study also revealed that business leaders will trust bots over humans alone to drive sustainability and social efforts, with 91% saying organisations that use technology to help drive sustainable business practices will be the ones that succeed in the long run. Almost all of them (97%) also admitted thathuman bias and emotion often distract from the end goal.

About nine in 10 (94%) business leaders would trust a bot over a human when it comes to making sustainability and social decisions.

Some of the most common reasons cited include bots being better atcollecting different types of data without error (48%), makingrational, unbiased decisions (46%) andpredicting future outcomes based on metrics and past performance (45%).

On the flip side, business leaders also said that humans are still essentialto the success of sustainability and social initiatives as people are better at implementing changes based on feedback from stakeholders (51%); educating others on the information needed to make decisions (48%), and making context-informed strategic decisions (45%).

Juergen Lindner, senior vice president and CMO, global marketing SaaS, Oracle said thatit has never been more critical for businesses to invest in sustainability and ESG initiatives as people are looking for decisive action and are demanding more transparency and tangible results.Business leaders understand the importance, yet often have the erroneous assumption that they need to prioritise either profits or sustainability. The truth is this is not a zero-sum game. The technology that can eliminate all the obstacles to ESG efforts is now available, and organisations that get this right can not only support their communities and the environment, but also realize significant revenue gains, cost savings, and other benefits that impact the bottom line," he added.

Theevents of the past two years have put a spotlight on sustainability and social efforts, with 81% of respondents saying thatthe events over the past two years have caused them to change their actions and95% saying thatsustainability and social factors have become more important than ever. Among them, establishinghealthier ways of living (53%), saving the planet for future generations (49%) and helping to create more equality around the world (49%) were among the commonly cited reasons for wanting to makeprogress on sustainability and social factors.

However, 94% of respondents believe society has not made enough progress. Common attributes cited by respondents include increased emphasis onshort-term profits over long-term benefits (43%), people being too busy with other priorities (40%) and people being too lazy or selfish to help save the planet (37%)

The findings for this study were based on a survey conducted between 25 February to 14 March 2022 with 11,005 global respondents, among which 4,000 were from JAPAC.The survey explored attitudes and behaviors of consumers and business leaders towards sustainability and social efforts along with the role and expectations of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots in ESG efforts.

Related articles:Mixed progress in SG green transformation, sustainability manager role on the riseStudy: Singapore's SMEs need a lot more help in creating sustainable practicesAPAC firms' sustainability progress 'inconsistent', plans remain performativeWhat works better in advertising: Guilt or hope?

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Study: Will bots succeed where humans have failed in brand sustainable pushes? - Marketing Interactive

Whether you like it or not, influencers run the world. Personal training? Product recommendations? Fashion advice?Look no further than thehost of influencers that have become consumers be-all and end-all source for anything and everything. They may not be qualifiedbut does anybody really seem to care? The global influencer marketing industry is expected to grow to approximately US$24.1 billion by 2025 and, evidently, this new wave of social marketing is showing no signs of slowing. With all this power comes opportunity. Enter the virtual influencer, a digital persona that encompasses everything that the traditional influencer is, minus the inevitable scandal and burnout. In other words, a way for brands to have their cake and eat it too.

Managing the virtual influencer from an organisational standpoint

Are cartoons really going to take over the advertising world? In short, no. This is because behind the virtual influencers attractive appearance, clever remarks, and winning personality stands an entire team of skilled professionals. The virtual influencer may be a futuristic being, but, like today's music, it requires old-school techniques to render and manage.

Already there are over 150 virtual influencers in existence, with this figure expected to increase as influencer marketing spending for 2022 grows to a forecasted US$15 billion. From an organisational standpoint, the formula is simple and no different from managing a celebrity or politician: production + social media management = virtual influencer.

Virtual influencers should continuously be seen as a production effort, requiring a skilled team of CGI designers, 3D animators, storyboarding artists, copywriters, production and set designers, clothing and wardrobe producers, music producers, photographers, videographers, andas with every influencer or model in this day and agea healthy dose of Photoshop. See? Virtual influencers are human too.

Social media management for virtual influencers would be no different than any other branded initiatives, with tasks such as brainstorming relevant topics and social handles, and community management from a quick-strike standpoint on anything that is newsworthy or triggers the personality of the virtual influencer remaining at the forefront of management. In other words, the management of a virtual influencer follows the same classic approach of the traditional influencer.

Many may be wonderingthen whats the point? Besides avoiding scandal and controversy, the virtual influencer behaves on an as-needed basis, unlike a physical influencer which has to produce content almost daily. Rather than sharing every meal they eat in a day, the virtual influencer focuses on content that aligns with their point of view and therefore requires a much lower level of storyboarding, copywriting, and content creation compared to traditional influencers.

The golden ratio for virtual influencers

Is it a bird, a plane, superman? Close. While it isnt superman, the virtual influencer is the modern-day superhero for any brand. When we deconstruct the virtual influencer, the concept of its creation becomes far simpler. From the development side, something that will be integral for every brands virtual influencer is the creation of a personality. Just as every real-life influencer follows somewhat of an act and establishes a distinct personality through their content and aura, this needs to be accomplished with the virtual influencer.

The million-dollar question is,how can brands skip the trial-and-error period and perfect the virtual influencer from the get-go? Contrary to popular belief, the success of a virtual influencer does not rely on the way it is rendered. The core feature that will define a good or bad virtual influencer is its own definition of self. Who are you? What do you represent? What are your beliefs? Without a well-defined personality and character, the virtual influencers appearancewhether it is cartoonish, virtual, or hyper-realbecomes irrelevant.

The second feature of the so-called golden ratio for virtual influencers is self-awareness. Like any physical celebrity, virtual influencers can become too fake. For this reason, many are failing. The hyper-real, virtual beings with avant-garde hair and makeup and bizarre behaviours may be capable of garnering gossip, but they have failed to capture an influencer audience that would want to engage with the virtual influencer in a meaningful way. Virtual influencers should be looked at as a long-term investment rather than a trendy fad to succeed.

Like us, virtual influencers need to constantly level up

We live in the age of technologywhile the 20th century had the moon landing, the 21st century has the metaverse. It goes without saying that as technology upgrades, virtual influencers can be upgraded as well. From photo and video quality to producing 3D videos which are currently very expensive for virtual influencers, technological advancements will really only affect the aesthetic appearance of your virtual influencer and their content.

If your virtual influencer is focused on being hyper-real or uber-futuristic, then only time and technology will offer you the ability to heighten this experience. A word of advice? Dont put all of your eggs in one virtual basketthat is, dont base the success of your virtual influencer solely on appearance because technology doesnt evolve as fast as consumer sentiment does. Virtual influencers need to be consistently upgraded to uphold their personalities and worldviews. This is the key to remaining relevant and realistic. Take US virtual influencer Lil Miquela, whose global success and massive Instagram following (3.1 million) is credited to her transformative and ever-changing story and personality.

For brands, rendering a virtual influencer is an opportunity to graduate from the traditional influencer while continuing to wield their global influence. Just like the mobile phone in the 90s, the virtual influencer appears daunting and futuristic. The reality? Just like for any human being, authenticity remains at the core of their success.

Humphrey Ho is managing director of Hylink USA.

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Deconstructing the virtual influencer | Analysis - Campaign Asia

As the government fights for its life, John Howard, the Liberals living icon, has been on the campaign trail.

Its not all been smooth sailing for the veteran, however. When Anthony Albanese had his now infamous numbers lapse, Howards first reaction was an understanding So what?

This undermined the governments exploitation of Albaneses gaffe, bringing a quick clean up by Howard the following day.

On Saturday, Howard was campaigning in his old seat of Bennelong, which he lost, with the election, in 2007.

Howard weighed into the teal independents. These men and women are all posing as independents. Theyre not independents, theyre anti-Liberal groupies.

We hadnt heard the groupies sledge before. The governments favourite attacks have been to say the teals are fakes and a vote for them is a vote for Labor. Its claimed the teals some of whom do share information and resources are really a party. And its deeply frustrating for the Liberals that many of the teals are receiving generous funding from Climate 200.

The Liberals are using sledgehammers against the teals. But in the seats where these independents are considered seriously competitive with the Liberal incumbents, notably North Sydney and Wentworth in Sydney and Goldstein and Kooyong in Melbourne, could such attacks be counterproductive?

In an election when voters are disillusioned with the main parties, including their generally disrespectful tone, the Liberals have to take care in how they mount their arguments against these candidates who are running on issues such as integrity and, at least by implication, advocating a better way of doing the political conversation.

To dismiss them as groupies sounds insulting (and somewhat old-fashioned).Regardless of the arguments for and against their election, many of the teals have impressive backgrounds and present a good deal better than some of the backbenchers who sit behind Scott Morrison.

The suggestion by some of their critics that theyre just a version of Labor is simplistically binary. Allegra Spender (Wentworth) and Kate Chaney (Curtin) come from distinguished Liberal clans. Percy Spender, grandfather of Allegra, was central in the forging of the ANZUS treaty.

The teals are challenged by the government for standing only against Liberal MPs. This isnt surprising, for a couple of reasons.

The issues at the centre of their campaigns, climate change and an integrity body, are ones on which the government is lagging.

Beyond that, the seats where they have most potential appeal are the Liberal leafy electorates, where many usually-Liberal voters are put off by Morrison.

One would expect many women, especially, in these seats may be attracted to teals who are articulate, professional women like themselves. These female voters would find Morrisons ultra-blokey style uncongenial and alienating.

What many yet-to-decide voters will want from the Liberals is not insults against the teals but answers to the criticisms they are making of the government. But there are difficulties here for example, how can a Liberal MP respond to a teal about an integrity commission when the prime minister says he wont even introduce the integrity legislation unless Labor supports his model, which is almost universally criticised?

The government attacks the teals for not declaring who they would support in a hung parliament.

That might be frustrating some voters and the candidates could pay a price for that. And there is a real issue here. Despite the case made for its virtues, a hung parliament could bring instability and unpredictability.

But would you expect teals to be doing anything other than keeping their powder dry at this stage?

Firstly, in the real world of politics, why would they show their hand, even if they had made a decision? It would throw their campaigns off course.

Secondly, for some teals (as for some of the present crossbenchers assuming they are re-elected) it would depend on the precise details of the hung parliament (who got how many seats, who won the popular vote), and on what was on offer from the two leaders. Spender last week was frank: she hadnt made a decision, and would want to see what was on the negotiating table.

Both Morrison and Albanese say they would do no deals with crossbenchers in seeking to form government in a hung parliament. Maybe, maybe not. But one would expect most crossbenchers would have plenty of questions for the leaders as they made up their minds to whom they might give confidence and supply.

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View from The Hill: Could going too negative on 'teals' do Liberals more harm than good? - The Conversation Indonesia

For many progressives, Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre holds the appeal of an ingrown toenail. He exists only to slowly and relentlessly burrow under the skin, causing pain, frustration and annoyance. Fortunately for Poilievre, he doesnt have to sell himself to liberals, upper or lowercase.

His campaign raises legitimate questions about if he can broaden his appeal and win a general election, but that is no reason to assume he cant. In fact, someone in the Liberal party had better be working off the assumption that Poilievre will win the next election.

Without the electoral imagination to understand why people would vote for Poilievre, it will be difficult for Liberals to convince people why they shouldnt.

There are strategic exercises people who would never vote for Poilievre can use to build the case for him. They can show how Poilievre could win an election and give the Liberal party three years to build a plan to ensure that he does not.

People who have developed campaign messaging are familiar with the four boxes exercise. Participants come up with answers to fill message boxes titled what do we say about ourselves, what do we say about our opponents, what do our opponents say about us, and lastly, what do our opponents say about themselves.

The last one, what do opponents say about themselves, is often the most difficult and the most valuable. Describing your opponents ideas, using their language, forces people to explore why the other side may have appeal. Or, God forbid, a valid point.

Poilievre doesnt tell the people hes peddling grievance politics and blaming a system thats employed him his entire adult life. He says the government has left you behind, and that hes the guy to give you back your freedom to live your life while making sure you can afford it.

Your only response to that message cannot be that people are stupid for believing him.

Another exercise, taken from military planning, is the concept of a red team. The red team goes beyond understanding the other side and starts acting like them. Think of white-hat hackers, who attack cybersecurity systems to look for vulnerabilities so they can be fixed.

The smartest people the Liberals have should be writing policy memos in support of Poilievres policy to abolish the carbon tax, even attacking the Liberals for its implementation. Better Liberals attack their own policies and learn to defend them, than find themselves without answers when Poilievre does.

Blind spots can affect any organization united in a common cause. The State of Israel went so far as to create a doctrine colloquially referred to as the Tenth Man. Essentially, if nine people look at the same information and reach the same conclusion, the tenth one is obligated to argue the other side. (The most succinct explanation is found in World War Z, a largely underrated zombie movie.)

Rhetoric aside, Poilievre is talking about housing, affordability, inflation and freedom. He is also drawing large crowds and media coverage while he does it. If there are nine Liberals who dont think Poilievre can win the next election, it would be wise to have a tenth one arguing why he can and will.

Finding any politician detestable is no reason to think others will. There is plenty of outright hatred for Justin Trudeau in Conservative spaces, and hes beat them three times now.

If Pierre Poilievre becomes leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Liberals need a plan to beat him during the next election campaign in three years. Its hard to plan for something that you dont believe will happen, which is why someone must make the case for why it will.

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To defeat Pierre Poilievre, Liberals will have to first understand his appeal - Toronto Star