Workforce is always a top-of-mind topic for NASCIO members. In the latest iteration of the organization’s annual state CIO survey, released this past Monday, the top way IT leaders reported trying to attract and retain a highly skilled IT workforce was “promoting non-salary benefits.” One of those benefits, as a number of CIOs said, including Thomas, is the mission of public-sector service.
Many states, Georgia among them, are setting up internship programs, showing students and young workers what it might look like for them to take a government job, even if they only stay for a few years. Thomas’ team is working with a local technical college network to get students into the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) and see for themselves what it means to serve the public. Like other CIOs, Thomas said you have to communicate the importance of the government mission, that the work they do at GTA impacts their own families and communities.
She’s encouraging other agencies in the state to take the same approach, to show potential staff “the why” of what they do in Georgia government.
