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By Theresa Bontempo
Some of the most important jobs that are out there and always on the job market are ones working for the government. Government jobs can consist of many types of work—from postal workers, correctional officers, lawyers, and even judges, there are a wide variety of government jobs that can involve tons of training, classes, and hard work to get into the role.
There are lots of ways to advance in the government, but it’s important to also provide your staff with the proper means to do so. Career development is crucial and advancing with a job promotion can give someone a sense of accomplishment–and having the proper tools, training, and engagement is the best way to put them on the right track.
Career development is crucial for government employees, so consider checking out the top tools, methods, training, and engagement tactics to help them succeed!
What Kinds of Government Jobs Are There?
Getting familiar with the people that work for the government is crucial to see the kind of role they play when serving the public!
Government jobs are crucial to keep the country up-and-running, plus serving the public while either in-person or behind-the-scenes. Image courtesy of Indeed.
There are a wide variety of government jobs that range from working in an office, to being out patrolling the streets and maintaining order throughout different counties and states. From federal, state, to even county workers, each role–no matter how small it may be–can play a huge part in how our government operates on a day-by-day basis.
Military
One of the most hard-working and dedicated people that service our country and government are the men and women that serve in the military. Each branch–Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard–all serve a unique and special purpose to help protect the citizens of the United States. The members of the military are some of the most prestigious that work within the US government on a federal level, and each has a specific mission that they would lay their lives on to protect their country.
Political
The next set of government employees make up a majority of government jobs that are elected officials on federal, state, and local levels. Political government jobs can be all across the board in terms of their role and how they impact the public, where they can be found in administration, security, financing, construction, and even clerical positions.
Some of the most common political government jobs include the following:
- Secretaries
- Correctional officers
- Computer network support specialists
- Human resources specialists
- Data-entry clerks
- Tax specialists
- Sheet metal workers
- Lawyers
- Accountants
- Judges
- Mechanical engineers
- Registered nurses
- And many more!
Civilian
The last and final sector of government jobs consists of civilian ones, which can expand into a wide variety of positions. Some of the most common that you will see can consist of everything from federal, state, to local employees and can also work within the three branches of government from judicial, legislative, to executive.
The types of jobs that these people have can be in post offices, be secretaries, clerks for magistrates, and even police officers. These people specifically work for the people of the country to maintain law and order, provide services, or log accurate information. Civilian government workers can even work in specialized areas in engineering, environmental science, business, technology, medicine, social work, education, and security.
Individual Career Development Plans For Government Employees
Government employees–no matter where they fall on the hierarchy–are crucial for the success of their respective departments!
Government employees often work behind-the-scenes doing crucial office work and filing. Image courtesy of Sharp Law Firm.
There is a great responsibility that many government workers are under whenever they are performing their everyday tasks–especially for office staff. Whether it’s filing, paperwork, maintaining public order, or protecting citizens, there is a lot of responsibility that comes with their jobs in public health, national security, and even environment protection. With this in mind, it’s important to think about these staff members’ individual career development plans for their own personal success.
Skill Enhancement
Everyone has heard of hard and soft skills that are crucial to have that pertain to your job and interpersonal and personality traits that help you interact with people. For government employees, this is crucial to conform to the changing of times, new terminology, and overall communication and problem-solving. A skills enhancement course for government employees could get them familiar with everything from technological advancements, data analysis, adaptability, empathy and active listening skills, and training on laws to maintain accountability.
Many of these skill enhancement courses and techniques can come in the following:
- Targeted training programs
- Mentorships
- Consistent feedback
- Employee evaluations
- Encouragement of continuous learning
- Digital signage to further engage staff
- Identifying skill gaps
- Free trainings
- Certificate programs
Continuous Learning
One of the best ways to help further a government employee’s career is through continuous learning–which could be for a number of things. Continuous learning is identified as adapting to changes in the world and adding them into your daily work or lifestyle, and it plays a crucial role when serving the public. Government employees can learn a number of skills from these types of training sessions such as improving their communication skills, project management, data analysis, adapting to new regulations and societal demands, and creating a work culture that is full of knowledge within their team.
Offer More Meaningful Work
Staff within the government strive to work and help satisfy the public through their hard work and dedication. Instead of doing everyday mundane tasks, give your employees something that they themselves can work on to give them a bigger, more meaningful purpose to their career. This could be from giving an employee a specific task to complete and offering a personal mentorship or workshop for essential skills to better train them with how to leave the public satisfied. For those who are working in the public sector, this could be a huge accomplishment because it will help fuel their drive to continue to work towards helping the people they serve–the public.
Highlight Impact on Their Job on Citizens
Government employees come in all shapes and sizes with many of them serving the public directly, or even behind the scenes in an office. Sometimes something as simple as getting a team together and navigating why their work is important can have a huge impact on their job performance. Understanding how their role within the government can help out everyday citizens can be an inspiration to want to continue to do their job right. This could be done by having citizens come in and talk about their stories where the government’s influence positively impacted their life, or even just going back and forth between staff members and sharing their experiences. Regardless of the method on how you approach and highlight their impact on citizens, holding team meetings and talking about these experiences can be a huge eye-opener and help inspire staff to put more dedication into their current role.
Encourage Staff in Special Projects
Projects are something that many government employees work on, usually with a team of people too. These projects can be more hands-on–working on ways to increasingly improve their methods on serving the public. Special projects can help employees gain valuable insight into their position specifically and give them the opportunity to work on something that is outside of their normal everyday routine or series of daily tasks. By giving a government employee a type of special project, it can help increase their attention to detail and see which ones stand out, all while recognizing them for their participation and dedication. It is also a way for the employee to feel recognized, show off their talent, and their true potential.
Use Digital Signage to Further Recognize Employees and Their Hard Work
Something that has become increasingly popular for many types of deskless jobs, and even for office spaces is digital signage. Digital signage can be displayed on an electronic display that shows everything from images, videos, and can be used for training or an announcement board. This and many software systems that use digital signage to engage employees help to improve a better work environment through their recognition of employees and improve company retention.
There are many different software systems to sign up for to help improve employee engagement through digital signage, but there is none quite like Shift. Shift encourages employers to engage on a deeper level with their staff, learning more about them, and have them feeling more appreciated within their role in the government.
How Can Shift Help to Engage Government Employees?
A useful addition, such as digital signage using Shift, can lead to a positive work culture and help make more dedicated, happier employees!
Shift is a useful employee engagement software system that can help to engage employees and create a more positive work environment. Image courtesy of Shift.
No matter the kind of job position you fill–whether in the government or not–it can be discouraging to be constantly overworked and not recognized by your managers, supervisors, or other leaders. Not encouraging and showing your staff that you recognize their hard work can have detrimental effects on their own mental health and even the morale of the company that they work for. Implementing Shift can be a great way to solve these issues and help encourage and engage staff in government positions.
What is Shift’s Goal?
Shift has one main goal when it comes to their employee engagement system, and it’s to help businesses become better acquainted with their staff and get to know and understand them on a deeper level. Government jobs can have a high-stress factor associated with them–depending on one’s specific position–and it’s important for staff to feel appreciated, so Shift helps to deliver more effective communication between managers and staff members and help improve work satisfaction, employee retention, and create a positive work environment.
What Kinds of Features Can Shift Offer?
There are many unique features that Shift offers many types of businesses, ranging from deskless jobs like restaurants, hotels, bars, and coffee shops, to school districts and even government jobs that can help to create a healthier, more dedicated work environment.
Some of the most unique features that Shift offers include the following:
- Boost employee engagement through recognition and appreciation
- Celebrate staff birthdays, work anniversaries, and other achievements
- Show training videos and keep track of which ones staff members have completed
- Employee spotlights
- Interactive polls for staff to anonymously complete
- Expands internal communications
- Shows company logistics
- Improves and expands new hire training
- Allows staff to retrain and re-skill in key trainings
- Helps managers learn more about staff
- Encourages employees to do work harder
What Can Shift Do For Government Job Positions?
Shift can also be a great addition to any team in any branch of the government. Government jobs can be tough with a lot of stress that can fall on one’s shoulders and Shift can help to manage some of it by encouraging managers to recognize the hard work that their staff does, hold staff meetings and essential trainings for personal and career development, and even post interactive polls and surveys for job satisfaction.
Government jobs can have a ton of benefits for individuals in terms of a consistent work schedule, better benefits, higher pay wages, and increased stability. Many people that work within the government are always looking for career developments and tools to help them become a better employee and to succeed and grow as a person and in a professional aspect.
Consider these top tools and methods to engage your government employees to boost their career development!
