Hire Calling

In talking with Norm Lorentz, director in the global public sector practice at Grant Thornton and former chief technology officer at the Office of Management and Budget, on Friday about the challenges and roadblocks to recruiting and retaining top notch IT workers to the federal government, there was one overarching theme: the federal hiring process.

The degree of frustration with the federal hiring process and with leveraging new technology is equal across generations, Lorentz said, and "all federal employees are motivated by the challenge and at the same time, extraordinarily frustrated with the roadblocks."

As President Obama looks to make good on his goals to boost transparency, transform health care and encourage participatory democracy, among others, a capable and motivated federal IT workforce is key. And if reforming the hiring process is the overarching solution to ensuring the government has that workforce, then what can be done about it? How can government leverage technology and Web 2.0 tools to better facilitate the hiring process and communicate with applicants?