Nextgov

Last April, the federal CIO Council released a report that encouraged federal agencies to drastically change long-established bureaucratic work environments and traditions in order to attract, hire and retain the next generation of information technology workers. Now, a report by Kelly Services has the same message: the workforce is changing, and as Generation Y becomes an increasingly important segment, organizations need to adapt.

"Gen Y, like other generations, are shaped by the events, leaders, developments and trends of their time," the Kelly Services report states. "Gen Y grew up in a digitally-driven world where standards and norms have changed and they operate under different perceptions and outlook than their managers and the rest of their colleagues."

The report recommends that employers tune into the younger generation's unique characteristics and create a recruitment program tailored to their preferences. This includes training leaders who interview candidates, nominating role models or mentors in the organization, engaging Gen Y through online recruiting and social networking, creating a performance-based culture, promoting branding of the organization and implementing an effective employee referral program. Organizations also should develop a comprehensive onboarding program to welcome employees, provide flexibility at work, build relationships around people and offer more responsibility to Gen Y workers in order to retain them, the report states.

None of those recommendations are particularly new, but the question lies in whether agencies have worked to adopt at least some of them. In September, I wrote a feature article highlighting the federal CIO council's research and received several comments from readers on the challenges they faced in getting a government tech job. Now, nearly one year after the CIO Council released its research on the net generation, has your agency changed? What could the government be doing differently to attract and retain young IT talent?