Public Sector Technology to Overcome Staffing Challenges

It’s no secret that government organizations at all levels are experiencing staffing shortages.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that job openings have increased to 11 million vacancies. There are universal challenges such as the Great Resignation, burn out and lingering effects of the pandemic, but as other industries are recovering, the public sector continues to struggle. 

As the public sector continues to feel the impact of recruiting and retention challenges, technology serves as a solution to fill the gaps.  

In this article, we discuss how technology can help support current staff, help recruit and retain new talent, save time and money and improve overall efficiency in your daily operations.  

Empower Staff With Technology Investments

When it comes to addressing staffing challenges, the emphasis is put on finding new talent, but there is value in investing in resources that help support your current staff to increase retention.

It is important to take inventory of your current systems and assess if your team has the necessary technology to do their job effectively. Equipping employees with modern, user-friendly tools reduces the amount of training needed and offsets the increasing workload for IT staff. New technology can also help streamline standard workflows to free your staff to work on priority tasks.

Technology is a core element to refine your operations to overcome the challenge of increasing citizen expectations.  Updated tech improves the speed of service, reliability, data accuracy and makes work more convenient for staff.

Process Automation With AI

Artificial Intelligence isn’t some distant technology for the future – it’s a present solution that government organizations can take advantage of to help mitigate the effects of staffing challenges and improve overall operational success. The Alliance Police Department in Nebraska is a great example of how the public sector can benefit from the technology.

Officers have a critical task of balancing the competing priorities of providing emergency response to their community, while also managing clerical duties such as reporting and handling case data. Both are essential; however, administrative tasks can keep officers away from where they’re most needed.

The Alliance PD leverages the power of CentralSquare’s Public Safety Suite® to automate standard, repetitive workflows – allowing officers to focus on mission-critical tasks.

As it relates to reporting, their team does not have a clerk managing data analysis on crime rates. Instead, they’ve built out a custom report that puts a tag on all of their CAD calls. The tags trigger reports based on call information; details that help increase the responder’s situational awareness.

They’ve also seen the benefit of automation in case file sharing. In the past, their department had a dedicated role for managing case file sharing with the district attorney’s office. Once the role was vacant, there was no budget to backfill the position. The attorney-client portal in Public Safety Suite allowed them to automate the process of sharing case files. Officers compile the report, a sergeant approves it and the district attorney has it available in the shared portal.

In addition to admin operations, the Alliance PD uses automated technology for citizen engagement. Each officer has a business card with a QR code for citizens to provide feedback on how the officer handled the situation. It ensures that they are carrying out the mission, values and vision of their department, but it also serves as a method to improve their processes and build community relations.

AI has also enhanced their ability to make better-informed decisions by implementing automated camera systems throughout the city. The system sends alerts and tips to both the police department and 911 call takers to notify them of activity occurring in the community, and to aid in dispatching responders.

The function of AI is not to replace staff, but it is a resource to help support your team and to equip your organization with tools that allow you to do more with less.

Utilizing the Benefits of the Cloud

One of the greatest benefits of shifting your operations to the cloud is flexibility, including resources and staffing.

A recent study on work statistics and trends estimates that nearly 32.6 million Americans will work remotely by 2025. The workforce is shifting away from traditional settings to hybrid or fully remote work environments.

The public sector must make the transition, and cloud technology is the solution. The flexibility of the cloud keeps your team connected and allows access to systems anywhere at any time – making remote work an easy reality.

Offering remote opportunities allows you to access a wider range of candidates. For instance, if you’re in a smaller municipality, there might not be enough candidates who have the specific set of skills to fulfill the job requirements. However, there may be more qualified candidates in larger cities where the job market is more competitive.

This approach also appeals to a generation entering the workforce who are accustomed to a remote environment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that roughly 27% of the U.S. workforce doesn’t work in a traditional office setting. The pandemic created the need for social distancing, but years later there is a shift from the need to a preference.

While cloud technology creates the opportunity to attract new talent with remote work, there are additional benefits that help alleviate the challenges that staffing shortages create.

• Budget predictability. Sometimes the issue isn’t finding qualified candidates, but budget constraints that hinder organizations from hiring new staff. Cloud technology is offered on a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model where costs are predictable – you pay for what you use. It also removes expensive hardware costs and maintenance fees. The SaaS model provides the predictability needed for better planning into the future, including budgeting for new staff.
• Updated technology. Your team must be equipped with up-to-date technology in order to do the job efficiently. Outdated technology builds frustration and hinders productivity. Cloud vendors can provide more frequent updates at a faster rate as opposed to a slower, manual process of purchasing new hardware. Updated technology supports your staff, giving them the necessary tools to succeed.
• Enhanced security. There is some resistance to shifting to the cloud in the public sector due to the risk of cybersecurity threats, and the concern is valid. Cyberattacks not only pose a risk to data security, but they also affect your team’s ability to do their job.  The benefit of cloud technology is that providers have dedicated teams that focus on the security of your sensitive data. CentralSquare collaborates with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to ensure the best cloud security and reliability.

CentralSquare| Your Partner in Success

We provide innovative software solutions to help your organization do more with less. The value in investing in CentralSquare solutions is that our technology is specifically designed to simplify your operations and meet your unique business needs – including staffing challenges.

Connect with our team today to see how CentralSquare technology can help you overcome staffing challenges and lead your team to success.