Demographics: The Master Driving Force

[Ed. note: This a posting from one of three groups participating in NCSL's Senior Management Leadership Seminar session, "Strong Staff, Strong Legislatures: A New Prescription for Staff Innovation."]

The "pros", a working group comprised of attendees from states with more professionalized legislatures (full-time legislatures that provide personal staff to members) had participants from Texas, Washington, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Connecticut, and Illinois, along with NCSL staff from Denver and DC. Our discussions began with the five driving force areas identified by the larger group: demographic change, technology, partisanship, public cynicism, and short-term vision. An initial comment was that we had a difficult task before us in identifying driving forces and prescribing actions to be taken as much as 20 years out. With that acknowledged, we charged forward.

Everyone quickly engaged in a lively interchange centered on demographic changes and the many areas impacted. There were lots of observations, and it became apparent that members saw other driving forces that had been identified as having at least some roots in this one. Demographic change thus became a focal point as we moved on, with discussion continually coming back to this driver.

To put some shape to our deliberations, we began to delineate items within the major categories of the five selected driving forces that we thought deserved attention as they related to the question of how to maintain and foster the "strong staff - strong legislature" relationship for the next 20 years. The list under demographic change grew quickly. Several items were also identified under technology, but when the group moved to partisanship, the discussion turned back on itself. They found that points raised concerning partisanship could actually be considered results brought about by demographic changes. One way to state it might be that the face of America is changing in many ways, some less obvious than others, and the impacts are far-reaching, including in the realm of politics.

Consideration of the remaining two driving forces, public cynicism and short-term vision, quickly placed them as results of other forces. At this point the group turned to shaping specific recommendations to address the items identified previously with an eye toward our charge. A basic outline was established with some major headings and particular points beneath. This will be reviewed when the group meets tomorrow morning to process any further insights and to finalize its recommendations. With mental exhaustion beginning to take a toll on the members, discussions adjourned for the day with a sense of accomplishment.

Comments

[Tim Rice]

Having been given the charge of examining driving forces to which staff must respond in order to maintain and foster the "Strong Staff - Strong Legislatures" relationship for the next twenty years, having focused on demographic changes and technology as key driving forces, having been immersed in the practice of innovation, the "pros" set about outlining a prescription for the future.

The last step in the process was to derive a title for our prescription; we settled on "20/20 Foresight: The Innovation Generation". Subsequent comments to this post will present major elements in our prescription. I certainly invite other members of our team to contribute and comment, as well as others in attendance at SMLS and beyond.

[Tim Rice]

1. Retaining Knowledge and Respect for the Institution (i.e., the legislature)

a. Recycle retirees, leveraging their knowledge and respect for the institution by keeping them connected via part-time positions and volunteer work with current staff.

b. Establish and maintain formal mentoring processes where junior staff get to walk alongside senior staff.

c. Form an on-going, self-perpetuating working group of retirees, tenured staff, and newer staff that can preserve institutional memory while crossing generational boundaries.

[Tim Rice]

2. Recruiting and Retaining the Best Staff for the Next Generation

a. Address concerns of life/work balance through such means as telecommuting options, flexible benefits packages, and flex time offerings.

b. Be family-friendly, providing options for child care, elder care, and even pet care.

c. Welcome diversity in the workplace, including gender, racial, ethnic, and generational.

d. Provide innovative jobs that are attractive to those who have many more options for employment (yes, this is possible, even in an environment as traditional as the legislature).

e. Raise the productivity of current staff to meet the anticipated shortfalls in available replacements for retiring staff. This is another opportunity for innovation and leveraging of technology.

[Tim Rice]

3. Connecting the Public to the Legislature and Providing for Greater Public Participation

a. Opening up the committee process through technology. This is the point at which citizens can and should be directly involved in the legislative process, and technology can enable this via electronic participation in committee hearings and submission of testimony.

b. More transparency and access to information, via web sites and other means of electronic dissemination and distribution, and including options for those who for one reason or another are limited in their access to such means. This is not a one-time effort but an on-going focus to continually improve the quantity and quality and accesibility of information.

c. Increased civics education to achieve a more informed citizenry.

[Tim Rice]

4. Internal Improvements in the Institution

a. Improvements in the process. Obviously these need to be carefully considered, but there may well be traditions that are no longer useful or meaningful.

b. Access to expertise and data. Members and staff alike need more and better access to all the various forms and sources of information available.

c. Means of managing the volume of information. Along with more information comes the need to filter and sort and process it.