Heather Kerrigan

is Governing's research specialist and events coordinator. E-mail her at hkerrigan@governing.com.

At Governing's Managing Performance 2009 conference, my colleague Zach Patton and I moderated a session on recruiting and retaining young leaders. This has recently been a hot topic on Governing.com and across our social-media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter). As such, I wanted to devote this newsletter to some of the insight gained from the two young leaders we invited to speak, as well as their managers and attendees in the session.

Below is an edited transcript from the session "Young Leaders: What Attracts Them to Government? What Will Keep Them Here?"

On why young leaders are attracted to government:

Aaron Roller, policy analyst, Mayor's Office of Operations, New York City: I had an inspiration to work in government that came when I was in college and was working at the city law department. I realized what a tremendous opportunity it was-the idea that I could have a career and look out on the city I love and know that things are the way they are because I had an involvement in them. The idea that you can make a difference is very important to this generation. Government is also great for my generation because of the work/life balance--I get to go home at night, I get to see my wife, and that's a great benefit.

On getting attention for government jobs:

Carole Post, director of agency services, Mayor's Office of Operations, New York City: The recruiting environment in New York City giveth and taketh away. People are attracted to the city, especially talented youth, which makes our pool of candidates very rich. However, it is a hotly contested market-the private sector is a big employer and can pay two to three times our salaries. We can't compete with large banks. A lot of young people have an interest in the public sector. So we try to capitalize on the appeal of the mayor's office. We really have to showcase what we have to offer. We emphasize our management style: three things we try to give employees are autonomy, access and accountability. We allow young leaders from day one to hit the ground running, to participate in decision making and to have access to decision makers. Part of the attraction of government in New York City is access to the leadership in the city. And we think it is important to recognize that those who do the work should be at meetings and briefings. You are also held accountable in this way. I think young leaders thrive in this environment, knowing that the impact they have will make a difference. Garnering support in recruitment has been important to us-we have people go back to their school recruitment days. Your employees are your best voice.

Paul Wright, IT director, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Administration: The important thing for us, right now, is to stay in communication with the schools. We aren't hiring, but we don't want to lose the continuity.

On benefits for young leaders:

Wright: Some policies prevent us from doing things we want to for young leaders, such as allowing them to work remotely. You run into a problem with secure access, and create a possibility of someone hacking in and getting your data. We have also had departments that didn't allow Internet access to employees because there was a view that they would play games all day.

Post: Even in a progressive office, there are still a lot of old ways of thinking. For example, we had to fight for BlackBerrys. It's a very useful tool in the workplace, and we spend a lot of time outside of the office. But only senior analysts got BlackBerrys. It was a big struggle, but we finally made the case that it is a useful tool and it made the young employees feel important. We tried to get creative with the titles, and we presented a proposal to add a few layers to give the junior staff a promotion and expand their job duties. It's a little smoke and mirrors, but it gave us the ability to give them a small raise. It's about getting a little creative with the head counts and titles.

Tim Abraham, business manager, West Virginia Department of Administration: If older employees can have a 10-minute smoke break, we want to have a 10-minute Internet break. We can't produce what we know we can when we don't have the necessary tech and other tools. We know what we're capable of doing.

On government as a stepping stone:

Post: From our perspective, the mayor's office is known as a stepping stone. And that's good. I want someone hungry to do more. When they move on from your office, you will know you have great talent out at the front lines. You just have to ask yourself how you define retention—is it in your office? Or in your organization?

On retention:

Robert Ferguson, cabinet secretary, West Virginia Department of Administration: The hard part is not recruiting young leaders, but retaining them. The economy is going to bring them to you today. Part of retention is about how you challenge them ... show them the how of the job.

Roller: There are a lot of people out there who don't know what their employees need. We need people who care enough about us to get us BlackBerrys, create smoke and mirrors and don't let us stagnate in a window office. Retention can come down to the managers and the leadership.

On what I would change about government if I could:

Michael Roling, special assistant for operations, Office of Administration, Missouri IT Services Division: It has been a wonderful experience seeing all the work I've done impacting the state of Missouri. The only thing I wish I could change is the knowledge divide. Government employees of my generation, we don't know the policy, the statutes, the inner workings of government. We can do things with all of these new technologies, but how we apply it is one of the toughest things.

Are you a young leader? Or do you have tips on retaining young leaders? Send them to me at hkerrigan@governing.com