This article is written by Elena Bolbolian, director of innovation, performance and audit, City of Glendale, California, USA.

Many city governments have put a halt on recruiting new staff due to the financial uncertainty the Covid-19 pandemic has placed over municipal revenues. Taking advantage of this slower than usual period for hiring, my human resources colleagues have begun revising city job descriptions, some of which have not been updated since the 1990s.

This prompted me to review my own job description. I’m an innovation officer, and my role was created in 2017. That means my job duties have not changed much in the last four years.

Let’s look at this statement at the top of my job description:

“Under the direction of the City Manager, this executive-level position oversees innovation, performance management, and internal audit.”

What do you get from this? Probably a brief understanding of what functions my role oversees at City Hall, and that’s it. What follows this statement is a lengthy list of essential job functions followed by an even lengthier list of the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform my job.

How we describe jobs in the public service doesn’t leave much to be excited about.

The search for meaning and purpose

People are searching for meaning and purpose more than ever before. As our social lives have been put on hold, to slow the spread of the virus, people have been spending that time on reflection.

At its most basic level, government exists to help people in their daily lives

My own reflection, and my re-reading of my job description, got me thinking about the role of cities and government more generally.

At its most basic level, government exists to help people in their daily lives.

Every government job has meaning and purpose written into it, but that’s not how it’s described on paper. Instead, government job descriptions focus on the essential job functions and minimum skill requirements, and neglect to mention the impact the job has on people.

Classifications and templates: a history lesson

To understand why government job descriptions in the US are crafted in the way that they are, we need to understand the civil service system as a whole and the ideas behind job classifications.

Before 1883, government employees were hired based on political connections, which gained infamy as the ‘spoils system’. The Pendleton Federal Civil Service Act of 1883 changed all that. Government employees at the federal, state and city levels were now to be hired based on merit, skill and experience.

Impact statements are important because they help illustrate the purpose behind these jobs, rather than fixating on essential job functions

This new system was widely adopted by all branches of the government by the late 20th century. To demonstrate how applicants fit the bill, government jobs were described in detail in job classifications. Governments became used to categorising and defining jobs in terms of titles, pay, duties and minimum requirements.

This job classification template is now hundreds of years old. Since the job classification contains all of the information (a role description, the essential functions and minimum qualifications) one would need to learn about the job, governments just added when you could apply to the top of the document and called it a job bulletin. These job bulletins remain the way we advertise for government jobs today.

The fix: impact needs to be in the job description

The solution is to revise the job description template and add impact statements.

Imagine you were considering taking on my job, as Director of Innovation, Performance and Audit. Like most public servants, you’d want to know how it affects people’s lives. You’d see this:

“You will report to the City Manager and have the opportunity to develop and direct innovation initiatives and projects that make it easier for the public to access city services, freeing up their valuable time.”

Immediately, you notice that the statement says “you”. This helps you to see yourself in the role. Next comes an impact statement in the job definition — “make it easier for the public to access city services” — this statement speaks directly to folks like you who are searching for purpose. You can picture yourself making a difference in the lives of community members with the projects you undertake.

Impact statements are important because they help illustrate the purpose behind these jobs, rather than fixating on essential job functions. Revising the job description template isn’t difficult — a little bit of creative thinking and the attention of your marketing colleagues would do the trick. But it could have a significant effect.

As the pandemic draws to a close and governments resume hiring, they have an opportunity to reach a broader pool of applicants. Many of them will be desperately searching for meaning and purpose in their lives. Together we can bring the brightest minds to government! — Elena Bolbolian

We want to hear what you think about this article. Pitch an article to us or send your comments to [hello@apolitical.co](mailto:hello@apolitical.co)

(Picture credit: Unsplash)