HKS Dean Pushes Government Hiring Reforms

Harvard Kennedy School Dean David T. Ellwood urged the federal government to improve its hiring system in order to attract more talented young workers in a Monday opinion piece in the Washington Times.

Ellwood wrote that the government should enhance its recruitment efforts, expand its range of opportunities for talented workers, and improve public management.

He also suggested that the government provide more financial motivation to join the public sector, such as through the implementation of programs like the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, where students can receive educational benefits if they commit to working in government after graduation.

Ellwood stressed the importance of making these changes now, during what he called a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

“I think this is an amazingly important, exciting, but also troubling moment,” he said. “It’s exciting because young people are stepping up and want to serve, but it’s frightening because our current system doesn’t always give people the opportunity to serve.”

Kennedy School Professor Robert I. Rotberg agreed that the federal government would benefit from an increased number of talented students entering the public sector.

“I hope people pay attention and they get developed,” Rotberg said of Ellwood’s suggestions.

The number of 2009 Kennedy School graduates who plan to enter the private sector is not yet available, Ellwood said. According to Rotberg, more Kennedy School students this year are turning to the public sector due to the economy.

Last year, 35 percent of HKS graduates entered the private sector, a drop from the 41 percent that joined the private sector in 2007.

According to Ellwood, many Kennedy School students enter the private sector due to large salary differences, doubts about future opportunities within the public sector, and ineffective government recruiting.

For example, private companies extend job offers far more speedily than the federal government, which can often taken nine months to conclude the recruiting process, Ellwood said. The mere weeks a private firm like McKinsey takes to make an offer can push graduates toward the private sector.

And McKinsey can also pay a larger salary, Ellwood added.

“We have to do better than that if we really want the best,” he said.

Ellwood has been focusing on public service at the Kennedy School over the last year, he said.

The Student Public Service Collaborative, a Kennedy School organization, also encourages students to be involved in public service and to enter the public sector.

“Students have been very aggressive in advancing the public sector and public service more broadly,” Ellwood said.