Written by Rachel Holly and Ron Miller
Across the nation businesses are facing the challenge of developing new policies that promote the safe and healthy return of employees to worksites. In this new phase of the pandemic, organizations have been forced to accept that it is not business as usual and that they must be creative and genuinely passionate about sustaining their workforce in terms of flexibility and retention.
Government agencies, particularly at the federal level, are seeing this as an opportunity to redevelop their human capital strategies and policies. In fact, the newly appointed Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director – who oversees the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council – wants the agency to reassert itself in helping departments government-wide become model 21st century employers.
AvantGarde – a long-standing government partner in human capital strategy services – is uniquely positioned to support the CHCO Council and OPM with its government-wide goals. We offer a team of experts and core of human capital capabilities to assist federal clients with developing customized solutions that address gaps and adapt to evolving needs in an ever-changing work environment.
For example, recent research indicates that employers who are currently nimble and flexible with telework policies are proficient at competing for (and retaining) top talent. The AvantGarde team understands that awareness of each organization’s culture is critical in determining how to best approach and enable these policies. Our consultants work closely with each client to develop customized, tangible solutions to transition and/or maintain that agility and strengthen their workforce. We even have our own proprietary platform, Workforce Management Office (WMO), that allows for cost-benefit analysis including scenario planning and recommendations to assist agencies in developing and designing remote workforce plans.
Furthermore, our President and CEO, Rebecca Contreras, is a former CHCO herself (from the Department of Treasury) and understands the unique human capital challenges and pain points of the CHCO Council. From start to finish, Rebecca adds her own personal touch by following each project closely. This entails recurring check-ins with clients to ensure both AvantGarde employees and clients are on the path to success.
At AvantGarde we’re also leading by example to protect the safety and health of our employees. Currently we are partnering with our federal clients to identify AG employees who can continue to work 100% remotely, supporting internal reassignments that retain top talent, and continuing to leverage our AG University to train our own workforce to better support our clients.
The pandemic era has prompted leadership into rethinking employee recruitment and retention strategies, short- and long-term. More than ever, this requires both maximum usage of existing flexibilities and a thorough understanding of employee expectations to accommodate the talent that sustains an organization. AvantGarde has proven itself to have that deep expertise and resources to support OPM, the CHCO Council, and federal agencies as they pivot and adapt to the post-COVID19 work challenges.
Written by Rachel Holly and Ron Miller