A Global Government Forum survey has found that just 36.3 per cent of Public Servants worldwide are satisfied with the training options available to them and only 40.7 per cent of managers feel they have sufficient training budgets to develop their teams.
The survey also found that the vast majority of respondents feel regular and effective training is either essential or very important for building a modern and innovative public sector workforce and retaining staff.
These results come at a time when Governments are ramping up efforts to drive efficiencies and better public services through digital transformation while facing increasing competition from the private sector in the ‘war for talent’.
The survey gathered 1,073 responses from Public Servants in 45 countries, including the United States, India, Singapore and the UAE.
Of those surveyed, 39.3 per cent did not feel the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively affected the learning and development opportunities open to them.
However, a higher proportion of leaders (47.2 per cent) felt it had.
A lack of time, insufficient funding and a lack of training specific to requirements were most frequently cited as being significant barriers to accessing training.
Those in IT were the least confident in their training budgets, with only 35.7 per cent agreeing it was sufficient.
The survey also explored which types of training Public Servants would find most useful.
Management and leadership training came out on top (67.5 per cent of the overall group said they would find this most useful) followed by project planning (47.4 per cent), communications (46 per cent), policy (39.5 per cent), and digital (39 per cent).
Lower down the list came public sector strategy (32.9 per cent), governance (28.7 per cent), risk management (37 per cent), and public service delivery (27.5 per cent).
The survey found that respondents attended 6.6 courses per year and dedicated 10.7 hours per month to professional development on average.
Public Servants in the US attend far more courses per year — 12 on average — and dedicate more hours per month (35.2) to professional development than those in other countries.
Washington, 22 November 2022
