Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has again turned to Boston Consulting Group for another $2 million study, this one centered on how to manage a strategy that will involve reducing the state”™s costs by some $500 million a year.
The study is designed to evaluate workforce efficiency and organizational design that would prepare Connecticut for a significant number of anticipated retirements among state employees by 2022.
The goal of the project is to generate recommendations about how best to mitigate the risk of the potential retirements and use the opportunity to modernize and improve how state government provides its critical services to Connecticut residents while reducing cost.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was selected after a competitive bidding process to assist in completing the study and to provide recommendations to Lamont and the members of the General Assembly.
The three-phase process will entail the following:
- Phase 1 will include analysis of executive branch agencies to identify and document the scope and magnitude of the issues related to their workforce and efficiency opportunities. Upon completion of Phase 1, gaps and opportunities will be identified and developed for further review.
- Phase 2 will develop targeted best practices, prioritizing criteria and objectives, identifying and analyzing available choices, and testing recommendations.
- Phase 3 will include analysis of outcomes, stakeholder feedback, and detailed review of the information, culminating in a final report in February 2021.
“It has been 10 years since the last time we studied our workforce and a lot has changed over the past decade,” Lamont said. “We have had two significant labor agreements, the effects of a lingering recession and slow recovery and we are in the midst of a global pandemic and its resulting economic fallout, combined with the simple fact that our state employees are getting older and as many as 25% are eligible for retirement.
“We need to dig deep into our state agencies and learn more about what to anticipate and how best to use this challenge as an exciting opportunity to ensure our government is serving our state as effectively as possible,” the governor added.
“Starting with 2017 legislation that requested (the Office of Policy Management) secure a consultant to identify cost savings and continuing through the alarming retirement data we have received from our actuaries, it is clear and obvious we are facing the possibility of thousands of state employees retiring over the course of the next year and we need to prepare,” OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw said.
“We need to be able to accurately assess and prepare for the magnitude of these potential retirements,” she continued, “the loss of the relevant expertise, the subsequent impact on state government, and how we can emerge stronger in the delivery of services to ensure the continuity of effective government as the next generation of leaders assumes the mantle.”
“The upcoming wave of retirements presents both a major risk due to the loss of knowledgeable and experienced staff, but also a significant opportunity to reengineer and improve the operations of state government,” Chief Operating Officer and Administrative Services Commissioner Josh Geballe said.
“Like many governments, we are well behind the times in our use of technology and modern approaches to many of the services we provide. We also know we need to evolve to attract the talent we need and increase the efficiency of our operations to be more in line with what our residents expect and deserve.”
Lamont engaged BCG earlier this year to augment the work of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, also at a cost of $2 million. That decision was roundly criticized by state Republicans, who felt that a consultancy based in Connecticut would have been more prudent.
House Minority Leader Themis Klarides (R-Derby) again questioned Lamont”™s turning to the Massachusetts firm instead of one based here, as well as the cost of the new study.
