Today’s Morning Buzz is by Caitlin Lewis, executive director of Work for America. Connect with Caitlin on LinkedIn.
- What I’m watching: “Slow Horses” and “Department Q”
- What I’m listening to: The Moth Radio Hour
- What I’m eating: White chicken chili
Every public servant knows the feeling of doing too much with too few people. Across the country, local governments are running short-staffed. From engineers to 911 dispatchers, too many jobs sit vacant, and the people keeping cities running are stretched thin. Retirement-age workers now outnumber younger employees two to one, leaving many public agencies on the edge of a talent cliff.
At the heart of this problem is a simple truth: Government has a PR problem. It hasn’t done a great job telling people why its work matters or what makes public service worth choosing. As a result, job seekers — especially early-career talent — don’t always see government as a place to build a career or make an impact.
The good news: This isn’t uncharted territory. The private sector figured it out decades ago. Companies learned that people enjoy coming to work when they feel a sense of purpose, pride, and community. To communicate that, they use a simple tool called an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) — a clear story about what it means to work somewhere and why it matters.
An EVP is the story of your workplace: what it feels like to be part of it, what you can accomplish there, and what connects everyone doing the work. When done well, it becomes a shared source of pride and an invitation to others to join in.
How It Works in Practice
At Work for America, we help cities put words (and visuals) to what makes their public servants extraordinary. Recently, we partnered with the City of Akron to do just that. After conversations and an in-person workshop with employees across departments, one message came through loud and clear: Akron is a city of makers, building together.
People there take pride in visible progress — the park they designed, the road they repaired, the neighborhood they strengthened. They talked about teamwork, reinvention, and the satisfaction of seeing their work come to life right outside their windows.
Now Akron is putting that story to work. Their EVP is being brought to life through photos, videos, and employee quotes; a one-pager that will be shared during hiring and onboarding; and a short training for hiring managers. Some of our city partners are even exploring creative ways to share their story through art installations at City Hall or a city bus wrap.
By turning those everyday stories into a clear EVP and making it visible, Akron can show job seekers what insiders already know: Public service there is purposeful, collaborative, and deeply human.
A Playbook for Other Cities
Every city can do this. Start by asking your workforce three simple questions:
- Why should someone work here and not somewhere else?
- Outside of pay and benefits, what’s the best part about working here?
- How do we help our people do their best work and grow?
Answering and actually sharing those answers can transform how cities attract and keep talent. Doing it in a room full of city workers also does something else: It reminds people why they chose this work in the first place, and how motivating it is to do it alongside others who care just as deeply.
You already live the story worth telling. The next step is helping your city say it out loud.