Public Service Recognition Week

This week, the first full week in May, is observed as Public Service Recognition Week. Celebrated since 1985, this week is a nationwide observance honoring the men and women who serve our nation as federal, state, county, and local government employees (who together number almost twenty million). The 2010 theme is “Government Innovation and Opportunity.”

Americans are served every single day by public servants at the federal, state, county, and city levels.  These men and women are often unsung as they do the work that keeps our nation working. Public employees take not only jobs, but oaths, and it has been my experience that most of them try to live up to these oaths.

Many public servants, including military personnel, police officers, firefighters, border patrol officers, embassy employees, health care professionals, and others, risk their lives each day in service to the people of the United States and around the world. Public servants also include teachers, doctors, nurses, safety inspectors, scientists, train conductors, astronauts, laborers, computer technicians, social workers, secretaries, and a myriad of other occupations.

These public servants provide a tremendous variety of services - services the American people demand of their government at one level or another, and, despite jokes and other stories to the contrary, most of them do their work well, or at least try to. In these difficult times, our public servants are often overwhelmed by the amount of service required of them and by the funding available (or, should I say, lack thereof) to match these needs.

Currently the public sector workforce is at a crossroads. Government at all levels is about to lose many of its most experienced and expert workers due to retirement (not even counting the effects of any budget cutting). There are serious questions about whether or not public agencies will be able to bring in the right people with the right skills to fill the looming talent gaps in the public sector. Negative perceptions of government make it difficult to bring on the right people to meet the talent needs of government on any level.

Is our government perfect? No, and I do believe we should expect more from it. We could also use more constructive participants or constructive criticism to help make our government better - far too often we just get criticism. We should speak out when government gets it wrong, but we also need to recognize what is right in government.

For a start, I suggest sending a message to public servants you know - a note of thanks or other words of encouragement. Let them know you appreciate the service they provide and the effort they put into it.

It's also important to keep them in your prayers. It is very good that this observance and the National Day of Prayer are in the same week. If there is one thing our public servants need at this time, it is prayer. ("I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior." - 1 Timothy 2:1-3).

May the Lord bless, guide, help, and be with each of our public servants, and give them the wisdom, understanding, patience, enthusiasm, and endurance they need to serve well the people entrusted to them.