Across American government offices, engagement often rises or falls based on everyday moments — how requests are routed, how managers communicate, how workloads are set and how new hires take their first steps. People join public service to make a difference, then face delays, outdated tools and bureaucratic processes.

The good news is that small fixes can remove friction and bring the mission closer to daily work. Small wins add up. These seven improvements target common public sector pain points.

Build a Culture of Respect and Recognition

In mission-driven work, it’s important to get public recognition. Celebrate employee milestones in staff meetings or internal newsletters, and connect each win to a specific program or community benefit. This will help individuals realize how their hard work has made a difference. Recognize years of service at quarterly town halls to show you value long-term commitment.

Create a peer-to-peer recognition channel where staff can nominate colleagues for going above and beyond, then highlight teamwork examples at monthly briefings. Be precise with praise — cite the process fixed, the constituent problem solved or the risk avoided. Connect the story to your agency’s goals so people feel part of something bigger.

Managers have a lot of influence here. They account for 70% of the variance in team management, so provide supervisors with the tools they need to deliver regular, timely and personal feedback.

Offer Career Growth and Development Opportunities

Growth should be practical and attainable. Offer courses on policy changes, data skills and leadership basics. Help personnel obtain credentials relevant to their jobs. Pair new employees with seasoned members for a few hours per week and run short job-shadowing sessions to demystify functions across divisions.

When possible, promote from within and make it clear how skills relate to grades and titles. Encourage staff to join cross-departmental projects so they can build connections and observe the full service chain. Research shows people with higher public service motivation tend to have higher work engagement, so connect development to mission outcomes, not just tasks.

Improve Communication and Transparency

Hold short monthly town halls or Q&A sessions to surface questions and address rumors. Friction grows in silence, so use plain language and give staff a way to ask follow-up questions. Each time a policy changes, publish a one-page summary of the main points along with the memo.

Break data silos so people stop hunting for information across systems. Knowledge workers typically spend nearly 29% of their workweek searching for information, which can lower morale and make it harder to make decisions. Standardize where material is stored and create a common index or portal, so employees can find what they need quickly.

Embrace Flexible Work Arrangements

Where roles allow, offer remote or hybrid options, and ensure tools, like secure laptops, VPN access and basic collaboration software, work properly. The Office of Personnel Management provides telework guidance and training for employees and managers you can reference when shaping policy and training plans.

OPM also explains how compressed work schedules help full-time staff complete 80 hours in fewer than 10 days, while flexible schedules set core and optional hours. Use these frameworks to match coverage with service demands. Accessibility matters — an estimated 16% of adults lack foundation-level digital skills, which means any remote or tech-enabled process must be approachable for all staff, with simple instructions and alternative paths.