Missouri receives national ‘Innovation In State Government’ award for professional development

The National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) awarded one of four 2020 Innovations in State Government Awards to Missouri, the state’s first time receiving the award.

Missouri was recognized for its distinctiveness and innovation in the “Personnel Best Practices” category for its professional development transformation. Criteria included program innovation, transferability to other state governments, and efficiency.

“Our administration understands that helping team members build new skills and grow professionally leads to a better and more efficient state government,” Governor Mike Parson said. “We are proud to receive this award recognizing Missouri as a national leader in how we are helping our workforce deliver better results for Missouri citizens.”

“The foundation for any organization’s success is its team members, their skills, and their commitment,” Missouri Chief Operating Officer Drew Erdmann said. “The NASCA award honors all the great work across all 16 executive departments to transform how we help every team member develop new skills and be as good as they can be.”

The NASCA award also shows that Missouri’s government reforms are viewed as a national model for other states to follow.

Since 2018, the state of Missouri has transformed its approach to professional development through programs such as ENGAGE 2.0, the state’s new monthly professional development dialogues, and a variety of training programs including The Missouri Way, the Missouri Leadership Academy, and MOLearning. Together, these efforts are expanding professional growth opportunities for all members of the state workforce.

“We are grateful for Governor Parson and his cabinet for fully supporting our comprehensive approach to professional development,” said Casey Osterkamp, Director of Personnel for the Missouri Office of Administration. “We look forward to working with NASCA to share our experience with colleagues in state governments across the country.”

“I have been inspired as our team pioneered enterprise-level innovation to create better government throughout Missouri,” said Missouri Office of Administration Commissioner Sarah Steelman. “We broke with traditions and scrapped long-standing practices to modernize state government. We will stay focused on helping our team members develop new skills and capabilities because that is how we make government better for our citizens.”

The NASCA award is another national recognition of Missouri’s success in improving state government. In the past two months, StateScoop and the Center for Digital Government have recognized Missouri as a national leader in digital technology.

For more information on the National Association of State Chief Administrators, click here.