My first day with Arc Aspicio was just a couple of weeks after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic for COVID-19. This crisis forced the Office of Professional Management (OPM) to announce the shift to telework for all eligible employees until further notice, and local and national leaders in the DMV area issued stay at home orders. These safety measures resulted in my first day at the desk in my bedroom.
Securing our nation and delivering on the mission depends on consistently sharing critical information with trusted partners at all levels of Government. Building and fostering strong relationships between the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders can drive trusted information sharing leading to greater results in a more effective and efficient way.
Human trafficking thrives on chaos and desperation in communities already ravaged by ills like poverty, addiction, etc. While we cannot know for certain the effects of COVID – 19 on sex and labor trafficking in real-time, we can almost accurately predict that communities will be more vulnerable to violence, abuse, and exploitation in the wake of this worldwide economic and social disruption. As the economic fallout of the pandemic deepens and further exacerbates vulnerabilities, communities should anticipate that millions more may fall into labor and sex trafficking in the aftermath of this crisis.
Across the country, state governments face the growing and complex challenge of fighting human trafficking within their jurisdiction. This may happen separately in law enforcement organizations or within organizations that provide services to victims. While collaboration among agencies is growing quickly, in order to address the complexities of human trafficking states and their counties must use a disciplined approach that assesses the scope of the problem and the specific gaps within their jurisdiction.
While misconduct, harassment, and other types of behavior detrimental in the workplace are not new, the public and private sectors are developing innovative and creative ways to tackle them. Recent trends in professional responsibility highlight how behavioral science, data-driven decision-making, risk management, and technology assist Government agencies and their professional responsibility functions address adverse workplace behavior.
Adjusting to a socially distanced work environment is not easy. As time continues to pass, people are looking for ways to connect, brainstorm, and learn something new. To bridge this divide, we deemed May as the “Behavioral Science Month” at Arc Aspicio and rolled out the inaugural, first-of-its-kind Behavioral Science Bowl. As a result, more than 60% of our company jumped into the contest to solve interesting problems and collaborate with others.
When the stay-at-home orders and mass remote work became the norm to combat COVID-19, the country unknowingly began a marathon with a sprint. As weeks have turned into a new normal for the knowledge economy, what seemed temporary has become a disruption for business as usual. And yet, full time remote and hybrid workers have been winning the remote work marathon for some time.
While organizations have spent years cataloging how we behave, Behavioral Science helps us understand why we behave and offers a guide for what might inspire change. As a result, this field is rapidly growing as a way that the Government can improve mission outcomes. Techniques like Defaults or Norms in government communications can improve desired outcomes by informing decision-making.
Washington, DC, May 8, 2020 — Arc Aspicio recently supported a virtual pitch practice with the Junior Achievement (JA) of Greater Washington (JAGW). Arc Aspicio supported the pitch practices as part of the JA Company program, an intensive after school program offering high school students the chance to put their ideas into action by launching and operating a real startup with other students under the guidance of business professionals.
Government programs are large and complex, and their customers and stakeholders are demanding and have different priorities and goals. Designing solutions to new challenges when programs have increased mission responsibilities or unexpected challenges is important. It gets hard when agencies need to incorporate these new processes, tools, and methods into their organizations and workflow without disrupting ongoing operations and while gaining the buy-in of the workforce that needs to make these solutions come alive.
For many years, Governments have viewed data as a byproduct of activity with little value. This sentiment, however, is changing rapidly. Today, organizations are trying to get every little advantage they can get over another to achieve their goals, and in doing so, have taken advantage of what data has to offer.
The emerging fields of Customer Experience (CX) and behavioral science have steadily grown in popularity over the past few years. Leading organizations worldwide are adopting and implementing CX to achieve great success. However, highly impactful tactics that lie at the intersection of CX and behavioral science are being overlooked and underutilized. By using a behavioral science lens, organizations can amplify CX initiatives to multiple their already impressive results.
Being a leader in Customer Experience (CX) goes beyond just delivering quality products and services to customers. It requires applying a human-centric and empathetic approach to all organizational practices and customer touch points.
