Efficiency Experts Analyzed CT Gov't And Delivered This Report

CONNECTICUT — The consulting organization charged with providing guidance to the state in advance of an anticipated wave of retirements among Connecticut employees by July 2022 has delivered its report.

The Boston Consulting Group delivered its CREATES study (Cliff Retirements Adding Efficiency, Accountability, and Technology to Economize State Government) to Gov. Ned Lamont and members of the Connecticut General Assembly last week.

The study also responds to a request in the 2017 budget in which the legislature directed the Lamont Administration to identify efficiency opportunities that would reduce state spending.

It has been ten years since the state last conducted a study of this nature, according to Connecticut Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw.

“Over the last six months, our agencies and staff have worked in harmony with BCG to identify some reasonable and realistic efficiencies that we have already included in Governor Lamont’s budget proposal for the upcoming biennium, and we greatly look forward to reviewing the options contained in this report with stakeholders to see what else is feasible," McCaw said.

Based on an employee survey conducted as part of the project, there are more than 8,000 state employees eligible for retirement in 2022, 72 percent of whom are seriously considering retirement. The report includes a wide range of suggestions, including further digitizing records, streamlining hiring processes, and consolidating real estate assets, among other modernization efforts.

"The world is changing rapidly, and our government needs to move more quickly to transform how we operate to have the greatest positive impact on people’s lives. This report will help us do that," Lamont said.

Research for the CREATES project was conducted from September 2020 to March 2021, with input from state government agencies and more than 200 state employees, including leaders from 41 executive branch agencies. The scope of work included state executive agencies except for constitutional offices, state universities, and the state hospital system.

The study is available online here.