GUEST COLUMN.
THE PAYOFFS TO PUBLIC SECTOR WORKFORCE INVESTMENT
By Bob Lavigna, former senior fellow, Public Sector, UKG, and Director, Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement
At a time when many governments are constrained by tight budgets, aging infrastructures, and workforces stretched thin by retirements and turnover, human resources departments are uniquely positioned to play a transformative role — but only if leaders invest in the workforce as a strategic driver of government performance.
In my previous guest column for Barrett and Greene, Inc, “Happy Employees, Happy Residents”, I reported on research described in the white paper Building Better Government from Within: Workforce Excellence and Resident Satisfaction. For the first time in the public sector, this research provided empirical evidence that effective HR/workforce practices are linked to resident satisfaction with government services and – most important – their satisfaction with the quality of life in their communities.
This research, conducted by my former employer UKG, in cooperation with the community engagement and data insights firm Polco and the team of Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, identified the five HR areas below that statistically correlate with resident satisfaction.
1) Performance management: Communication and accountability
High-performing organizations go beyond annual performance evaluations. They set a limited number of goals that align with strategic priorities and promote ongoing conversations between managers and employees. These governments also recognize top performers and address underperformance, especially during probation.
Residents see and appreciate frontline employees who are confident, engaged, and aligned with community goals.
One high-performing HR department encourages supervisors to simply ask this question during performance reviews: “How can I better enable you to carry out your mission? Is it education? Training? Direction? Or is it just staying out of your hair?”
2) Competent and qualified HR professionals
A high-performing HR staff is the backbone of an effective workforce. This means investing in continuous learning for HR professionals and ensuring they have the skills to manage increasingly complex workforce challenges.
These investments pay off. Municipalities with robust HR capacity excel at recruiting, onboarding, training, and retaining employees.
As one HR director put it, “Every member of HR, at one time or another, visits departments to help with HR questions and be the face of HR to other parts of the organization.”
3) Well-being as an imperative
While employee well-being is often seen as a “nice-to-have,” it’s actually a strategic imperative. High-performing organizations help supervisors and employees develop solid relationships; promote physical, emotional and financial health; offer workplace flexibility; and strive for manageable workloads. These organizations offer comprehensive and easily accessible employee assistance programs.
According to one HR director we interviewed, “Happy employees do a better job than disgruntled employees. And if they’re happy about what they’re doing, then that's going to result in happy residents.”
4) Recruiting and hiring the right talent
Governments that leverage applicant-focused and technology-enabled methods – such as mobile-friendly job applications, streamlined hiring processes, and ongoing communication with candidates – reduce time-to-hire, expand applicant pools, and improve the match between new employees’ skills and organizational needs.
Effective recruiting also means building the talent pipeline by marketing the value and purpose of public service careers, developing internship and cadet programs, and engaging with schools to promote early interest in public service.
According to the HR director of one high-performing department, “We’ve been collecting feedback from prospective and current employees and pulling in data from exit interviews. We’re trying to identify areas where we could improve to attract every generation to the workforce.”
5) Competitive compensation and benefits
It is axiomatic that competitive pay and benefits help attract and retain talented staff. Effective compensation practices include conducting regular market surveys, communicating the full value (including benefits) of total compensation, fixing internal pay equity problems like salary compression, and simplifying classification systems.
As one HR director told us: “Our classification system was reformed to reduce 16 steps to 8. This can reduce the turnover of young employees. Our research pointed out the importance of keeping a new employee for four years, which exponentially increased the odds they wouldn’t leave.”
Why the public should care
Residents may not spend much time thinking about HR, but they do notice the results. When public servants deliver services that are prompt, efficient and effective, residents are more likely to trust government and feel good about their quality of life.
For the first time, we now have data showing that workforce excellence can generate community satisfaction with, and confidence in, government. The challenge is to convert these research insights into action, as the organizations we profile in the white paper have done.
In an era where public trust is fragile and the public’s expectations are high, government leaders face a stark choice: treat employees as costs to manage or assets worthy of investment. Our research makes it clear that the latter approach yields dividends — not only in workforce excellence but in the satisfaction and confidence of the residents these governments serve.
As one HR leader remarked to me after listening to a presentation I gave about our research, she now has the evidence to prove to her city council that cutting the workforce would hurt – not help – their community.
“Happy employees, happy residents” is more than just a slogan. It is a strategic framework supported by empirical evidence, real-world practices, and a powerful call to action for governments to build better institutions from within.
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