Strategies to Manage Change

Human resources (HR) leaders are shifting from a transactional to a strategic approach to support local and state governments in adapting to changing workforce demographics and the increased competition for talent. State and local governments are modernizing their operations, revamping their hiring practices, and developing a brand that appeals to a more diverse pool of applicants.

These leaders apply creativity to build a more robust pipeline for hard-to-fill positions and to offer a wide range of learning opportunities. Having an engaged workforce that is motivated to gain skills and knowledge is essential to an organization’s success and well-being.

To learn more about the change management approaches that are most effective, the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) undertook a literature review and interviewed leaders from seven local governments and one state government. SLGE conducted interviews with human resources and management leaders in the State of Michigan, the City of Centennial and the City and County of Denver, Colorado; Johnson County, Kansas; the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Montgomery County, Maryland; the City of San Antonio, Texas; and the City and County of San Francisco, California.

The key findings are described in the following pages available to be downloaded below.

The Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) helps local and state governments become knowledgeable and competitive employers so they can attract and retain a talented and committed workforce. SLGE identifies leading practices and conducts research on public retirement plans, health care benefits, workforce demographics and skill set needs, and labor force development.

SLGE brings state and local leaders together with respected researchers. Access all SLGE publications and sign up for its newsletter at slge.org and follow @4govtexcellence on Twitter.