People-Centered HR in the City of Boston: A Digital Service Network Spotlight
The Digital Service Network (DSN) spoke with Boston’s new Chief People Officer, Alex Lawrence, to understand how the City is transforming its approach to people management.
DSN Spotlights are short-form project profiles that feature exciting work happening across our network of digital government practitioners. Spotlights celebrate our members’ stories, lift up actionable takeaways for other practitioners, and put the examples we host in the Digital Government Hub in context.
On the heels of a global pandemic, a rapidly changing labor market presents novel challenges for government Human Resource (HR) departments spanning recruitment, hybrid work, health and safety policies, and more. In the City of Boston, these changes are accompanied by a new mayoral administration — and fulfilling Mayor Michelle Wu’s vision for Boston relies on the success and wellbeing of the City’s 19,000 employees. Recognizing this, Mayor Wu created the People Operations Cabinet, led by a chief people officer (CPO), that is reshaping how the City serves its workforce using a people-first lens.
This large-scale project draws on common practices employed in strong government digital transformation initiatives. The Beeck Center’s Digital Services Network (DSN) spoke with Boston’s new CPO, Alex Lawrence, to understand how the City is transforming its approach to people management.
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