Englewood, Colorado, is a full-service core suburb bordering Denver to the north with approximately 35,000 residents.

In 2019, a new city manager arrived and began meeting with the staff to understand opportunities and challenges from their perspectives, focused on building a culture where all employees feel known, mattered, and included. He wanted to get to know them while also collecting their ideas on how to improve the organization long-term.

These discussions led him to establish five task forces: cross training and departmental coordination, diversity and inclusion, community engagement, training and development, and employee recognition. More than 35 employees participated and presented their ideas for change in an all-hands meeting.

I joined the city in summer 2020 as assistant to the city manager, halfway through the task forces’ work, and was struck by the city manager’s meaningful approach to employee engagement and the thoughtful ideas the task forces proposed. Those ideas later became the Blueprint for Organizational Success, a plan with more than 30 projects designed to improve the employee experience and strengthen the overall culture. I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead the blueprint’s development, helping turn ideas for improvement into meaningful organizational change.

The blueprint became part of the city’s strategic plan. Over the last several years, several programs and initiatives have been implemented based on task force recommendations, including a “homegrown” training program with courses developed and taught by city employees; an employee interest group program, through which employees with shared interests can develop clubs; and formal recognition events throughout the year.

The HR department was an essential partner in helping the city manager’s office (CMO), directors, and employees across the organization implement these projects and initiatives. Over the past five years, I directly oversaw HR’s work and helped build a strong partnership with the HR director and his team around these new programs. I see the CMO as an incubator, uniquely positioned to work with internal and external partners to develop programs that address organizational challenges and goals. Although many ideas began in our office, I worked closely with HR to ensure the department supported the projects, was prepared to implement them, and could sustain their long-term success.

Examples over the last several years of partnerships between the CMO and HR include:

• EngleCares—a program through which employees can volunteer during work hours for a registered nonprofit.

• Interest groups—a program through which a group of employees may establish a group focused on shared interest such as public speaking, skiing, and French.

• Sabbaticals—a policy that allows for extended periods of time away from the office based on years of service, starting with three weeks for employees with five years of service and increasing by one week every five years.

• A formal internship program—now in its third year with program components including a group project, recognition at a council meeting, and end-of-summer lunch.

The CMO led the establishment of each of these programs, championing the ideas throughout the organization, connecting key employees across several departments to build program capacity, and obtaining director-level buy-in and support. In each case, the HR department was brought in early to provide expertise and to build out long-term program sustainability.

Over time, the CMO improved its handoff to HR by holding check-ins as well as developing standard operating procedures. The CMO provides the organizational buy-in for employee engagement and recognition programs to succeed, while HR provides the structure and continuity to sustain them.

TIM DODD is the interim city manager and assistant city manager for Englewood, Colorado.