ABSTRACT
The public encounter, little and big, as well as seen and unseen, is central to how citizens experience government. Before the public encounter can happen, government workers need to be selected, trained, and empowered. Therefore, the public encounter fundamentally starts with and is supported by the Human Resources (HR) function. The HR office does not directly serve citizens, but it is the infrastructure that enables the services citizens receive through its management of the workforce and maintenance of public values. How do we ensure that the HR office helps create a competent, empowered, and inclusive workforce to best serve the citizenry? Adopting a liberatory perspective through this text’s Lilliberation framework, this chapter puts forward a normative argument on how the HR office is on the frontlines to address inequities in government through its role in building and sustaining the public workforce. Making this centrality visible requires a shift in mindset for local government executives and workers in general. It also requires certain steps for the HR office and HR professionals, which we detail, concluding with an empowerment exercise designed to help local governments think through how their HR offices can be a force for good.
