Transformers in the Public Sector 2025 Case Studies

Arizona had skills-based hiring legislation in place but hit significant headwinds — statewide hiring freezes, federal funding cuts, and staffing turnover. Rather than stall, the team built the infrastructure to be ready when conditions improved. They focused the pilot on a single hard-to-fill role: Behavioral Health Technician.

With a Governor's executive order already in place and 247,000 state employees across nearly 150 departments, California's challenge was creating a consistent, measurable approach in one of the most complex civil service systems in the country.

Colorado had strong executive leadership — Governor Polis had signed executive orders and allocated $700K toward implementation. But translating that commitment into consistent agency behavior required more than a mandate. The cohort gave Colorado the structure and tools to operationalize skills-based hiring statewide.

Louisiana already had the tools — a competency model, a hiring framework, and over a decade of experience with skills-based practices. The gap was cultural. Only 46% of state government workers were STARs vs. 61% in the broader workforce. Louisiana used the cohort to shift the narrative, not just the process.

Utah had policy, pilot data, and a committed CHRO. What it needed was a way to close the gap between executive vision and day-to-day hiring behavior across 3,800 hiring managers. The cohort helped translate skills-based hiring from a leadership priority into practical tools HR staff could actually use.