Local Government Workplaces Initiative, UNC School of Government

What Local Government Workplaces Initiative, UNC School of Government does

The Local Government Workplaces Initiative (LGWI) is a university-based research center housed within the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government that helps cities, towns, and counties systematically listen to their employees through workplace climate surveys and follow-on consulting. Its core product is the LGWI Workplace Climate Survey, an evidence-based instrument administered via Qualtrics that covers teamwork, morale, exhaustion, workplace dynamics, structure, and satisfaction with job rewards, with questions customizable to each client. Results are delivered through a Tableau dashboard that shows organization-wide and departmental breakdowns, comparisons to other local governments, changes over time, and demographic analyses, with follow-on services including focus groups, departmental deep dives, network analysis of communication, results-based action plans, and Great Workplaces Training for leadership teams.

LGWI operates under UNC-Chapel Hill's Institutional Review Board, ensuring federally compliant human-subjects protection and confidentiality, and draws on an international network of 20 Academic Fellows from universities in the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, and China to validate methodology. The initiative is led by Director Dr. Leisha DeHart-Davis (a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow) with a core team of four plus graduate research assistants and a data science intern. Over twenty years it has surveyed, interviewed, or facilitated group discussions with nearly 25,000 employees across 42 local government organizations in North Carolina and increasingly beyond.

LGWI does not disclose pricing; clients contact the initiative directly via email or a contact form to scope engagements, and contracts are typically multi-year. GTM is sales-led and event-driven: prospective clients reach out directly, and the team engages at conferences such as the OMPO Annual Meeting and through blog content and LinkedIn presence. The initiative is an academic unit of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and does not have external investors or commercial ownership.

Name

Local Government Workplaces Initiative, UNC School of Government

Legal name

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Website

https://lgwi.web.unc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Local Government Workplaces Initiative (LGWI) is a university-based research center at UNC-Chapel Hill that provides workplace climate surveys and consulting services to cities, towns, and counties across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Workplace Research and Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPACANAH

Learning Technology & LMS/LXP Implementation

Business & Public Services/HR, Staffing & Recruitment Services/Training, Learning & Development Services

Keywords

• Workplace climate surveys
• Local government consulting
• Organizational research
• Public sector training
• Employee engagement research

Headquarters

HQ city

Chapel Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Workplace Climate Survey Services: LGWI provides comprehensive workplace climate surveys to local government organizations. Each project timeline varies, but most projects have a timeline of 12-14 weeks from initial meeting to delivery of final survey results. Services include survey customization, administration, data analysis, and presentation of results.
2. Beyond Survey Services: Additional services including pre/post-survey focus groups, departmental deep dives, training, workplace climate infographics, results-based action plans, customized training, and facilitated work sessions or retreats.
3. Great Workplaces Training: Intensive training for leaders covering topics including mission and values, employee voice, employee empowerment, effective rules, and procedural fairness. Topics can be tailored to growth areas revealed in workplace climate surveys.
4. Research Contract Services: Additional contract services including focus groups, interviews, network analysis of communication, training development, and analysis of secondary HR data such as diversity, equity and inclusion metrics.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

LGWI provides evidence-based workplace climate surveys and research-driven consulting services to local government organizations. Core deliverables include a customizable survey instrument, Tableau dashboard reporting, focus groups, departmental deep dives, network analysis, results-based action planning, and Great Workplaces Training for leaders. Each project typically spans 12-14 weeks from initial meeting to final results delivery.

Product overview

The Local Government Workplaces Initiative (LGWI) is a university-based research center at UNC-Chapel Hill offering a portfolio of workplace climate research and consulting services for local governments. Its core product is the LGWI Workplace Climate Survey, a comprehensive evidence-based survey instrument administered through Qualtrics and delivered via email with unique survey links. Results are analyzed and presented through a Tableau Dashboard with organization-wide and departmental breakdowns. LGWI operates as a service-plus-modules model, where clients can engage the core survey alone or bundle it with additional services including focus groups and 1:1 interviews, departmental deep dives, network analysis, results-based action planning, workplace climate infographics, and the Great Workplaces Training program for leadership development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LGWI Workplace Climate Survey A comprehensive, evidence-based workplace climate survey instrument administered through Qualtrics. Covers topics including teamwork, morale, exhaustion, workplace dynamics, structure, and satisfaction with job rewards, with custom questions tailored to each local government client's needs.
• Survey Results Analysis and Tableau Dashboard Tableau-based data visualization and reporting of survey results, depicting results at organization-wide and departmental levels, with comparisons to other local governments, changes over time, broad patterns in open-ended comments, and demographic analyses.
• Focus Groups and 1:1 Interviews Pre- and post-survey focus groups of 8-10 employees each, organized by department or employee type, and individual 1:1 interviews providing deeper understanding of organizational perspectives.
• Departmental Deep Dives In-depth analysis of a single department's results, including synthesis of survey results and open-ended comments, with optional focus groups for targeted organizational improvement.
• Great Workplaces Training Intensive training for local government leaders covering mission and values, employee voice, employee empowerment, effective rules, and procedural fairness, drawn from LGWI Academic Fellows research and tailored to growth areas revealed in workplace climate surveys.
• Network Analysis of Communication Contract service mapping how communication and decision-making function in an organization, providing insights into organizational communication patterns.
• Results-Based Action Plan Facilitated discussions with organizational leaders to develop actionable improvement strategies based on survey findings, including workplace climate infographics and facilitated work sessions or retreats.
• Customized Training Development Bespoke training programs developed based on organizational needs and goals identified through survey results, including workplace climate infographics and beyond-survey deliverables.

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieved 83% employee survey response rate with Town of Cary pilot
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and notable.

• Academic Fellows Network (20+ universities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLGWI Academic Fellows are an international network of scholars from 20+ universities who study public sector organizations. Fellows include researchers from University of Alabama-Birmingham (Erin Borry), Southern Illinois University (Randall Davis), UNC-Chapel Hill (Kimalee Dickerson), University of Connecticut (Deneen Hatmaker), Ohio State University (Russell Hassan), Marist College (Alexander Henderson), University of Miami (Nicole Humphrey), Shanghai University (Zhongnan Jiang), Tilburg University (Wesley Kaufmann), Radboud University (Shelena Keulemans), Florida International University (Alexander Kroll, Travis Whetsell), UNC-Charlotte (Zachary Mohr), Haverford College (Zachary Oberfield), University of Kansas (Shannon Portillo), UMass-Boston (Amy Smith), University at Albany (Edmund Stazyk), Arizona State University (Justin Stritch), Utrecht University (Lars Tummers), and Hamburg University (Dominik Vogel). These scholars partner with Dr. Leisha DeHart-Davis to craft research projects producing valid and reliable organizational intelligence for local governments.
• Town of Cary Human ResourcesnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerLGWI partnered with Town of Cary HR department, led by HR Director Renee Poole, to pilot the Local Government Workplaces Project. Town of Cary provided employees for the pilot survey, achieving 83% response rate through comprehensive organizational engagement including posters, video content, and dedicated employee website.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/greatworkplaces

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Local Government Workplaces Initiative, UNC School of Government