Welcome to the
State Employee Engagement and Retention Office (SEERO)
Strengthening Wisconsin's Public Workforce
Samantha Swanson, Director
Our Mission & Approach
SEERO's mission is to strengthen Wisconsin's public workforce by supporting agencies in building workplaces where employees remain engaged, recognized, and committed to public service.
Our approach is:
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Non-mandated and collaborative: supporting agencies without adding administrative burden.
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Supervisor focused: equipping leaders with practical tools to reinforce engagement and respond early to burnout signals.
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Data-informed: helping agenices interpret workforce indicators in meaningful, consistet ways.
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Mission-driven: reinforcing the purpose and value of public service across the enterprise.
What We Do
We advocate for employee culture, engagement, recognition, and retention programs by collaborating with enterprise-wide leaders to ensure a high level employee experience for State of Wisconsin employees, leading to increased impact on the lives of all Wisconsin residents. SEERO supports Wisconsin state agencies in three core areas:
Engagement
- Enterprise engagement consulting series (EERR series)
- Supervisor-focused engagement tools
- Community of Practice for cross-agency learning
- Workforce health indicator guidance
Recognition
- Recogntion systems consultation
- Cross agency best practice sharing
- Low-cost, high-impact strategies
- Public service storytelling support
Retention
- Stay interview frameworks
- Workforce stability planning
- Quarterly check-ins with participating agencies
- Early burnout detection
Enterprise Impact (2024-2026):
- Consulted with 16 Cabinet agencies
- Facilitated a statewide Community of Practice
- Delivered enterprise-wide leadership sessions on resilience and workforce stability
- Provided tools to help agencies identify and respond to early burnout signals
About SEERO
On Jan. 23, 2024, Gov. Tony Evers declared 2024 the
Year of the Worker, creating the Wisconsin State Employee Engagement and Retention Office to help connect the dots for agencies on an enterprise level. SEERO partners with Wisconsin state agencies to strengthen workforce engagement, recogntion, and retention across state government.
Through practical tools, enterprise insights, and collaborative consultation, SEERO uses best practices to support agency leaders in reinforcing workforce stability, supervisor capability, and indentifying early indicators of workforce strain. By investing in the people who serve Wisconsin, we help agencies protect mission continuity and public trust.