The Town of Hanover is excited to announce the appointment of a new Director of Human Resources - Katie Williams. Katie has a diverse background of wellness-oriented and employee-centered human resources experience in the private, nonprofit and public sector. She was most recently the VP of Human Resources for Upper Valley Press, and before that, the Human Resources Director for the Town of Littleton, and HR Administrator for Mount Prospect Academy. She will start fulltime with the Town on February 13th. Katie hails from Haverille, New Hampshire, where she currently serves on the Town Selectboard.
The Town received approximately 20 resumes for the position of Human Resources Director, which was advertised over a rolling basis. After three weeks, candidate applications were initially screened, and four were selected to be interviewed on Zoom by a panel of five staff from different Town departments, immediately followed by an interview with both Town Manager staff. From that, three candidates were invited for in-person interviews. Two candidates completed additional final interviews and reference discussions, and Katie was selected from that competitive pool of well qualified and capable applicants.
Town Manager Alex Torpey said that “We’re excited for Katie to bring her experience, mindset, ideas, and energy to our team, and at just the right time. We have a lot of work we’re doing to address really challenging labor dynamics and shortages, finding ways to reinvigorate our workplace (and maybe the perception of working in local government), and reformulate how we employ and compensate our staff. With myself, our new Finance Director, and now Katie in place, we can work with a committed Selectboard, department heads, and broader staff to dig into some really big projects that are going to have a really positive lasting impact on how our employees and organization function.”
Currently, the Town is at the beginning stage of a broader reevaluation of its compensation and pay structure that began with a salary study, and will continue through 2023 with an organization-wide re-exam of a number of internal and personnel policies. This includes compensation and wages, but also a broader lens, such as how the Town should handle remote/hybrid work, merit-based pay, fringe benefits, critical staffing, and housing shortages, and how best to ensure the workplace encourages employee satisfaction and wellness. Some of that has been and will continue to be discussed through the FY 2023 – 2024 budget process. Those next discussions are in the Selectboard meetings on February 27th, 28th, and March 1st. Prior updates are available on the Town’s podcast at hanoverhappenings.com or on the website at hanovernh.org.
Katie said “I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to work for the Town of Hanover. I am looking forward to this new chapter and am ready to roll my sleeves up and dive in to the projects we have coming up this year. Local government is a passion of mine, and I am overjoyed to work with this team, as I have heard nothing but excellent things about Hanover’s team. Please feel free to email me once I get started if you have any questions.”
For more information please visit the website at hanovernh.org, or contact the Town Manager’s office.