Bob Lavigna

Bob Lavigna is an award-winning public-sector leader and innovator. At UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), Bob advocates for, promotes and advises on effective practices that enable government to attract and retain talent.

He previously was the founding Director of the Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement, where he worked with organizations across the nation to measure and improve engagement as a key to maximizing performance.

Bob’s book, "Engaging Government Employees: Motivate and Inspire Your People to Achieve Superior Performance" (Harper Collins Publishing), is the first book to focus exclusively on employee engagement in the unique environment of the public sector.

Before leading the Institute, he was Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of HR for the University of Wisconsin, where he directed campus-wide HR policies and programs. Bob was also an adjunct professor in the School of Public Affairs.

He also previously served as Vice President - Research for the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. He directed research projects, including “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,” that found new ways for government to attract, develop and retain talent.

Bob also served as Director of the state of Wisconsin civil service system. Appointed by the Governor and unanimously confirmed and twice re-confirmed by the State Senate, he is the longest-serving merit system director in Wisconsin history. Bob began his career with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where his positions included HR Director of GAO’s largest field office.

He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, was selected as a “Public Official of the Year” by Governing magazine and has received the highest leadership awards from the Public Sector Human Resources Association (PSHRA) and the American Society for Public Administration Section on Personnel and Labor Relations (SPALR). The organizations he led also received innovation awards from the Ford Foundation, the Urban League, PSHRA, and others.

Bob is a past national president of PSHRA and past national chair of SPALR.

He writes frequently on HR topics for professional publications and has spoken at conferences and events across the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America and the Caribbean.

Bob, the first person in his family to graduate from college, has a B.A. in Public Affairs from George Washington University and an M.S. in Human Resources Management from Cornell University.