From Spreadsheets to Strategy: Thunder Bay’s HR Modernization Journey

HR doesn’t always get the spotlight in municipal government. It’s not as visible as filling potholes or opening a new rec centre. But behind the scenes, HR plays a big role in how smoothly things run, from how quickly new staff are hired to how supported employees feel once they’re on the job.

In Thunder Bay, leaders recognized that their HR systems and processes weren’t keeping up with the needs of a modern workforce. Day-to-day tasks were taking longer than they should, data was hard to pull together, and staff wanted better tools to support both employees and managers. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it’s just what happens when upgrades keep getting pushed down the priority list.

That’s when Thunder Bay brought Perry Group in.

We started by listening. Talking to staff at every level, from frontline HR clerks to senior leaders—to really understand where the pain points were. (And no surprise: what staff told us lined up almost perfectly with what council had been frustrated about, too.)

From there, instead of dropping in a generic “best practice,” we worked with Thunder Bay to build a roadmap that fit their reality: their size, their resources, their context. We showed demos of what “better” could look like, connected them with peer municipalities, and made the future feel practical, not theoretical.

Most importantly, we wrote an implementation plan that was simple and tactical. Who needs to do what, in what order, and why. No vague jargon, no 100-page strategy documents collecting dust, just a plan you could actually follow.

And the quick wins showed up almost right away. Supervisors gained self-serve access to reliable workforce data. HR staff could step out of endless clerical work and start acting as real advisors, helping leaders spot trends and make smarter decisions. Recruitment cycles sped up. Onboarding smoothed out. And employees could finally check their own information without sending a dozen emails.

That last one might sound small, but it matters. When people can log into a single system to see their vacation balance or pay details, it builds trust. It signals: “We’ve got this covered.”

Longer term, the shift is even bigger. With a modern HR core in place, Thunder Bay is set up to compete for talent, reduce turnover, and give leaders the workforce insights they’ve been missing. And HR itself can finally play the role it’s meant to: strategic partner, not clerical gatekeeper.

By rethinking how HR is managed, Thunder Bay is showing what’s possible: faster hiring, smoother onboarding, and a workforce that actually trusts the systems they use.

And maybe the best part? It didn’t take flashy tech or endless customization. Just listening, tailoring, and committing to a clear plan.