Tackling Today’s

Workforce and Culture Changes?

We're here to help.

Research-Driven Insights,
Strategies, and Communications
to Transform the Modern Workforce

Full-Service marketing
support for your workplace

Your people are your greatest asset—when they thrive, your organization does too.

From attracting top talent and retaining employees to fostering a culture of inclusion and innovation, today’s workplace is evolving fast. That’s where we at S.I.R. come in. We leverage industry trends and data-driven insights to help organizations strengthen their workforce, enhance internal culture, and maximize employee engagement. Through research-backed strategies, we ensure companies create workplaces where people feel valued, motivated, and empowered to succeed.

Ready to build a stronger workforce and culture?

Let’s make it happen.

Strategies

Dedicated to helping organizations attract, engage, and retain top talent. Our team builds tailored solutions that foster strong workplace cultures and drive long-term success.

Insights

Our in-house research team delivers qualitative and quantitative insights, capturing real employee perspectives to shape workplace strategies, enhance engagement, and optimize performance.

Results

Backed by in-depth market research, we specialize in strategic planning, employer branding, internal communications, workforce development, employee engagement, and DE&I initiatives.

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Humanizing Local Government Through Storytelling

City of Richmond

Transforming civic engagement by showcasing the people behind city services

  • Municipal governments often struggle to connect with residents beyond policy announcements and budget updates, leaving a gap between government institutions and the people they serve. The City of Richmond wanted to shift this perception by humanizing local government, increasing public trust and engagement, and positioning city employment as a meaningful and aspirational career path.

  • S.I.R. partnered with the City of Richmond to create "Richmond Works: A Day in the Life", a cinematic video series highlighting the dedicated employees behind city services.

    The initiative focused on:

    • Humanizing local government – Showcasing the passion and expertise of public servants to foster a sense of connection and trust.

    • Strengthening civic engagement – Encouraging residents to participate in community initiatives by introducing them to the people behind city operations.

    • Boosting employee morale & retention – Creating a culture of recognition and pride within the city's workforce.

    • Enhancing recruitment efforts – The videos were produced efficiently and with minimal disruption, featuring unscripted, audio-only interviews paired with engaging on-location footage. Positioning city jobs as dynamic, impactful careers to attract top talent.

    The videos were produced efficiently and with minimal disruption, featuring unscripted, audio-only interviews paired with engaging on-location footage. Each video was completed within 3-5 business days, ensuring consistent content output.

  • The "Day in the Life" series significantly outperformed previous city content, achieving:

    • 10x engagement growth – Video posts averaged 217 reactions per post (compared to 28 reactions for past employee spotlights).

    • Stronger public trust – Residents responded positively to transparent, relatable storytelling.

    • Improved employee morale – City workers felt recognized and valued, reinforcing job satisfaction and retention.

    By placing city employees at the heart of the narrative, Richmond has redefined how local governments engage with their communities. This series now serves as a model for other cities looking to build trust, morale, and public engagement—one story at a time.

Operational Optimization for Workforce Development

Goodwill

Enhancing mission delivery through strategic workforce improvements

  • While Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia is dedicated to workforce development, the organization faced challenges in increasing public awareness of its mission and optimizing internal operations. To expand its impact, Goodwill needed a more streamlined approach to workforce training, staffing, and operational efficiency.

  • S.I.R. conducted in-depth qualitative research with donors, staff, board members, business partners, and employees to identify areas for improvement. The resulting strategy focused on:

    • Operational restructuring – Developed a more integrated staffing system to align with workforce development goals.

    • Training & partnerships – Established new training infrastructure and strengthened workforce partnerships to enhance job readiness.

    • Data-driven performance tracking – Introduced new metrics to measure impact and optimize services.

    • Workforce development model – Created a four-pronged vision centered on recruiting, preparing, matching, and supporting clients to improve both skills development and employment outcomes.

  • With leadership buy-in, these operational improvements were successfully implemented across Goodwill’s 34 stores and main office. The organization is now better equipped to fulfill its mission, with a stronger workforce pipeline and increased public awareness of its role in economic mobility and job training.

Dominion Energy

Increasing Demographic Diversity

Helping attract and retain workers

  • Dominion Energy came to S.I.R. with both a problem and a tremendous opportunity. More than a third of the Dominion workforce hit retirement eligibility, which meant the company needed a plan to replace workers in customer service, field and plant operations, and technical engineering and management roles.

    The opportunity? The increasing demographic diversity of the available pool of employees meant Dominion had a chance to create a company culture that would be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, thereby helping to attract and retain workers from historically underrepresented populations.

  • To help Dominion craft its first comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic plan, S.I.R. conducted a research assessment of Dominion employees and their demographics. We also ran surveys and performed an analysis of the diversity research available on the electric utility industry and interviewed correlating internal leaders.

    At the close of the campaign, we presented our findings to both Dominion’s national leadership team and the global legal team.

  • A true commitment to the cause, S.I.R. helped facilitate the development of a two-day, universal meeting of managers from Dominion’s operations in 14 states to review all employee policies through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.

    Additionally, this review led to a rewrite of outdated HR policies, which Dominion leaders believe will be vital to employee recruitment and retention.

Laurel Ridge Community College

Strategic Action Framework

Transforming Workplace Culture and Rebranding for the Future 

  • Laurel Ridge Community College, serving Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont regions, faced evolving internal dynamics amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Leadership recognized a need to boost staff morale, improve alignment between academic and workforce programs, and evaluate the cultural resonance of its institutional brand. 

    The opportunity? The increasing demographic diversity of the available pool of employees meant Dominion had a chance to create a company culture that would be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, thereby helping to attract and retain workers from historically underrepresented populations.

  • S.I.R. conducted a holistic workplace culture assessment using faculty and staff interviews, focus groups, and campus-wide surveys. Findings informed a Strategic Action Framework centered on fostering respect, improving transparency, and investing in professional development. In tandem, S.I.R. launched a community and stakeholder brand evaluation — analyzing perceptions, regional sentiment, and potential support for a name change. 

    At the close of the campaign, we presented our findings to both Dominion’s national leadership team and the global legal team.

  • The college embraced the new Strategic Action Framework, driving early improvements in morale, communication, and interdepartmental collaboration. Insights from S.I.R.’s brand study empowered Laurel Ridge to make a confident, community-supported decision to transition from Lord Fairfax Community College — a move that better reflects the institution’s values and inclusive mission. With a reinvigorated internal culture and a forward-facing brand, Laurel Ridge is well-positioned to lead as a top-tier community college in Virginia — both as a workplace and as an engine for student success. 

Diversity and Inclusion

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Building a climate of trust, honesty, and integrity

  • Virginia Commonwealth University has some of the most diverse demographics of any school in the state, but as VCU’s president found, just being diverse simply isn’t enough. Principles of diversity and inclusion need to be part of an institution’s very fabric.

    A group of VCU students catalyzed the conversation to address underrepresentation in the campus community through peaceful protest tactics, facing the need for change at home while standing in solidarity with “…black students at the University of Missouri protesting discrimination.”

    VCU’s president, Dr. Rao, reached out to S.I.R. to collaborate with his executive leadership team in order to build a climate of trust, honesty, and integrity — a place where all people are valued, and differences are recognized as an asset rather than a threat.

  • The first step in the process turned the lens inward, addressing the foundational framework of the institution. S.I.R. wanted to think about the inclusivity of messaging inside the organization, so we started by revising the Diversity and Inclusion Committee’s mission statement.

    From there S.I.R. led meetings, focus groups, and town hall discussions with students, faculty, staff, and administrators across the VCU community. We also developed a strategic research plan to quantify and gauge the current climate and to solicit feedback on VCU’s mission from these cohorts.

    Our findings, trend research, and analysis helped shed light on where VCU was succeeding in its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and where it was falling short. These results fueled our subsequent recommendations.

  • With these insights guiding our efforts, S.I.R. worked with Dr. Rao and the VCU Office of Inclusive Excellence to strengthen the university’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Action Plan. The success of this campaign strengthened our relationship with VCU leadership, cementing our partnership for years to come.

    VCU continues to uphold a legacy of excellence, especially in its D&I efforts. VCU was recognized in the “Top 100 Minority Degree Producers” list produced by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education as No. 53 for total minority bachelor’s degrees and No. 49 for total minority professional doctoral degrees.

    The committee reorganized internally to form the new initiatives of the VCU Inclusive Excellence program. They shifted their efforts from an activities-based model to a service-impact model to better identify and tackle tipping points for transformational change within the community.

    Their long-term strategic efforts focus on four central themes: equity in the workplace, developing national recognition of VCU’s assets, uplifting opportunities that drive student success, and contributing to RVA’s urban and regional transformation in a meaningful way.

Allen, Allen,

Allen, & Allen

Employee Feedback and Transparency

Enhancing Workforce Culture at a Legacy Law Firm 

  • As Allen & Allen navigated leadership transitions and introduced new workplace policies — including updated health benefits and an unlimited PTO policy — firm leadership recognized a growing need to better understand internal sentiment. With evolving expectations around transparency, feedback, and work-life balance, the firm sought a clear picture of how these shifts were impacting employee morale, engagement, and retention across roles. 

  • S.I.R. partnered with Allen & Allen to develop and deploy a firm-wide workforce culture survey. The 15-minute custom instrument gathered insights on leadership communication, compensation, inclusion, growth opportunities, and technology tools, with questions tailored to capture role-specific nuances between attorneys, legal assistants, and support staff. Using its proprietary BELONG Score, S.I.R. assessed employees' sense of support and inclusion. The findings were synthesized and shared at the firm’s annual shareholder retreat, providing actionable strategies for improving internal alignment and communication. 

  • The engagement provided Allen & Allen with a comprehensive, data-driven foundation to guide cultural improvements. The firm gained clarity on key areas including leadership transparency, performance feedback, and compensation equity. The BELONG Score established a measurable baseline for future progress, while employee feedback helped refine how new policies like unlimited PTO are communicated and experienced. With renewed focus and strategic insights, Allen & Allen is reinforcing the same integrity internally that it brings to its clients externally. 

Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS)

Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) in Medical Education

Building a more inclusive and community-oriented institution

  • While Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) is widely recognized for its community-oriented mission, research revealed significant challenges in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). Key concerns included:

    • Low awareness of DE&I initiatives among students, faculty, and staff.

    • Lack of representation in senior leadership, faculty, and student body, creating a sense of exclusion for underrepresented minorities (URMs).

    • Limited trust in grievance processes, particularly among URM and LGBTQ+ members.

    • A need for stronger engagement with the community to address local health disparities.

  • S.I.R. conducted qualitative interviews and stakeholder research to identify barriers and develop data-driven solutions.

    Key steps included:

    • DE&I awareness assessment – Measured faculty and student perceptions of inclusion efforts and pinpointed gaps in communication.

    • Structural & cultural analysis – Examined leadership diversity, faculty representation, and student experiences to recommend systemic improvements.

    • Community engagement strategies – Identified ways for EVMS to deepen its impact on health disparities through outreach and curriculum integration.

    • Trust & transparency initiatives – Developed recommendations to strengthen the grievance process and improve institutional accountability.

  • The findings provided a clear roadmap for advancing DE&I at EVMS, including:

    • Enhanced leadership commitment to visible, sustained DE&I initiatives.

    • Stronger community partnerships to expand outreach and health equity programs.

    • Improvements in faculty and student diversity, reinforcing EVMS’s mission as a community-driven medical institution.

    • Increased awareness of DE&I efforts, fostering a more inclusive and equitable educational environment.

    With these research-backed insights, EVMS is now positioned to drive meaningful change, ensuring that diversity, equity, and inclusion remain at the core of its institutional growth.

Let’s Talk

All of S.I.R.’s projects start with a conversation. Let us know a little about you and your organization and we’ll set a time to talk. You can visit our offices in the Fan District of Richmond, VA or we can hop on a video call. Whatever works best for you works best for us.

If you would prefer to start your conversation with one of our consultants individually, please refer to our people page.