Katie Herrmann, Director of Human Resources, Named 2022 HR Rising Star

Department of Employment and Workforce employee recognized for her significant impact on the agency and the state at the annual State Human Resources Management Conference.

Columbia, S.C. – The HR Rising Star Award is presented each year by the S.C. Chamber of Commerce and the South Carolina State Council/Society for Human Resource Management. The award recognizes HR professionals who have less than 10 years of experience and are making a positive difference in their organization.

Katie Herrmann joined the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) in November of 2021. While she has governmental experience, Herrmann also brought a fresh perspective to the agency, immediately identifying ways to streamline systems, provide transparency and power to hiring managers, and educate and assist DEW employees with HR processes.

“Katie’s influence was immediately recognized around the agency,” said DEW Executive Director Dan Ellzey. “I was getting feedback from staff, amazed and excited about the changes in the Human Resources Department. She has been responsive and is very good about identifying a challenge and immediately implementing a solution. We are grateful to have her on our team.”

In her eight shorts months with the agency, Hermann has:

• Revamped the agency’s recruiting approach to make it faster, more user-friendly for hiring managers, and more attractive to candidates.
• Created direct access to the hiring information for managers to help expedite the hiring process.
• Mapped email lists so that messaging can be sent to specific employee groups and locations.
• Created an Employee Relations Plan that documents all key activities in the agency.
• Developed new training sessions and webinars for staff to fully understand HR processes and have all of their questions answered.
• Worked with the IT Division to launch a new intranet for the agency.
• Built a comprehensive internal communication strategy to identify categories of communication (such as an alert, a newsletter, etc.) and increased the volume of communications to ensure all employees are informed and up-to-date.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” stated Herrmann. “And I am thankful to work in a place where I am encouraged to think big and try new things. There is still a lot of work to do, but we are building a great team that is ready to help this agency shine.”