Building an Outstanding Work Culture: Richland’s Journey to Transformation

City Manager Jon Amundson is Redefining Management and Community Impact Through Servant Leadership (and He Does a Mean Hugh Grant Imitation)

Welcome to the fifth installment of Good Government Files’ Servant Leaders Series. Each story in this series, drawn from presentations at the annual Servant Leadership Conference hosted by SGR¹, showcases remarkable individuals making a difference in their communities. Today, we highlight City Manager Jon Amundson and his work building organizational culture in Richland, Washington.

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In local government, the culture within an organization isn’t just an internal matter — it directly impacts the community we serve. When public servants are supported, motivated, and driven by a shared sense of purpose, the results ripple outward, creating stronger, more vibrant communities. I’ve seen firsthand how a positive work culture can elevate the quality of services delivered, inspire innovation, and foster a deeper connection between government employees and the people they serve. It’s not just about getting the job done; it’s about doing great work for the sake of doing great work. The difference that makes is profound.

In this edition of Good Government Files, we’ll explore the powerful impact of cultural transformation within the City of Richland, Washington. Through the lens of servant leadership, Richland’s journey shows how a dedicated focus on building a supportive and engaging workplace culture can lead to meaningful change — not just within the walls of city hall, but across the entire community.

Richland City Manager Jon Amundson presents at the Servant Leadership Conference.

About Jon

Jon Amundsen has over 20 years of experience in local government, starting with internships and analyst roles before honing his skills in management. After spending over four years with the City of Allen, Texas, as an Assistant to the City Manager, Jon joined the City of Richland in 2008 as Assistant City Manager. His 12 years in this role provided him with intimate knowledge of the city’s operations and culture, which proved invaluable when he stepped into the role of Interim City Manager during a challenging transition in 2021. Now, as the City Manager, Jon’s extensive experience and understanding of servant leadership have driven a cultural transformation in Richland.

About Richland

Richland, population 63,320, is one of the fastest-growing cities in Washington. It’s located in the southeast corner of the state, a three-and-a-half hour drive from Seattle, and sits on both the Yakima and Columbia rivers. Here’s a great infographic with more details about the community.

It’s one of the three Manhattan Project cities, along with Los Alamos, N.M., and Oak Ridge, Tenn. Richland’s Hanford Site was home to the nuclear reactors that produced the plutonium used for two of first three atomic devices (the Trinity test and Fat Man, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki).

“This is a bit controversial, but our high school mascot is the Bombers,” Jon says. “The community is proud of their contribution during World War II.”

Catalyst for Change

In January 2021, the city council and city manager agreed to a separation agreement.

“That was a tough time for our organization,” Jon said. “The former city manager had been with us for over 17 years, and their departure was a low point for us. I was the assistant city manager and had been with the organization since 2008. I was asked to serve as interim city manager. Morale was low, and the culture felt rudderless. Despite the challenges, I believed most employees had the heart of a servant leader. We just needed to find our way.”

Roadmap to Cultural Transformation

Jon describes the experience as a journey, and shares some of the highlights of the trip.

The roadmap included a leadership philosophy, some outside help and strategic planning. The leadership philosophy was provided by Ron Holifield’s book Fourth Dimension Leadership, which “recognizes the importance of leadership at every level of the organization and intentionally develops future leaders at all levels,” Jon said.

Jon contracted with Ron’s consulting firm, SGR, to help create the leadership development programs needed to navigate the always choppy waters of organizational change. The City Council appointed Jon as permanent city manager in December 2021.

“We started our journey with five engagements focused on the servant leadership model,” Jon said. “We met every other month and discussed servant leadership. It took a few sessions for everyone to understand this wasn’t a flavor of the month; it was something we believed in and wanted as part of our culture.”

Here’s the servant leadership template used by SGR.

Here are the programs that grew out of that initial exploration of servant leadership and how it would be implemented in Richland.

• Impact Academy: This was a cohort of 12 employees, selected through a competitive process. Meetings were facilitated by an Assistant City Manager, the Deputy City Manager, and the Fire Chief. It included a book review, small group work and development of a leadership timeline. The class project was to write a Culture Statement (more on that below). It is now the primary leadership development program for current and aspiring leaders across all departments.

• Change Teams: Directors and Managers from across the City held workshops with SGR facilitators to work on system improvements related to hiring, onboarding, succession planning, culture enhancement, and staff development. It has become a resource pool for projects, task teams, and assignments to achieve strategic goals across the city, as well as an implementation group for significant city initiatives.

• Growth Sessions: There is a supervisory track for current and aspiring supervisors and a professional development session open to all city employees

• Richland CARES: A group of employees who volunteer for community service projects, such as: collecting clothing and food items for a local shelter; donating holiday gifts to kids in need; pitching in at a local food bank; litter pick-up days; and even a United Way kickball tournament, “which is a great way to raise money and build camaraderie,” Jon said.