Struggling to Keep Staff? This Small Texas City Shut Down for a Day to Fix It

When you’re facing high turnover, you can push harder for recruitment. Or you can focus on retention.

In Buda, Texas, they shut down City Hall for the day and went all in—on culture, development, and connection. Welcome to BudaU. (For the record, it’s pronounced BYOO-duh.)

BudaU wasn’t just an employee appreciation day. It was a full-scale, all-hands-on-deck internal conference designed to bridge departmental silos, reinforce newly adopted values, and give public servants a reason to see themselves as part of something bigger.

“We had a lot of new employees and were working through new core values and a lot of other things,” City Manager Micah Grau said. “So, it was just a great opportunity to bring everyone together and make sure we are all on the same page … and really try to build a sense of cohesion and teamwork amongst our many new employees.”

And while many organizations talk about the importance of values, Buda’s team made sure theirs weren’t just laminated and forgotten.

I found out about BudaU from longtime professional acquaintance Lindsey Baker, Buda’s assistant city manager. Here’s her LinkedIn post—tell me this doesn’t get your juices flowing.

One Team, 150 People, Many Buildings

Buda has about 150 employees spread across departments—many of them physically isolated from each other. Police, parks, and public works each operate out of different buildings. That fragmentation was taking a toll.

“There’s a lot of employees that don’t interact with other departments at all,” Grau said. “So, this forced them to do so.”

BudaU brought 130 of them under one roof at City Hall for a full day of keynotes, breakout sessions, shared meals, and off-site networking. Here’s a link to the conference brochure.

The goal wasn’t just professional development—it was creating proximity, familiarity, and trust across departments.

What Culture Looks Like in Practice

Before you can reinforce culture, you need to define it. Buda had just adopted five new core values: Community, Service, Integrity, Resourcefulness—and one that makes them stand out: Charm.

“Charm” was pulled straight from the city council’s strategic goal of creating a “charming downtown.” It’s different, yes, but so is Buda (and so is your organization). Have a look at the city logo and you can see this is a community that puts charm front and center.

Speakers were asked to incorporate at least one of the core values into their talks. Employees left with a challenge coin stamped with all five—a tangible reminder that the city is serious about making culture visible and actionable.

Building Belonging, Not Just Skills

Unlike a typical mandatory training day, BudaU gave employees choice—and permission to focus on themselves. From a morning keynote by Michele Lau-Torres, author and City of Austin Chief Learning Officer, to afternoon sessions on AI, mental wellness, and burnout, the day’s tone was as much about care as it was about competence.

The most unexpected feedback came from some of the city’s field employees.

“Our public works guys can be a little hard … kind of maybe standoffish,” Human Resources Director Matthew Wright said.

I know the type. Hard-working dudes who take great pride in their work and sometimes don’t readily see the benefit of projects like BudaU. Frankly, they’d rather be out in the field fixing stuff.

“But I had a couple of them come up to me that were really appreciative of that [wellness] session because they felt it identified some things that they hadn’t noticed before about themselves,” Wright said.

Another big sign the event made an impact? Two employees decided to go back to school for their Master of Public Administration degrees after attending the “Back to School” breakout. Like many smart cities, Buda offers tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit.

A Small City With a Scalable Strategy

Buda’s 130 attendees (out of 150 total staff—impressive!) spent the day moving through networking sessions, four rounds of breakouts, catered meals, a group activity, and a final keynote by Chad Wright on burnout. Swag included journals, sling bags, and the custom challenge coin.

And while it may have looked expensive, it wasn’t.

“We did it relatively inexpensively,” Wright said. “The Chick-fil-A lunch was donated … If you know you want to do this, start planning sooner than later.”

The biggest complaints? Cold breakfasts and soggy sandwiches—problems they’re already planning to fix for next year.

The Long Game

At its core, BudaU wasn’t just about skills. It was about trust and retention. And that starts with giving people a reason to stay—by making them feel seen, valued, and connected.

“I wanted them to feel like the city is invested in them,” Grau said. “To make them have that sense of belonging and feel that calling for higher purpose … because they’ve entered it as a job, but we want them to view it as a career.”

That mindset extends beyond the one-day event. Grau sends regular email updates to employees and encourages feedback—though he admits, “It’s difficult to get their feedback (via email).”

Still, the direction is clear: Build bonds, not just policies. Break silos with shared experiences. And don’t underestimate the power of eating lunch together in the same room.

As Grau put it: “People are bonded by events and those shared experiences … it builds engagement more than anything else.”

Final Word

If you’re in local government and wrestling with turnover, don’t just throw another bonus or run another job ad.

Host a conference.

Serve some food (but don’t leave sandwiches in foil pouches for too long). Get people talking. Remind them why they chose public service in the first place.

“You’re not going to regret getting your employees together just to talk,” Grau said. “What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’ll get to know each other better.”

That’s a retention strategy every city can afford.

Note: I asked HR Director Wright about the dachshund in the BudaU logo. He said the city adopted the dachshund as its mascot largely because of its world‑famous Wiener Dog Races, an annual community tradition and event that has a worldwide reach. “We also have a branded dachshund named ‘Dash,’ he said. “He lives on our website and is our ‘virtual assistant.’ But we use the dachshund branding where we can. It’s part of our Charm.”

Dash is also featured on Buda’s chatbot

Onward and Upward.