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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/23/2007• B A K E R S F I E L D Staff: Christine Butterfield Assistant City Manager City Council members: Harold Hanson, Chair David Couch Ken Weir SPECIAL MEETING NOTICE PERSONNEL COMMITTEE of the City Council -City of Bakersfield Monday, April 23, 2007 9:00 a.m. City Manager's Conference Room, Suite 201 Second Floor, City Hall, 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA AGENDA 1. ROLL CALL 2. ADOPT AUGUST 28, 2006 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion regarding a Recruitment and Retention Plan -Tandy, Stinson, Lozano, Kunz 5. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 6. ADJOURNMENT B A K E R S F I E L D /',~~ ~, ~~-- _ Staff: John W. Stinson For: Alan Tandy, City Manager AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Harold Hanson, Chair Zack Scrivner Jacquie Sullivan SPECIAL MEETING ^ PERSONNEL COMMITTEE Monday, August 28, 2006 -10:00 a.m. City Manager's Conference Room, Suite 201 Second Floor, City Hall, 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 1. ROLL CALL Called to Order at 10:10 a.m. Present: Councilmembers Harold Hanson, Chair; Zack Scrivner; and Jacquie Sullivan 2. ADOPT JUNE 22, 2006 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Report on solicitation renewal results and Committee recommendation on 2007 Medical Insurance Plan Human Resources Manager Carroll Hayden gave a brief update. At the last Committee meeting, the Committee voted to have Buck Consultants market the Health. Insurance Plans to see if the City .was getting competitive rates. She introduced Tim Beck and Mike Schionning from Buck Consultants. Committee Chair Harold Hanson confirmed with the consultants that they had met with and provided a report to the Insurance Committee earlier in the day. Mike Schionning, Buck Consultants, reported as a result of marketing the plans, the consultants were able to negotiate with Blue Cross to obtain rates that were approximately $525,000 lower than would otherwise apply. Agenda Summary Report Page 2 Personnel Committee Meeting Monday, August 28, 2006 ~ `° `~ < ~ . 2007 Renewal Results for Current Plans Blue Cross requested the following increases: - Active PPO Plan 8.0% - Retiree PPO Plan 0.0% - Active HMO Plan 10.7% - Retiree HMO Plan 38.4% (A significant part of this increase is due to the five year transition to unblended rates.). It was also noted that the rate increases now include a 2'/z% increase for an insurance premium tax. Kaiser reauested the following increases: - Active 17.2%* - Retiree 17.2%* - Sr. Advantage -15.7% *Kaiser has developed a new premium rate increase methodology, thus the increases. The Medical Plans are proposed to increase overall by 10.6%. All of the other plans have requested minimal or no increases for 2007 - Blue Cross Dental 0.0% - Dedicated Dental 1.5% - Pacific Dental 2.0% - Medical Eye Services has given the City a rate pass: - PacifiCare Behavioral Health has given the City. a rate pass. The Dental Plans are proposed to increase overall by 0.5%. Results of Medical Plan Marketing Buck Consultants marketed the Health Plans to determine if the current Blue Cross offering was competitive. • Quotes were requested from the following vendors: o Blue Cross o Blue Shield o PacifiCare/United Health Care o CIGNA o Aetna o HealthNet Responses were received from Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and PaciflCare/United Health Care. CIGNA, Aetna, and HealthNet declined to provide a response. Agenda Summary Report Page 3 Personnel Committee Meeting m ~ ~~ Monday, August 28, 2006 ~ r r~ ;, f~ ~:~ ,, `~' Overall Blue Shield and PacifiCare benefits do not match the current Blue Cross benefits. Based on the results of the marketing, Buck Consultants recommended the City remain with Blue Cross due to the following: • Both the Blue Shield option and the PacifiCare option .would cost significantly more than the Blue Cross plans. • Neither PacifiCare nor Blue Shield would match the current benefits offered by Blue Cross. In some situations, particularly for the PPO plans, the differences are significant. • Changing networks would cause significant employee disruption. Buck was also asked to provide a comparison of the City's plans to those offered by CaIPERS. When compared to CaIPERS, the City's rates are significantly lower for comparable HMO benefits and the City has superior PPO benefits. City Manager Alan Tandy stated staff is recommending that the Health Insurance Plans be renewed as proposed by Buck Consultants and that the City pick up the increase this year as opposed to going into benefit reductions. Rate increases are somewhat less this year than last year. Staff feels the changes made to the medical plans last year have contributed to the reduction in rate increases for 2007. Assistant City Manager John Stinson explained the 2006-07 budget includes funding for anticipated premium rate increases. Also, many of the new positions approved in the budget are proving difficult to fill, so there are sufficient savings as money was budgeted for health insurance for the new positions, which can offset the 2007 health plan increases. Human Resources Manager Carroll Hayden stated that the Insurance Committee voted to approve the proposal from Buck Consultants. Committee Member Jacquie Sullivan expressed the report was a masterpiece and marketing the plans was exactly what was needed. Committee Chair Harold Hanson commented he was very appreciative of the work that has been done. Committee Member Zack Scrivner made a motion the Committee approve staffs recommendations regarding renewal of the 2007 Health Insurance Plans. The Committee unanimously approved the motion. Agenda Summary Report Personnel Committee Meeting Monday, August 28, 2006 5. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:38 a.m. Page 4 ~~ ~ , ~~ R~._ Staff Attendees: City Manager Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager John Stinson; City Attorney Ginny Gennaro; Finance Director Nelson Smith; Human Resources Manager Carroll Hayden; Sam Chemabaeff, Accounting Clerk, Human Resources Benefits; Bill Ware, representing Police; Scott- Monroe, .representing Fire; Human Resources Analyst Javier Lozano; and Public Works Operations Manager Brad Underwood Retired employees: Margaret Ursin Others: Chuck Waide, CCAPE; Tim Beck, and Mike Schionning, Buck Consultants cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:WOHN\Council Committees\08 PersonnellP 08 aug 28 summary.doc A ~ ~ ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT MEETING DATE: February 28, 2007 AGENDA SECTION: Consent Calendar ITEM: TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council APPROVED FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager DATE: February 15, 2007 SUBJECT: Employee Recruitment and Retention DEPARTMENT HEAD, CITY ATTORNEY CITY MANAGER 1 RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends referral of the issue to the Personnel Committee. BACKGROUND:. At the Department Head retreat in late 2006, the issue of recruiting and- retaining quality employees was discussed. As noted in the attached materials, we have experienced increasing difficulty in recruiting and retaining good employees as well as doing succession planning for key positions which become vacant due to retirements. This situation is occurring at various levels of the organization and the inability to attract and retain qualified employees can directly impact service levels to the community and delay completion of projects. Staff has developed several documents which describe the challenges we are facing as well as an action plan to address these issues. The action plan includes enhancements to education incentives and reimbursements, ahome ownership assistance program for those employees who qualify based on the income criteria for existing federal housing assistance programs, internship and mentoring programs, and modifications to our recruitment efforts to enhance our ability to attract qualified employees. This information has been discussed with affected employee union representatives and shop stewards. Staff recommends referral of this issue to the Personnel Committee. February 16, 2007, 11:29AM S:Wdmin Rpts~20071Recruitment and Retention 022807.dot JWS:aI B A K E R S F I E L D City Manager M E M O R A N D U M ' February 16, 2007 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Counc' ~- FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager ~ ~~ SUBJECT: Employee Recruitment, Retention and Succ ssion Planning Challenges The City of Bakersfield is experiencing increasing difficulty in recruiting and retaining good employees as well as doing succession planning for key positions which become vacant due to retirements. This situation is occurring at multiple levels of the organization, including professional, technical and blue collar jobs. We are fortunately not experiencing these same recruitment and retention issues for sworn public safety positions. Recruitments for public safety positions still attract a large number of qualified applicants. The greatest concern for safety departments is having a sufficient number of qualified and trained employees who are prepared to promote into management positions since those promotions must be made from within the department according to City Charter requirements. We are having difficulty in recruitment and retention of non-safety employees because of increased competition for skilled workers due to the good economic climate locally and our inability to match compensation offered by the private sector and other public sector employers. The result of this situation is we are having increased difficulty in attracting qualified applicants for jobs and vacancies are remaining open an exceedingly long amount of time which impacts our ability to get needed work done for our citizens. This is further compounded by the aging of the workforce where many "baby boom" generation employees are beginning to retire and there is a smaller pool of applicants interested in positions in government positions or internal employees ready and trained to assume these positions. We have one department where all four of the top managers may retire all at once. This presents a serious problem of continuity and loss of institutional knowledge for the organization and must be adequately planned for. This memo presents an overview of the situations noted above including specific examples of situations facing departments and an action plan to address this situation. Overview On August 27, 2006, the Bakersfield Californian ran an article about the difficulties we are experiencing in recruiting and keeping qualified Planners within Development Services. Several -1- Employee Recruitment Retention and Succession 2008 revised 2-18-07.doc issues were cited, including the complex civil service system, the lack of hiring flexibility, compensation differences, and fewer new graduates with planning degrees. This example is only one of many within our organization which demonstrate an increasing difficulty in recruiting and retaining qualified employees. Over the past several months, as noted in the article, some of our planners have been hired by private development firms. Additionally, other people in the organization have left for jobs with other cities or private businesses. We have also had retirements of key personnel throughout the organization. We currently have open and are recruiting for about 139 positions as of October 31, 2006 (including many of the new ones recently approved in this year's budget) which are all critical to providing services to the community. These vacant positions represent approximately 9% of the total city workforce and about 75% of these vacancies are in the miscellaneous employee units (meaning non-sworn personnel). Recruitment competition from the robust private market challenges our ability to fill new positions and positions that become vacant due to a retirement or other reason.- For example, we have had difficulty in filling Service Maintenance Worker (commercial driver) positions in the Streets division and laborers for the Parks division. We also had difficulty finding employees who have specialty certifications required of Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators. We have had to extend the recruitments for Management Assistant and others in order to get qualified candidates. We are not alone in experiencing difficulty in the hung, retention and replacement of experienced personnel. Other cities and counties in California, including Kern County, are experiencing difficulty in recruitment and retaining experienced employees. Many of the baby boom generation are retiring or approaching retirement and there are fewer trained workers in the workforce available to take their places. This causes increased competition among employers for a diminishing pool of qualified workers, particularly for positions which require specialized education, training, or certification to perform the job. While we have tried to train employees internally to be prepared to replace those who leave the organization, we do not always have employees who are sufficiently motivated or prepared to reasonably assume those vacancies when they occur. Further, due to lower staffing levels and current high workloads and activity levels employees are in many departments assuming additional day to day duties which leaves little time or opportunity for training or mentoring. Although the City currently offers some .tuition reimbursement, a relatively low number of employees take advantage of the program due to time constraints to attend local universities; limited availability of specialized programs (such as engineering and planning); and higher costs for non-traditional degree programs (University of La Verne and University of Phoenix) than what is currently reimbursed. The current low level of unemployment in general is impacting our recruitment efforts as the pool of desirable applicants has many more employment opportunities available to them due to the robust local economy and high demand for both skilled and unskilled workers. Replacing our seasoned employees in line for retirement with qualified applicants becomes even more challenging due to declines in student enrollment for .specialized areas of study like engineering, urban planning, city management and other public employment needs. It is also difficult to find training related to the work we do and limited public sector experience. Not as many recent graduates are currently pursuing careers in public sector employment since there are a wider variety of career opportunities available to them in the high tech age. They also have .2_ Employee Recruitment Retention and Succession 2006 revised 2-16-07.doc many more opportunities to work in organizations that have more flexible work conditions (schedules, benefit options, time-off, etc.) and options that appeal to the generation of employees entering the workforce now. We are at the point where we must begin a proactive strategy to handle this crisis, or we will continue to experience a deteriorating impact on how we conduct our day to day operations, leaving us without the ability to provide an acceptable level of service to our community. At the Department Head retreat earlier this year, these issues and others regarding recruitment and succession planning were discussed at length. Serious employment organizational problems were identified along with existing and future critical staff shortage conditions. Attached is a memorandum which provides a detailed summary of the key issues detailing the depth and scope of the employment problems identified throughout the organization by department. Action Plan: The recruitment and employment crisis will not be solved overnight. However, there are several steps that we can consider now to help address some of these problems. Several require administrative and procedural changes. Other suggested ideas examine additional benefits designed to attract and retain good employees. • Extend educational incentive pay program currently available for safety personnel to other employee groups. Currently employees in the Police and Fire bargaining units receive some form of educational incentive pay. The Police receive pay for POST certificates and Fire employees receive additional pay for AA or Bachelors degrees. There is currently some additional pay for certificates in the Miscellaneous Employee unit. This proposal would provide up to an additional 2% pay for Miscellaneous Employees (including Supervisors and Managers) with an Associates degree orequivalent; and up to a total of 5% for a Bachelors or higher degree. The program would be phased in over a period of time. A sheet outlining the details of the proposed program is attached. This program as proposed would cost approximately $335,000 for the first fiscal year it is phased in and approximately $670,000 for the second fiscal year and thereafter when completely implemented. These figures are based on the current number of employees with degrees. The figures would change over time as more employees become eligible through obtaining their degrees. Home ownership assistance program. This would provide home ownership assistance for employees who qualify based on income from HOME funds and other City home loan assistance programs. This would promote home ownership by employees within the City and be a significant inducement for individuals to consider City employment, particularly those just entering the work force. This would also increase home ownership for employees at the lower levels of the salary structure. This would be done using federal money similar to what was done for the Cottages and other home ownership programs. This would be targeted as an incentive to attract prospective employees for lower paying city jobs. A sheet outlining the proposed program is attached. -3- Employee Recruitment Retention and Succession 2006 revised 2-16-07.doc • Internships and Mentoring. There is a need to develop internship opportunities for potential employees and mentoring programs for existing employees to provide needed training and on the job experience. Structured targeted intemships work well when geared toward specific disciplines. This is good if the City has a specific project or need within an academic discipline. The commitment would be to provide a job over multiple summers with the expectation of a regular job at the completion of their education. This type of program creates loyalty and would increase the pool of qualified applicants for jobs. • Compensation and Pay -Position by Position Basis.. Currently, when there is difficulty in hiring a needed position or concern about retaining employees in a specific area we have been able to address these compensation issues on an individual basis by increasing compensation for individual classes of positions within the organization. This has helped address immediate recruitment and retention compensation issues and we would propose to continue this practice to address specific compensation concerns. • Compensation and Pay -Generally. With a more competitive employment market it would be desirable to increase the general level of salaries to be more in line with the current workforce marketplace. Obviously, this is constrained by real financial growth and the City's financial position. It should be noted as a goal for the City to pursue should we be able to afford it. • Changes to job specifications related to substituting experience for education.. This change would expand the ability for candidates for a variety of positions to substitute work experience for educational requirements. This would expand the pool of qualified applicants and the ability to promote qualified employees within the organization. Those employees with sufficient relevant work experience who may not have the formal education currently required but have the practical knowledge required for the job would be able to compete for promotions. This would be done for specified jobs or levels of jobs in the organization, generally entry level supervisory or technical positions. Department head and other professional positions that have specific educational training requirements would not be included. Department managers have reviewed all relevant job classes to determine where appropriate changes should be made. • Increase and expand educational reimbursement program. The City currently has a reimbursement program forcollege tuition and books. The tuition reimbursement level is indexed to the tuition at Cal State University Bakersfield. That amount is less than the tuition at other University programs, such as the University of La Veme and University of Phoenix which have class schedules and degree programs more suited to mid-career professionals and those with non-traditional work schedules (i.e. shift work). Increasing the tuition reimbursement level to meet the costs of programs such as University of La Veme and University of Phoenix would improve employee participation in such college programs. The City's educational reimbursement for college costs needs to be better understood by current and potential employees. It could serve as an important recruitment tool particularly for those who could be attracted to entry level positions that want to pursue higher education. Staff has developed a revised reimbursement that increases the amount of reimbursement for books and tuition for those attending accredited programs designed for working students. A detailed draft policy is attached. _4_ Employee Recruitment Retention and Succession 2006 revised 2-16-07.doc The estimated additional costs for changing the program ranges from $100,000 to $120,000 annually assuming about a 20% increase in participation. The numbers will vary depending on how many additional employees take advantage of the program and where they take classes. -5- Employee Recruitment Retention and Succession 2006 revised 2-16-07.doc B A K E R S F I E L D OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER MEMORANDUM April 17, 2007 To: Alan Tandy, CityQM~anager From: John W. Stinso~~"Assistant City Manager Subject: Correction to February 16, 2007 Recruitment and Retention Memo Please note that the attachment for the "Educational Incentive Pay Program" has been replaced with a corrected version provided by Human Resources which reflects the implementation of the educational incentive program on July 1, 2008 rather than July 1, 2007 in the original memo. S:\JOI-tN\Memo Template.doc B A K E R S F I E L D OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER MEMORANDUM February 16, 2007 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: John W. Stinso~;",A~sistant City Manager SUBJECT: Summary of Recruitment and Retention Issues by Department Below is a summary of the key issues detailing the depth and scope of the recruitment and retention problems identified throughout the organization: Public Works - Streets Division It has become increasingly difficult to hire good and qualified entry level workers with a Class B license. This is evident in the Streets Division with Service Maintenance Workers who perform the majority of hard manual labor. These same employees can work for a private contractor driving a truck and not have to perform any manual labor. These positions are needed for the City's street maintenance program, a council priority item. TRIP Division The Thomas Roads Improvement Program hired an outside recruiting firm last November to pursue candidates for five Civil Engineer III positions that..-were approved for the program. A flyer was developed that was distributed in early December for these Civil Engineer III positions, listing minimum qualifications plus desirable ones (transportation and project management experience). Since that time, the City has received from the recruiting firm numerous resumes however, only one hire has resulted due to various reasons including the level of experience and training desired for the position and the competitive environment for individuals with these skills. Due to these recruiting problems, this past April the recruitment was revised to include Engineer I and II personnel and a new flyer was prepared. Over the past four months, eight resumes for Engineer I and II have been received, several interviewed, and three hired for open positions in the Engineering Division. -~- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc Construction Division This Division has 21 employees (one superintendent, two supervisors, eight inspectors for tracts and permits, six inspectors for CI.P projects, and four survey crew positions). Because of the time sensitive nature of the inspectors' duties, a .loss of just one position impacts both customer service to the development community and causes delays in completion of CIP projects. This section recently lost two construction inspectors to private development firms due to increased compensation. In the past, recruitments for Construction Inspectors resulted in a number of applicants, sometimes twenty or more. The last recruitment in December, 2005 resulted in a list of three. The inability to attract and retain construction inspector positions has a direct impact on service levels to the development community and delays completion of several CIP projects. These are both time sensitive tasks, made all the more difficult due to the inability to attract and retain skilled staff. Subdivisions This Section includes sixteen engineering related positions, with nine of these in the Engineering Technician classification. Engineering Technicians perform technical office and field work by checking development plans for conformance with City standards. This position also prepares maps, legal descriptions, and plans & specifications. This position is critical to ensuring improvements within the City's right-of-way conform to established standards. In addition, since this position checks developer improvement plans, it is critical that we maintain adequate and qualified staffing to provide an acceptable turn around time for the development community. With that said, we have experienced problems in recruiting for this position. In July 2004, only one qualified applicant made the eligibility list for Engineering Technician. This employee, who worked with us for only two weeks, left for a higher paying position at the County. Wastewater Division The Wastewater Division has also experienced difficulty in recruiting qualified candidates for both the Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator position and more recently the Superintendent position. The current staffing requirements for wastewater operators at Plants 2 and 3 are to have five operators at each Plant. The Plant 3 expansion project will increase the need for additional operators. Therefore, there is an immediate need to hire more operators to train and have certified in order to maintain proper operation of the expanded Plant. We have experienced difficulty in recruiting for the operator position. During the last recruitment for a Grade II operator, the City sent a letter to every certified operator -z- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc within the State of California. There were five qualified responses resulting in one interview and that person was not hired. Grade II salaries from the cities of Fresno, West Sacramento, and Riverside were compared to the City of Bakersfield. The City of Bakersfield ranked the lowest of all the cities. In fact, the Cities of Fresno, West Sacramento, and Riverside are 7.6%, 9.5% and 38.5% higher respectively for Grade II operators. The Cities of West Sacramento and Riverside also have Grade III positions. The City of Bakersfield does not have a Grade III position but offers $1,500 annual certification pay for having a grade III certificate. The Grade III position for the Cities of West Sacramento and Riverside pay 16.4% and 40.7% more than our Grade II position with Grade III certification pay. The City of Bakersfield has encouraged and supported training and review courses for the existing wastewater operators over the last two years to assist them in achieving higher certification (Grade III certification). This training has paid dividends in that the Division has more certified Grade III operators than ever before. This higher certification benefits the Division, in that State law requires that a Grade III or higher is required on-site to fill in as Supervisor. Ironically, with this higher certification, higher paying job opportunities are available and currently the City cannot compete. As a result, several Grade III operators are considering higher paying positions with other agencies. The Wastewater Division has also experienced setbacks in recruiting for the Wastewater Superintendent position. Recruitment for the Superintendent position has been advertised for about over a hundred and fifty days and we have received only eight applications. Seven applications did not meet the minimum qualifications of having a Grade V Wastewater Certificate. Recruiting efforts have included notifying every Grade V certified operator in California. Fleet Division Recently, an open recruitment for Fleet Service Worker I was conducted by Human Resources. Twenty-four applications were submitted, eleven were rejected for no experience, ten were interviewed and eight passed the oral interview. Of the eight, three were hired, with the others failing the drug test, background check, and/or the second oral interview at the division level. Individuals with experience and knowledge in fleet maintenance do not want to take this entry level position with its low hourly rate. The inability to attract fleet workers impacts several high profile City functions, including public safety, street maintenance, and refuse collection services. Solid Waste This division has experienced difficulty in hiring new employees at several levels. For example, recent attempts to fill three different clerical positions. failed when the selected candidates took other higher paying jobs after being selected by the City. These clerical positions are the front line staff persons who answer the phones and route citizen requests. Also, this year several candidates for our entry level laborer positions have fallen out during the process due to other opportunities with other employers. -3- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc Design Section A previous effort to recruit Computer Drafting Technicians yielded no qualified applicants who could meet the .minimum requirements. Potential applicants possessing the minimum requirements could obtain a higher salary from the private industry than what the City pays for the same position. Administration Division In August 2006, the Human Resources Division conducted two interviews .for the Accountant I position that was approved in January 2006 for the Subdivisions Section.- The primary task for this position is to ensure that all developer fees that should be collected are, in fact, collected. For the first set of interviews, only one candidate made the eligibility list. For the second set of interviews, only two candidates made the eligibility list. Because of the lack of qualified applicants, Human Resources has left the recruitment for this position open, in the hopes of attracting more qualified applicants to fill open positions as needed. Public Works -Summary Throughout the Public Works Department, we have experienced problems in hiring positions in several classifications. We have also seen a downward trend in attracting and hiring qualified people from outside organizations in order to develop qualified successors in the supervisory and management level positions. This is not happening as effectively as it should. Due to the booming growth in Bakersfield's economy, potential employees are making more than they would make in the City's entry level positions. That leaves the less desirable, less educated candidates (as some departments discover, there are also fewer candidates capable of passing the physical and drug-screening process.) In addition, the workers who start out in higher-paying private sector jobs, who then decide they want more stability and benefits, are not willing to take a job with the City for much less money. Development Services Planning Division Over the past three years we have lost five planners to outside employers. Three went to work for another city, while two went to work in the private sector. All received an increase in salary with reportedly less job related stress. The two who went to the private sector had nearly fifteen years of individual experience. One of the three that went to work at another City had over twenty years with Bakersfield while the others two had nearly five years of individual experience. As a result of recruitment difficulties we had to hire replacements with little experience because of competition in the job market. Last year we had two unsuccessful recruitments for Associate Planner positions and ended up under filling the positions with lower level staff to try and keep. the work moving. We have done four recruitments for Planners and Planning Technicians in the last sixteen months and only hired seven. We still have four positions to fill including those approved in the current budget. -4- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc The Planning. Division is using consultants and contract planners to bridge the gap between budget approval and recruitment activities to fill new positions. Building Division This year we conducted two recruitments for Assistant Building Director. The first recruitment resulted in only two qualified candidates. The top candidate, from the County, was offered the position. The County counter offered with a better deal and we lost him. We used an executive search 1•irm for the second recruitment. They began working on the recruitment in April and completed it in August. The process produced four candidates of which two were viable. The top candidate declined because of relocation issues and the next candidate took two weeks to ultimately decide to decline our offer deciding not to relocate from Washington State. Recreation and Parks -Due to the low unemployment rate and the availability. of construction jobs we are experiencing difficulty in finding acceptable Laborers and Service Maintenance Workers for Parks. We have been doing continuous recruitments for these positions and it has been difficult to keep up with turnover, much less fill newly authorized positions. The recruitment of our entry level Laborers and Facility Workers maintenance positions has been very difficult due to several reasons. The recruitment process can take up to four months which includes advertising, screening of applications, notice of interviews, initial interviews, departmental interviews, reference checks, drug tests and physicals. For Recreation and Parks the many issues dealing with recruitment, retention, and the opportunities for promotions are varied. • Recruitment -The process of filling vacant positions is often four (4) to six (6) months and some times longer. This is very frustrating to the staff and the citizens. • Language -This is a real problem in our entry level positions where often times the only language they speak is Spanish. We have been encouraging our employees to attend English classes for effective communications. • Minimum Requirements - Minimum requirements such as experience, education, certifications, licenses, etc. is good for that first job here, but if they don't have a college degree or some higher education, the promotional opportunities are very limited. • Retirements -There is a lot of experience, knowledge, and information walking out the door in the coming years due to retirements. Supervisors are starting the process to train newer workers to take over their duties. The development of operational manuals will help, but will take time to develop and keep current given the rapid growth of the city. -5- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc Water Resources -The Water Resources Department with an authorized complement of 24, has three vacancies, making the vacant percentage over 12%, slightly higher than the City-wide vacant position rate. The average age within the department is 45 and average tenure with the City over 18 years. 38% are over the age of 50, 43% are between 40 & 50. Average age of management and supervisory is 50. Due to the significant number of management and supervisory retirements that will probably occur within five years (4 of 6 employees), there needs to be an effort to prepare others to step into these positions or efforts to provide incentives to retain the experience and unique knowledge of the water business. There has been difficulty in recruitment and retention in several positions. For instance, two Canal Tender II (CTII) positions, in the Agricultural Water division, are currently under filled. The CTII positions have been under filled for several years due to eligible employees indicating that the position is not paid enough to compensate for the increased responsibilities and stress load over the Service Maintenance Worker's. Recently, one employee who had promoted to the CTII requested demotion back to his old position. The Engineer I position in Agricultural Water was under filled due to lack of applicants. There is a vacant Engineer I position in the rapidly expanding Domestic Water division and apparently few qualified applicants. In the interim, until the position is filled, the Water Supervisor II and Water Resources Superintendent will pick-up some of the workload and a portion will be outsourced. Police - The police department promotes from within the agency, based on the City Charter. The department has a large pool of candidates for the upper ranks, so recruitment for those particular positions is not an issue. However, based on potential retirements in the future such as 2009/2010 all current executive level management of the police department are eligible for retirement. Thus, the pressing issue for the department is being able to provide exposure and experience more quickly to those who are going to be promoting into management and executive management positions. We will have to advance their experience quicker than we ever have in the past in order to prepare them for the future. That would mean involvement in Council committees', significant projects, attendance at City Council meetings and further opportunities for overall city government experience. Fire -The four chief officers in the Fire Department will be turning fifty within the next one to two years and several are planning on retiring. Some will retire as soon as December of 2007. Due to the significant number of potential top management retirements, steps must be taken to prepare others to move into these positions. Because promotion to those ranks must come from within the department, it is critical that those who may compete for the positions be exposed to management tasks and experiences, so they can be prepared when succession occurs. A problem occurs due to the constant staffing requirement. The Fire Chief currently has difficulty bringing employees interested in such training opportunities into the office for mentoring or special assignments to gain .management level skills because he must back-fill their positions, which results in having to pay overtime. -s- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-1&07.doc Economic Development and Community Development (EDCD) -After many stable staffing years within the EDCD department, we now end .ourselves facing critical staffing shortages. We must shortly deal with the planned year-end retirement of a key division manager. He will be leaving the City in November 2006 after 28+ years of service. In addition to providing management backup to the Director, this manager's extensive CDBG experience and knowledge will be sadly missed, as over the years he provided insights and methodology to utilizing these very restrictive funds for many high priority City Council programs and projects. We also have three professional project management positions vacant and we are currently under recruitment to fill them. One project management employee left for a promotional opportunity with another governmental agency and the other project management employee accepted a transfer to another City department to broaden his experience in land use. In all of these cases, we will lose, or have lost, institutional and technical knowledge that will have a lasting operational impact on the department and perhaps impact other departments for years. Recruiting for the professional project management personnel was placed through advertising, both locally in the Bakersfield Californian Sunday editions and Western City. We have received twenty-three applicants to date, with only four being acceptable for interviews. Of the four acceptable applicants, none have any prior redevelopment or economic development experience. If we can't locate seasoned redevelopment and economic development project managers, it will be necessary to expend significant funds on training, as well as significant senior staff time, mentoring selected candidates that display the ability to quickly grasp financial and economic development concepts and plans. Senior staff has actively been putting the word out locally and in other communities about our management openings, along with the benefits of living and working in Bakersfield. Most of the responses have been negative, with the salary stated as being too low and an unwillingness to move to Bakersfield due to a perceived lack of amenities, our bad air quality and high cost of living expense. Housing costs in Bakersfield have caught up with many of our competing markets so we can no longer provide the "more home for your money" inducement to attract potential applicants. Finance -The finance department has had an open recruitment for an entry level Accountant for six months with very few qualified applicants applying for the position. So far we have held two -sets of initial panel interviews. The first panel had one qualified applicant (who was hired by Public Works) and the second panel had only two qualified applicants, neither of which accepted the position. Finance also has vacancies for an Accounting Supervisor and an Accounting Clerk, which are at various stages of the recruitment process. We also have a vacancy in our Purchasing division due to a recent retirement. While this recruitment is near completion, there is a possibility that it will be filled with an internal candidate, which of course will create another vacant position. The overall vacancy of four positions within our department is a little more than 10% of our workforce. -7- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc City Management (Information Services, Risk Management and Human Resources) • In the initial recruitment for a Management Assistant for the Manager's Office, we had 163 applicants, only 2 of whom were qualified. One of those withdrew from consideration and one failed to return our phone calls. 153 applications were received for the second recruitment resulting in 4 qualified candidates. • When Human Resources was trying to hire a Clerk Typist, we had 7 of 9 applicants decline our offer because of salary issues or more attractive employment elsewhere. • When Human Resources was trying to hire a Human Resources Analyst I, we had 53 applicants. We identified 12 qualified applicants. Six candidates withdrew within 24 hours of the interviews, 3 failed the interviews and we certified a list of 3. Of those 3, 2 declined our offer. • An Assistant City Manager position is now open - we hope the recruitment attraction problem we have faced elsewhere will not recur. Other Issues • In all departments, after difficult and lengthy recruitments, we have had numerous applicants at the last stage of the process fail either the drug test or background check. The recruitment process for management level positions is long and tedious for potential candidates due to multiple levels of interviews. The typical recruitment can take three to six months. Due to Civil Service requirements, such as the rule of three and our public employment list process, some candidates become discouraged since their job search becomes public and they choose to drop out of the process. The compensation structure does not allow for flexibility in providing incentives tailored to a candidate's particular needs, such as relocation reimbursement, training stipends, benefit options, or other incentives typically found in the private sector. The city needs a recruitment process for these positions that will attract the best possible candidates by treating them as valued individuals and professionals, not numbers to be processed through a bureaucratic and time consuming recruitment process. The current process is perceived by candidates and managers as unproductive and discourages applicants to pursue employment opportunities with the City. -s- Recruitment and Retention Department Detail 2-16-07.doc EDUCATIONAL INCENTIVE PAY PROGRAM • OBJECTIVE To attract and retain exceptional employees and to encourage self- development for promotional growth into higher- level professional, supervisory and managerial positions within the City of Bakersfield. • BENEFIT 0 2% incentive pay for AA Degree or approved equivalent credits 0 5% incentive pay for a Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate Degree • GUIDELINES a. Maximum payment of 5%. b. Employees receive incentive pay for ONLY one qualifying degree. c. The degree or equivalent credits must be from an accredited school as identified in the Tuition Reimbursement Policy. d. The degree or equivalent credits must be "job related" or approved to add value to the City of Bakersfield (ex. Nursing would not necessarily qualify). e. Employees are responsible for providing appropriate documents to verify degree and/or equivalent credits. £ For "equivalent credits", employee must submit documentation from approved accredited college or university Registrar verifying Junior Status eligibility for approved degree or program as designated in item "d" above. g. Incentive pay will be implemented at the same time for current employees and new hires and for all qualifying bargaining groups. h. Implementation schedule phased in as follows: i. Program effective date July 1, 2008. ii. Beginning July 1, 2008, 50 % of incentive will be paid on bi-weekly paycheck. iii. Beginning July 1, 2009, the additiona150% of the incentive will be paid on bi-weekly paycheck. iv. Eligible New Hires employed in 2008 will be eligible to receive 50 % of incentive on bi-weekly paycheck and the remaining 50% of the incentive on bi-weekly paycheck S:UAVIER~2007 Files~Recruitment & Retention~Educational Incentive Pay Program.doc Revised 4/17/2007 will be awarded in alignment with the current employee scheduled effective date of July 1, 2009. v. Effective July 1, 2009 eligible New Hires will be eligible for the approved maximum incentive. i. Employees who obtain a degree mid-cycle, during 2008 will be immediately eligible to receive the scheduled approved percentage with verification of degree completion. j. Safety employees eligible to receive incentive pay for previously bargained certificates and education will not be eligible for this program. k. The incentive is calculated using only base salary. Longevity incentive and other incentives, certification or any other premium pay will not be used to calculate the Educational Incentive Pay. 1. This program is subject to change or deletion based on business needs. • IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLES o Example 1 -Employee currently with BS-Business Administration Degree. Employee will begin to receive 2.5% incentive on bi-weekly paycheck, effective July 1, 2008 and an additional 2.5% incentive on bi-weekly paycheck effective July 1, 2009 for the maximum 5% incentive. o Example 2 -Employee currently with AA-Accounting Degree. Employee will begin to receive 1 % incentive on bi-weekly paycheck, effective July 1, 2008 and an additional 1% incentive on bi-weekly paycheck, effective July 1, 2009 for the maximum 2% incentive. o Example 3 -Employee currently with AA-Accounting Degree obtains BS-Accounting Degree in 2009. In accordance with schedule the employee will begin to receive 1 % incentive on bi-weekly paycheck, effective July 1, 2008 and an additional 1 % incentive on bi-weekly paycheck, effective July 1, 2009 for the maximum 2%. S:VAVIER~2007 Files~Recruitment & Retention~Educational Incentive Pay Program.doc Revised 4/17/2007 Upon verification of completion of Bachelors Degree the employee will receive an additional 3% incentive on bi-weekly paycheck. o Example 4 -New hire currently with approved Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate Degree hired on or after July 1, 2009. With appropriate verification, effective on hire date the new employee will begin to receive 5% incentive on bi-weekly paycheck. o Example 5 -New hire currently with approved AA Degree or approved equivalent credits hired on or after July 1, 2009. With appropriate verification, effective on hire date the new employee will begin to receive 2% incentive on bi-weekly paycheck. S:UAVIER~2007 Files~Recruitment & Retention~Educational Incentive Pay Program.doc Revised 4/17/2007 Tuition Reimbursement BENEFIT • 100% Tuition & Fees Reimbursement equivalent up to CSUB cost AND • 75% Tuition & Fees Reimbursement for tuition amounts greater than CSUB cost AND • 100% Reimbursement of Books (employee keeps books) • 100% Reimbursement for GED or related High School completion equivalent programs • Maximum Annual Benefit (Based on CSUB &ULV 2006-2007 Annual Catalog) o Undergraduate Degree ^ 100% Reimbursement equivalent up to CSUB cost + 75% for tuition amounts greater than CSUB cost ^ 2006-2007 Tuition Maximum Estimate $13,459 o Graduate Degree ^ 100% Reimbursement equivalent up to CSUB cost + 7$% for tuition amounts greater than CSUB cost ^2006-2007 Tuition Maximum Estimate $10, 863 • Maximum Lifetime Benefit (Based on CSUB &ULV 2006-2007 Annual Catalog) o A one-time reimbursement for either an Undergraduate Degree or a Graduate Degree will be allowed o Undergraduate Degree • 100% of a CSUB cost of Undergraduate Degree + 75% of ULV Undergraduate Degree cost greater than CSUB cost ^ 2006-2007 Tuition Maximum Estimate $31,000 o Graduate Degree • 100% of CSUB cost of Graduate Degree + 75% of ULV Graduate Degree cost greater then CSUB cost. • 2006-2007 Tuition Maximum Estimate $21,000 S:UAVIER\2007 Files\Recruitment & Retention\Tuition Reimbursement.doc APPROVAL CRITERIA • Completion of Tuition Reimbursement Form and Promissory Note prior to enrolling in course • Employee is required to sign a promissory note agreeing to remain in employment with City of Bakersfield for period one (1) year after latest reimbursement or repay City of Bakersfield entire reimbursement dollars based on prorated amount. • Approval by Dept Head • Course/Program must be directly related to employee's current position or determined to add value to the City of Bakersfield. • Reimbursement for only course/programs, of either traditional or non- traditional courses including on-line classes, which meet the following accreditation: o Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) o Council on Higher Education (CHEA) o National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) o American Bar Association (ABA) o California Department of Education • No .reimbursement for mail order, correspondence or non-accredited schools will be allowed • Employee must complete courses/program within the approved designated time period specified by the school catalog for which they enrolled S:UAVIER\2007 Files\Recruitment & Retention\Tuition Reimbursement.doc Undergraduate Example Reimburse 100% CSUB Cost + 75% Above CSUB Cost $18,000 $16,000 $14,000 .. $12,000 w V $10,000 iv ~ $8,000 c Q $6,000 $4,000 $2,000 $0 $16,440 $2,98 B No Reimbursement O75% Reimbursement 100% Reimbursement $8 .~ ~ .~,~,~ ~,, : ~ '~ ~ ~ $4, 516 ~, ~ r~,~ $4, ~'~ ~~ CSUB Laverne $13,459 Maximum Reimbursement for Bachelor's Graduate Example Reimburse 100% CSUB Cost + 75% Above CSUB Cost $14,000 $12,720 $12,000 $1,857 B No Reimbursement $10,000 075% Reimbursement ~ 100% Reimbursement V $8,000 $5, 71 iv c $6,000 Q ,~~ $4,000 ~: .~., ~"~~" `~ $5,292 $5 92 $2,000 ~~ ~~~ ~, :~ $0 CSUB Laveme Reimbursement for Master's S:VAVIER\2007 Files\Recruitment & Retention\Tuition Reimbursement.doc New Emolovee Downusvme~t Assistance ~ (NEDA) The New Employee Downpayment Assistance program will utilize HOME recapture guidelines 24 CFR 92.254 (b) (5), (ii) recapturing one half its. HOME irnestment. Homeownership assistance will be famished as a defen~ed loan (silent second) for amounts up to X40,000.00 to .assist with downpayment and closing costs. These loans will have a 10 year affordability period and loan term of 15 years with no monthly payment of principal and will not acxrue interest. Upon reaching year 5 of the affordability period one fourth (pia) of the assistance amount will be forgiven. Upon reaching year 10 of the affordability period one fourth (pia) of the assistance amount will be forgiven. The loan balance upon reaching year fifteen shall be due and payable. During the 10 year affordability period the property must be sold at an affordable price, end to slow-income household, as defined by HUD. ff at anytlme during the terfi of the note, the property is sold, transferred, refinanced, or upon a change in titles th the property the loan balance shall be due and payable in full. In the event of foreclosure, the recapture amount will be based on the net proceeds available from the sale father than on the entire amount of the HOME investment. These funds will be used within the boundaries of the City Hof Bakersfield. Note: Only upon completion of the probatkmary period and status as a full time employee has been achieved will program funds be available. (Rev; 31 Aug-06) RMH ~rr.rrrrr+..~irn CITY OF BAKER8FIELD NEDA AS818TANCE PROGRAM i. PURP'08E. The New Empbyee Downpayment Assistance program is an incentive intended to assist new City of Bakersfield empbyees b home ownership opportunities earning eighty percent (8096) or less of the area median income. This income level is sd~tsd for household size end is subject to nwisbn snnuaNy by HUD: N. BORROWER Et.K3181LITY CRITERIA. 1. Applicants c~tnot exceed the maximum household income limits established by HUD (see attached 'Income Umlfs Worlrsheet'~. 2. Reel estate purchased with the ass~tance of Program funds must be located within the incorporated limits of the City d takersfield. 3. Primary roal estate financing (first deed of trust) must be approved by lender for applicsrrts prior to CilYs rovisw for Program assistance. 4. Property being purc~aaed must meet "Housing QuslNy Standards" and be fnss of health and safety conditbns prior to occupancy by appNcants. Maximum of two oocuparrts per stgeping any plus one. Example: 2 bedroom residence =maximum occupancy of 5, 3 bedroom rosidence = maximum occupancy of 7, etc: 5. Cort~letion of probatbnary period and status as a fuN time empbyee. 8. Approved applicants must execute a NEDA Downpayment Assistance Program agreement with the CNy of Bakersfield. 7. Applbant must occupy the assisted property as their princ~al residence. NI. MA)OMUM PROGRAM FUNDB ANp U8AGE 9. Maximum funds svailatile per ben is 640.000.00. . 2. Furxis are intended to fill the affordabiNty gap between clients maximum ban approval and the punhase prk:e. 3. Buy downs/ discount points shall not be funded. 4. Pre-payable expenses (property taxes insurence, impounds, etc.) may not be satisfied with Program ban funds. Funds may be applied to rwn-recurring dosing cam. 5. Cornrentbnai bans will be assisted per standard FHA requirements. c:~nocu~-ivwsTw-~v..acN.s-1\rempv~LUbnra~ea. c3n;ded Iines.DOC 11/. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LOAN Borrower maintains residence for five years, one fourth (1/4) of the ban amount is forgiven, maintains residence for 10 years, one fourth (1/4) of the loan amount is forgiven No Ir>terest is accrued. No payments are required. The term of the note shall be 15 years. During the affordability period the property can only be sold at an affordable price, and to slow-income household, as defined by HUD. If, for any reason, during the "term of the note." the borrower no loner use's the property as their .principal residence, sells, oonveya title, retinancres (for debt consolidation), or ~herwise trarafers ownership, the loan shall immediately become due and payable.. The period of Nford sbiNty shall be 10 years. . V. PROPERTY 8TANDARDS (Existing Home purdase) The property must be free of any health and safety defects prior to occupancy by the progrem ass~ted applicront. To insuro compliance with this requirement. sn inspection of the property by a focal home inspector is required, a copy of their report shall be provided to the city. All health and safety. defects noted in the ~pectbn report will require correction prior to loan funding. The inspection is not roquired for new constnx~ion. Vi. ELIGIBLE PROPERTY TYPES The following property types aro eligible for assistance. s. Single Family Residence (detached) New, or Existing. b. Townhouse c. Condominium C:\DOClJ1116--1VWSTDJ-1\LOCAIS-1\Tanp\MXLibDirln~ Guided Iinet.DOC INCOME LIMITS Effecti~re Date: dumber in Household March 8, 2006 Maximum Income 8096 1---~-______ ---------~-_----------$28,450 2~~_~____~__._~_________ __~ ------------------X32,500 3__________._~___~__.~M__ --«--------$36,600 4____________~__~_~_ ______~~_________~~w$40,850 5________.______.~._~____.___ _._------------------------$43, 900 6--------------- ~_____.~__________.___~47,150 ~_~____ 50,400 g_.______~_.___ ------------$53,650 Income is defined as the total amount of income received by ail occupants of the dwelling or Co-applicant(s) contributing to tl~e acquisi~on of the property under consideration. C:~D000ME-1 U WSTW-11LOCALS-1 \TamplM~.ibDir~WRKSHl80%.DOC PERSONNEL COMMITTEE Monday, April 23, 2007 ATTENDANCE LIST C Name Organization ~, Contact: Pnonei t-mail 3~~---->',~~2 le o 3~-3~3 .~.,-wck-w tti K ~c c L •~ 3 2-fo - 3 '7 ~ ~ ,. ( ~ .-~. ~: G,~.~ ~ -3 ~ ~ _ 3y ~ ~.~ ._--- C ~ ~ 7 ~ ~ ~- 4 ~~~ ~~ ~.~-c~~ ~~-~ 3z~-~~~ ~~~~~;u :~ ~ '' ~~.