City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: OCTOBER 22, 2024 FROM: HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: APPROVE THE THREE-YEAR QUALTRICS SUBSCRIPTION WITH CARAHSOFT TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION OF RESTON, VIRGINIA, FOR THE TERM OF OCTOBER 1, 2024 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2027, IN THE AMOUNT OF $210,366.03 ISSUES:
Approve the three-year Qualtrics subscription with Carahsoft Technology Corporation of Reston, Virginia, for the term of October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027, in the amount of $210,366.03.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve the three-year Qualtrics subscription with Carahsoft Technology Corporation of Reston, Virginia, under NASPO Cooperative Purchasing Agreement AR2472 for the term of October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027, in the amount of $210,366.03; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary documents including, but not limited to, quotes, agreements, change orders, and amendments with the ability to make minor non-substantive changes.
BACKGROUND:
The Human Resources Department has administered two Employee Engagement Surveys in recent years: one in 2018 and one in 2022. The Human Resources Department has previously relied on an external vendor to administer the survey and provide results reports, which were then shared with the City Manager’s Office, Departments, and employees. This approach proved to have several downsides including:
Lack of real-time data from the vendor – reports are received 90 days after the close of the survey.
A limited number of reports were available – departments could not get to the level of granularity they needed to see the differences in their data by division or workgroup.
Inability to manipulate the data for further analysis without extensive manual data input.
No access to the data to correlate with other employee metrics.
The idea of point-in-time employee engagement measures is outdated, and Human Resources is adopting a more modern approach of measuring “employee experience” across the lifecycle of an employee, in real time.
On June 25, 2024, City Council approved one (1) FTE and an ongoing budget to fund the Employee Experience Program.
DISCUSSION:
The Qualtrics Employee Experience platform will be one tool that will be implemented to support the Employee Experience Program. This software will enable the Human Resources Department to administer not just annual or bi-annual engagement surveys but will also enable them to conduct just-in-time pulse surveys throughout the lifecycle of an employee. For example, Human Resources would have the ability to measure employee satisfaction after key events such as after new employee onboarding, promotions, development opportunities, citywide events, and at other key points in the employee’s life cycle.
Further, this software will be used to implement robust Exit Interviews for employees who are separating from the City. This will provide us with invaluable information about why employees choose to leave the City and will help us identify trends that can help the City boost our retention efforts.
The Qualtrics software includes artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that will help Human Resources quickly discover trends and patterns about how employees really feel and will create targeted actions to help adapt the employee experience in real time.
The generated insights can be displayed on dashboards customized for various roles across the City. For example, a Department Head could log into the system and periodically monitor their department. Further, reporting from this system is flexible and can be customized to the City’s needs.
Carahsoft Technology Corporation of Reston, Virginia, can provide competitive pricing for the software and services through NASPO Cooperative Purchasing Agreement AR2472. Although the NASPO Cooperative Agreement currently expires on September 15, 2026, the third and final year of this subscription will be purchased no later than August 31, 2026, while the agreement is still in force. It is a standard practice for the IT Department to pay for renewals 30-60 days prior to the expiration in order to maintain continuity of service. This cooperative agreement is in line with the City’s Purchasing Resolution No. 24101, Sections 602(f) and 702(f).
Purchasing Resolution No. 24101, Article Six: Acquisition of Goods, Section 602 Exceptions states, “Competitive Procurement through the Informal Procurement and Formal Procurement process shall not be required in any of the following circumstances: …(f) When Cooperative Purchasing is available and undertaken or when Goods can be obtained through Federal, State and/or other public entity pricing contracts or price agreements.” Purchasing Resolution No. 24101, Article Seven: Acquisition of Services, Section 702 Exceptions states, “Competitive Procurement through the Informal Procurement and Formal Procurement process shall not be required in any of the following circumstances: …(f) When Cooperative Purchasing is available and undertaken or when Services can be obtained through Federal, State and/or other public entity pricing contracts or price agreements.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommendations to authorize the purchases are in compliance with Purchasing Resolution 24101, Sections 602, and 702.
The Chief Innovation Officer concurs with staff’s recommendations and confirms that this item is in accordance with the City’s technology standards, guidelines and policies.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 5 – High Performing Government and Goal 5.1 – Attract, develop, engage and retain a diverse and highly skilled workforce across the entire City organization.
This item aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The Employee Experience lifecycle surveys will allow the City to proactively and transparently respond to employee feedback in real time. Employees will feel heard and valued and have input into shaping the workplace, creating a high-involvement culture based on mutual trust.
Equity – The data from the Employee Experience lifecycle surveys can help us monitor the experience of all social identity groups within the City, and bring insight into the unique experiences each group has in the workplace culture.
Fiscal Responsibility – By adopting a focus on increasing employee satisfaction across the lifecycle of our employees, the City is being fiscally responsible in its quest to increase employee retention.
Innovation – The City is taking a leap forward in technology and innovation by implementing the Qualtrics Employee Platform by enabling real-time access to employee pulse data and using that data to identify opportunities to improve HR programs and services.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The Qualtrics Employee Experience platform provides the information and insights that support “people sustainability” by keeping our focus on the pulse of employee engagement, wellbeing, inclusion and belonging, and career development and building the resilience of our employee population and the City organization.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of the action is $210,366.03 over the three-year term of the agreement. The funds to cover the cost for FY 2024/25 in the amount of $73,523.93 are budgeted and available in the General Fund, Human Resources-Administration, Citywide Employee training account number 2100000-452004. Appropriations for future fiscal years will be included in the Department’s Budget submissions for those fiscal years to be presented to the City Council for approval. Below is a table outlining the costs per fiscal year of the three-year term of this agreement.
FY 24-25
FY 25-26
FY 26-27
Total
Annual Fee
$73,523.93
$68,421.05
$68,421.05
$210,366.03
Prepared by: Jessica Gordon, IT Administrative Services Manager Approved by: Rene Goldman, Human Resources Director
George Khalil, Chief Innovation Officer
Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Edward Enriquez, Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Carahsoft Quote
NASPO Agreement
Qualtrics ● Page 2