Recruitment, Hiring, and
Retention Strategies
Status Report
Presented By:
Jennifer Schembri, Director of Human
Resources
Kelli Parmley, Assistant Director of
Human Resources
2 Agenda
Vacancy Rate + Modernizing Hiring
Building Awareness + Attracting
Retaining our Talent
3 Vacancy Rate and Hiring
4 5
Fiscal Year – Budgeted
FTE Positions
Month End Vacant
Budgeted Positions ÷
Example:
• Month ends with 500 vacant positions
• Fiscal Year has 5,250 budgeted FTEs
• 500 vacant positions ÷ 5,250 Budgeted FTEs = 0.0952
• 0.0952 x 100% = 9.52% Vacancy Rate
x 100%
What is a vacancy rate?
6 CSJ Vacancy Rate Over Time
FY 22/23 Vacancy Trend
Vacancies by FY
Month
Vacancy
Count
Vacancy
Rate
Benefitted
Budgeted FTE
End of FY 21/22
June-2022 733.75 11.7% 6,255.00
Start of FY 22/23
July-2022 937.00 14.5% 6,467.76
Aug-2022 956.70 14.8% 6,467.76
Sep-2022 940.95 14.5% 6,467.76
Oct-2022 916.95 14.2% 6,467.76
Nov-2022 889.20 13.7% 6,467.76
Dec-2022 925.20 14.3% 6,467.76
Vacancy Rate
Fiscal Year Benefited
Budgeted FTE
Vacancy
Rate
2017-2018 5,868 12.0%
2018-2019 6,034 12.3%
2019-2020 6,229 11.4%
2020-2021 6,178 13.0%
2021-2022 6,255 11.7%
Goal: Less than 10% Vacancy Rate
7 Vacancy Rate Context
Since FY 2017/18, an additional 387 positions have been added Many of these vacant positions are being filled through higher-class opportunities, temporary unclassified employees/consultants and rehired retirees
Does not include additional critical hiring outside of benefitted budgeted positions (in FY 21/22 this was 359 positions) In FY 21/22, of the 1,041 positions filled, 660 were internal, leaving another 660 vacancies
All other public sector agencies are experiencing the same issue and in most cases, have higher vacancy rates that the City’s vacancy rate 8 Modernizing: Process Improvement + Program Change
Prior to May 2022, 13 significant hiring process changes were made to streamline the process and shorten the hiring timeframe
City’s time to hire is on average shorter than the public sector average Other changes since May 2022:
Pilot centralized
hiring model
with PRNS,
Housing and
PBCE
Consultant to
review Police &
Fire Hiring
Process
City-wide
Analyst
Recruitment
Modifications
to Minimum
Qualifications/
Job Specs
New Hiring
Application
System
(NeoGov)
Goal setting
(agile process)
Salary Authority
to Depts
Hiring Incentive
Referral
Program
Extension
Lateral Incentive
Program for
Sworn Police &
Fire
Piloting
decentralized
model with DOT
9 Modernizing: Quarterly Goal Setting + Using Agile Process Agile Hiring Goals
Hiring Quarter Minimum
Goal
Maximum
Goal
Job Offers
Accepted
FY 2021-2022, Q3 217 278 174
FY 2021-2022, Q4 194 268 224
FY 2022-2023, Q1 198 292 290
FY 2022-2023, Q2 208 295 258
10 Modernizing: Pilot Centralizing the Hiring Function
Added 5 positions to HR: Program Manager, 3 Analysts, and Staff Specialist
Piloting Centralizing hiring for 3 Departments/Divisions:
Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services
Housing
Code Enforcement
18-month Pilot Program
Will report on results during PSFSS updates
11 Modernizing: New Application Software
So that the City can be
attractive to the next
generation and better
serve our hiring teams
Modernize our
hiring process
Improve and streamline
processes to increase
efficiency, accuracy,
and equitable hiring
practices
Internal
efficiency and
effectiveness
Access to the full range
of data across the hiring
process to make
informed strategic
decisions.
Data driven
Project Kick-Off:
February 8, 2023
July 1 target date
12 Modernizing: Minimum Qualifications + Job Specifications Created a new Division
3 positions (one just newly added)
30 changes since April 2022
Addressing situations where a
credential or experience is a
barrier to a diverse applicant
pool has been HR’s strategy for 2
years
Code Enforcement Inspector
Airport Operations Series
Environmental Services Specialist
Arson Investigator
Instrument Control Technician
Early Childhood Education Series
Librarian
13 Pipeline and Marketing
14 Hiring Campaign
Strategy Tactic
Branding Template for social media organic posts, flyers, banners, collateral material
Partners
Connect with professional affiliations,
institutions, trade associations, and work with
inter-departmental recruitment liaisons
Print / Radio / TV
/ Advertising
Radio stations, bi-lingual radio stations, mall
advertising, billboards, bus advertisements
Social Media LinkedIn organic postings, LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter advertising, videos
Digital
Communications Video
– testimonials from City employees
Events Pop-up booth
Internal
Communications
CityLine article, City-wide email, email from
Directors to staff, flyers – posted in breakrooms,
webinar, survey
15 Pipeline: Building Awareness + Attracting
16 Pipeline: Building Awareness + Attracting
17 Retention =
’
18 Retaining Talent
Deloitte, 2022
19 Retention Strategies
General Wage Increases
Special Salary Adjustments in
areas where there are
recruitment and retention issues
(56 classifications in last year)
Flexible Workplace Policy
Mentoring Program
New Employee Welcome (Onsite
+ Virtual + Engagement)
Employee Experience
Conversations (EECs)
Human Centered Design Learning
Lab + Innovation Academy
Trauma Informed and Resilience
Oriented Culture Building
Wellness Programs and Offerings
Employee Assistance Program
(EAP) – new vendor and increase
in benefit
20 Re-building Learning and Development
+ Pipeline + Workforce Data/Analytics
FY 2017 – 2018: Initiated Reinvestment in Citywide Learning and Development FY 2019 – 2020: Ready to Launch at Scale + COVID
FY 2022 – 2023: Re-building and Re-imagining Learning and Development May 2018, Powered by People
Leadership meeting
December 2022: Learning
and Development, Pipeline,
Workforce Data Team 21
Growth, Connection and Retention Opportunities
22 Employee Experience Conversations
To empower supervisors to create safe
and brave spaces with their team
members, in which they:
Increase employees’ trust and sense
of belonging.
Ignite a shared purpose.
Recognize and appreciate
employees’ contributions.
Spring 2022 - Piloted with - 101
Senior/Exec Staff and 37 mid-level
supervisors
Fall 2022 - Target audience: Mid-level
supervisors (CAMP bargaining
unit/classification)
6 total sessions with 46 people
(across 3 cohorts); 15 different
departments
Spring 2023 – 3 additional cohorts
with mid-level supervisors due to
high demand
23 Next Steps
Met with stakeholders on January 27, 2023
Next meeting scheduled for end of February
Brainstorming workshop to review hiring process step by step, review the changes that have already been made to the City’s recruitment and hiring work and brainstorm other improvements
Quarterly updates to PSFSS
Will bring forward any additional resources needed for Council consideration as part of the FY 23/24 Budget Process in May 24 Discussion and Questions