TO: PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND FROM: Jennifer Schembri
STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: RECRUITMENT, HIRING, AND DATE: March 6, 2024
RETENTION STRATEGIES
BIANNUAL STATUS REPORT
Approved Date
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the biannual status report on recruitment, hiring, and retention strategies.
BACKGROUND
The Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee (PSFSS) requested reports that review the challenges and strategies being implemented to address staffing vacancies, both from a recruitment and retention perspective. The first update was presented on February 16, 20231, the second on May 18, 20232, and the third on September 21, 20233. This fourth report covers all activities around hiring, workforce pipeline activities, and employee retention efforts, including activities relevant to the strategic support component of the Focus Areas established by the City Council as part of the 2023-2024 Budget Process.
1 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11634938&GUID=E9315336-E358-4200-B96C-B58A03D8B1DA 2 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11967116&GUID=9BE1AE22-C81C-41E9-AE0F-3DE456DBFD95 3 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12296296&GUID=7A578221-3A74-432E-B099- 588AF48F3F24&G=920296E4-80BE-4CA2-A78F-32C5EFCF78AF
PSFSS COMMITTEE AGENDA: 3/21/2024
ITEM: (d)3.
3/13/2024
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
ANALYSIS
Vacancy Rate History and Context
The Human Resources (HR) Department, in coordination with other City Departments, continues working to reduce the vacancy rate to less than 10%. This goal continues to be used as a benchmark to monitor the City’s progress over time. The vacancy rate is dependent both on hiring greater proportions of qualified external candidates and retaining current employees.
In July 2022, the City had approximately 937 vacancies and a 14.5% vacancy rate. By June 2023, that vacancy rate decreased to 12.4%. A total of 148 benefited budgeted full-time equivalents (FTEs) were added in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024 approved budget for an annual total of 6,616 benefited budgeted FTEs. 56.4 of those 148 additional benefited budgeted FTEs were added starting July 2023, increasing the vacancy rate to 13.2%. As of January 2024, the vacancy rate decreased to 12.9%.
Below is a historical look at the City’s vacancy rate since FY 2017-2018. It is important to note that from FY 2017-2018 to December FY 2023-2024, an additional 744 benefited budgeted FTE positions were added. While the addition of these positions has been important to continue to improve the City’s service delivery system, it is challenging to reduce and maintain a lower vacancy rate when additional positions are added each year. HR is working with the Budget Office and departments to strategically manage these additional FTE positions.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
Vacancy Rate
Fiscal Year Benefited Budgeted
FTE Vacancy Rate
FY 2017-2018 5,868 12.0%
FY 2018-2019 6,034 12.3%
FY 2019-2020 6,229 11.4%
FY 2020-2021 6,178 13.0%
FY 2021-2022 6,255 11.7%
FY 2022-2023 6,468 12.4%
FY 2023-2024* 6,612 13.2%
*Data as of December 2023. Benefited Budgeted FTE of 6612 is based on the addition of 144 FTEs that became effective since July 2023.
In the last fiscal year, with the setting of quarterly hiring goals and focused attention on opportunities for external hiring, the City has made significant progress in the volume of hiring.
The table below shows the month-by-month progress in hiring for budgeted positions. While the proportion of internal hires is still higher than our external hires (about 58% for the last fiscal year), that is down from 60% for the last five years. Additionally, in FY 2017-2018, the City’s total budgeted hires were 1,140 and this was surpassed by the end of FY 2022-2023 at 1,293.
The City is also focusing on key strategies for employee retention, which will eventually help reduce the vacancy rate.
Month Year Vacancies Vacancy Rate External Hires Internal Hires Total Hiring Jul 2022 937 14.5% 35 44 79
Aug 2022 956.70 14.8% 48 75 123
Sep 2022 940.95 14.5% 61 68 129
Oct 2022 916.95 14.2% 67 77 144
Nov 2022 889.20 13.7% 52 71 123
Dec 2022 925.20 14.3% 20 25 45
Jan 2023 941.45 14.6% 58 46 104
Feb 2023 925.95 14.3% 28 60 88
Mar 2023 905.70 14.0% 65 65 130
Apr 2023 882.30 13.6% 53 78 131
May 2023 860.03 13.3% 46 62 108
Jun 2023 798.28 12.4% 43 46 89
Total FY 22-23 798.28 12.4% 576 717 1293*
Jul 2023 874.28 13.4% 47 65 112
Aug 2023 872.03 13.3% 50 44 94
Sep 2023 891.68 13.5% 33 70 103
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
Month Year Vacancies Vacancy Rate External Hires Internal Hires Total Hiring Oct 2023 879.30 13.3% 52 75 127
Nov 2023 867.30 13.1% 29 62 91
Dec 2023 870.55 13.2% 26 24 50
Total FY23-24
as of 12/31/2023 870.55 13.2% 237 340 577**
*In addition to the 1293 budgeted hires from FY 2022-2023, the City also hired 1173 employees into non-budgeted positions.
**In addition to the 577 budgeted hires as of 12/31/2023 for FY 2023-2024, the City also hired 323 employees into non-budgeted positions.
HR actively works with other City Departments to mitigate the service impacts of vacancies by using short-term strategies such as higher-class opportunities, temporary unclassified employees/consultants, and rehired retirees. The vacancy rate measure is based on and monitored against budgeted benefited positions. However, other critical hiring that is budgeted differently – such as part-time seasonal hiring in the Parks Recreation, and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) Department or temporary classified employees (overstrength positions) – does not reduce the vacancy rate. For FY 2023-2024, as of 12/31/2023, 323 people were hired into these types of positions. The time and effort to fill these positions are significant; however, these hires do not reduce the City’s vacancy rate. These hires completed by HR and department recruiters are in addition to the 577 positions that have been filled so far in FY 2023-2024 as of December 31, 2023.
It is important to note that there are various positions throughout the organization that are currently being intentionally not filled for various reasons. These include positions being held due to revenue concerns in departments such as Planning, Building and Code Enforcement (PBCE) and positions being held for the FY 2024-2025 budget process, pending potential deletion or a budget proposal to add/delete a position. It is estimated that if the vacancy rate is adjusted for these positions, the City’s vacancy rate would be at or below 10%.
Strategic Revision and Creation of Position Classifications The Classification and Compensation Unit develops and maintains more than 700 position classifications to make strategic progress in an area that significantly impacts our ability to recruit and hire. The last memo discussed a strategy to focus on classifications that experience recruitment challenges due to the education and/or experience requirements in minimum qualifications. In addition to this, the Classification and Compensation team also focuses on creating new classifications to address increasing and evolving workloads. An example of this is the newly created Public Safety Communication Specialist classification. The creation of this classification was a critical part of the San Jose Fire Department strategy to increase overall staffing levels to reach the desired outcomes of increased emergency call answering time compliance and decreased abandoned call rates. The new Public Safety Communication Specialist classification was needed to add additional capacity focused on call-taking volume
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
which has risen steeply. The Classification and Compensation team has also worked on creating the Community Activity Specialist classification to carry out community services programs, related to neighborhood engagement and blight/beautification efforts. The creation of this classification is a critical part of the PRNS strategy to enhance and right-size neighborhood services staffing within programs such as Project Hope, BeautifySJ, and Community Gardens.
Of note, the Classification and Compensation Unit, as part of classification creation or modification, also evaluates and attempts to ensure employment ladders exist for classifications being reviewed, broadening of the Minimum Qualifications (MQs) to provide greater access to employment, especially for entry-level positions, and experience substitutions when feasible to further diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Quarterly Goal Setting
The process to establish Citywide hiring priorities and set quarterly hiring goals began late in Quarter 3 of FY 2021-2022. This has been successful in moving the City toward FY 2017-2018 levels of hiring (1,140 budgeted hires and a 12% vacancy rate) and has resulted in attaining our quarterly hiring goals since Quarter 4 of FY 2021-2022. The process of setting priorities and goals is then managed with an Agile strategy that allows the HR Employment Division to track recruitment progress, focus on the top five priorities for each Department/Office, develop a deeper understanding of the data and limitations of the data, and problem-solve an array of process, procedure, and policy issues that impact efficiency as well as quality hiring. The entire Employment Division and HR Department leadership convened once a week through December 2023 and biweekly starting in 2024 to review progress, resolve issues in the moment, learn new approaches, and celebrate successes. The chart below shows the hiring goals by quarter:
Agile Hiring Goals
Hiring Quarter Minimum
Goal
Maximum
Goal
Job Offers
Accepted
FY 21-22, Q3 217 278 174
FY 21-22, Q4 194 268 224
FY 22-23, Q1 198 292 290
FY 22-23, Q2 208 295 258
FY 22-23, Q3 178 262 199
FY 22-23, Q4 200 297 272
FY 23-24, Q1 193 284 227
FY 23-24, Q2 172 266 190
FY 23-24, Q3 144 223 160*
*FY23-24 Q3 is not yet complete at the time of this report.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
Continuing to Modernize the Hiring Process
1. Centralize Hiring Pilot Project. In partnership with PRNS, PBCE’s Code Enforcement Division, and the Housing Department, HR initiated a pilot project team to centralize hiring for departments with the highest vacancy rates in the City. The goal was to analyze how the HR Department can streamline, add support, and reduce vacancies with direct reporting to HR’s Employment Division. The staff currently handling recruitments in these departments now report to the pilot team led by a Program Manager, three Analysts, and one Staff Specialist. The role of this team is to lead recruitments and to work in a consultant/advisory capacity with the above-mentioned departments to provide direct support and increased guidance, decision-making, and direction for recruitment strategies, changes to processes, and prioritization.
The vacancy rate for PRNS has dropped from 22.6% in 2023 to its current vacancy rate of 14.3%, as of January 2024. The Housing Department’s vacancy rate has also dropped from a high of 22% in 2023 to 15.5%. Furthermore, PBCE has filled five of their six previously vacant Code Enforcement Inspector positions and fifteen Planner positions, across levels I through IV, in 2023. The vacancy rate in PBCE has dropped from 24.4% to 17.1%. The team is now shifting the centralization from Code Enforcement to recruitments in the Building Division and will work on filling critical positions.
HR has proposed through the budget process to continue the centralization pilot for another year. While the vacancy rate reductions have been positive, it is likely this can be attributed to the increase in resources rather than any change in process to a more centralized function. It would be the goal of this team to implement more centralized functions and decision-making in the next year to assess the benefits of a centralized hiring model.
2. Modernizing the Application System. A new team has been formed to further enhance HR’s efforts in optimizing the candidate experience, streamlining processes, and leveraging analytics for continuous improvement. This initiative aligns with our broader goal of Modernizing the Hiring Process. We expect to have these improvements in place over the next several months. Since the Citywide launch of NEOGOV on September 25, 2023, it has significantly contributed to the modernization of our hiring process in the following ways:
a. Enhanced Candidate Pool: NEOGOV has granted the City access to a vast network of more than 1.9 million candidates. This has led to providing qualified applicants with easier access to opportunities within the City. For example, with the implementation of NEOGOV, the Public Safety Radio Dispatcher applications have more than doubled from approximately 300 applications to more than 600 applications.
b. Efficient Application Management: The platform enables seamless review of candidate applications, facilitates candidate selection, interview scheduling, and provides a centralized space for interview ratings and notes. This consolidated
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
approach streamlines the entire hiring process. There are also additional features that are being tested that may yield additional efficiencies in application screening.
c. Process Optimization: The implementation of NEOGOV has already yielded several process-related improvements. Strategic steps and actions have been streamlined and automated, enhancing efficiency and reducing administrative burden. Moreover, NEOGOV may also yield the ability to review and evaluate the time it takes to make decisions at various phases in the hiring process.
While navigating the implementation of the City’s NEOGOV system, challenges were encountered related to offer letter administration and transitioning interview ratings online. Despite these hurdles, the team has shown resilience and dedication, actively working on initiatives to further enhance and streamline these processes. The modernization is also responsible for ensuring the system functions as intended, serves candidate and user experience needs, and is responsible for continuous improvement efforts by responding to user complaints, system concerns, and ensuring user rights and access are appropriate.
3. Strategic Marketing and Communications Campaign. The City Manager’s Office of Communications, in partnership with HR, is implementing its Phase Two of the “We are Hiring” outreach campaign. The campaign will continue to be focused on hard-to-fill positions with social media paid advertising and boosting on the City’s LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as earned media on the City’s Instagram social media platform. Digital banners will continue to be displayed across the City’s social media pages including Facebook and LinkedIn. These posts will include direct and engaging captions with consistent and clear messaging, and branding and marketing that is easily identifiable.
We are employing these tactics as they were highly successful in the “We are Hiring” Phase One campaign in 2023. Last year, for organic social media posts, we received more than 135,000 impressions or views, 425 shares, and almost 4,000 click-throughs to the HR website, whether it was from a webpage about the specific position or directed to the general employment webpage. For paid social media posts, we received almost 500,000 impressions or views with more than 2,000 click-throughs. HR seeks to build upon these successes with the purchase of LinkedIn Recruiter, through which the department hopes to move to active and passive recruitment.
Part of the Phase Two campaign includes general hiring outreach, which will include a refreshed “We are Hiring” banner displayed in front of City Hall; social media paid and earned posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; tailgate and side profile ads on 40 VTA buses with routes throughout San José and nearby cities; a digital billboard located on Highway 101 and Bowers Avenue, which is north and south facing, for one month; staggered radio advertisements on local radio stations such as 106.5 and
94.5/92.1, which will reach all of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties, and bi-lingual ads on 105.7 Latino Mix; and Pandora platform streaming ads reaching the greater Bay Area. In Phase One of the campaign, there was high engagement with VTA advertisements reaching 700,000 impressions/views and the digital billboard
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
located on Highway 101 and Bowers Avenue, which received 1.2 million impressions/views.
In addition, in Phase Two, the team will continue to post employee testimonials and highlight a variety of positions and departments. Employees make the best ambassadors for the City as they represent the City’s culture and values and build interest in potential career opportunities with the City while providing an opportunity for employees to shine and be proud of their work.
Employee Retention
The Workforce Learning and Development (WL&D) team provides opportunities for current City employees to increase their skill levels in order to do their jobs effectively and to develop as professionals in their careers.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
1. Citywide Mentorship Program – the Human Resources WL&D team kicked off another cohort of the Citywide Mentorship Program on September 21, 2023, with 202 mentor/mentee matches from 19 City departments that included staff who were interns all the way to the City Manager herself. The program hosted 3 in-person group events and 2 virtual group sessions focused on the theme “6 P’s of Organizational Excellence.” The final session was held in person on February 27, 2024, and included a closing ceremony element, in which all participants were issued a Certificate of Participation. Each group session had a keynote speaker who was either an internal staff member or an external professional who could speak to the topic accordingly. The Mentorship Program is one of many tools used by the City to enhance staff experiences, to supplement their professional development efforts to attain their desired career goals through an interactive, engaging structure while helping to bust down silos between departments.
Like previous years, participants are matched with someone outside of their own department to achieve one of the two goals of the program, which are:
• Increase inclusion, sense of belonging, and human connection. • Promote collaboration while prioritizing the City of San José’s mission, vision, and values for a more purpose-driven mindset.
With two years of hosting experience, the WL&D team looks forward to continuing to develop and grow this professional development tool across the City, to attract more participants for the next year, and provide relevant topics for participants to implement in their daily work to achieve their career goals.
2. Employee Experience Conversations (EECs) – EECs are non-performance-related conversations that supervisors can have with their employees. Previously referred to as “Stay Interviews,” these conversations are a powerful tool that allows supervisors to connect with employees and help employees feel heard and valued in the workplace.
EECs training was offered to all Senior and Executive staff in Spring 2022 and mid-level supervisors across all departments from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023 and will continue to be offered to more supervisors in February and March of 2024. Through EECs, it is clear that City employees find great purpose in their work at the City and that they find their colleagues are collaborative, talented, and hardworking. We are also finding that supervisors would like more learning opportunities around people management, such as giving feedback, coaching others, and holding their teams accountable. Supervisors have also identified that there is a need for a formal, comprehensive employee onboarding program. We are working with department leaders to continue to capture what their staff are learning through these conversations. The feedback is being used to design other learning opportunities for City employees, including the Modern Manager Learning Series which launched this January.
3. Modern Manager Learning Series – During HR’s Employee Experience Conversations program, HR staff identified a significant need for the City to invest in mid-level managers in the organization to support employee retention. HR worked with leaders in IT, PBCE, and within HR to design and develop a Modern Manager Learning Series to
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
provide an opportunity for these leaders to learn how to connect and support their staff, set expectations for their teams, give, and receive feedback, and more. A pilot series commenced in January 2024, with the plan to run additional series this spring.
4. Innovation Academy – The City’s Innovation Academy teaches employees to find small changes that can have a big impact on the processes and procedures they do every day. City employees across various departments learned how to get their time back and be empowered in their work. Find a short video4of how an HR team used the Innovation Academy to streamline the appraisal process.
5. Analyst Academy – The City employs hundreds of Analysts in various roles throughout the City. This Academy invited Analysts and Staff Specialists to learn how to design influential presentations, manage their time, and understand bias when using data to tell a story. A pilot cohort with 23 employees from eleven departments took place in Fall 2023, along with two more cohorts expected in Spring 2024. Staff in the pilot cohort appreciated the hands-on nature of the program rather than pure lecture, as well as the powerful recommendations session being useful for the final capstone project/presentation.
6. Skill Building Training – WL&D will continue to offer other skill-building training to ensure that City employees have the tools they need to do their jobs well, including Facilitating Hybrid Meetings, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint trainings. We are also hosting two pilot trainings: Microsoft Collaboration Tools—which covers Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive—and Advanced Microsoft Word this spring.
7. RISE (Resilience, Inclusion, Support, Equity) is Phase Two of the Trauma Informed Care program that was offered in FY 2022-2023. RISE offered two trauma-informed care training sessions, Candidly Speaking5opportunities, and other support to three teams in Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, Department of Transportation, and San José Public Library in Fall 2023. Employees from these teams appreciated how much care and consideration were applied to approaching heavy topics such as cultural/gender biases, as well as learning how to handle triggers at work. For Spring 2024, RISE will continue to offer a second series of sessions to the same three teams in a crossdepartmental context.
8. Executive Leadership Forum with the Billions Institute, born out of the work of Employee Experience Conversations over the last two years, finished a session with Senior and Executive Staff this January 2024 about the development of core leadership competencies of a trauma-informed system. This includes City leadership applying these skills to their daily work: trauma-informed communication, inclusive leadership, mindfulness and reflection, complexity (systems thinking and change management), 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy7fWhFym88
5 https://www.candidlyspeakingworldwide.org/
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
radical and critical inquiry, and relationship leadership. A 2-day workshop of the Executive Leadership Forum took place in February 2024 with Executive Staff, where they learned about internal and emotional intelligence, as well as interpersonal communication in terms of dismantling oppression and changing agreements.
Focus on Wellbeing
The HR Department’s Benefits Division has significantly expanded wellness programs available for staff Citywide to create positive, educational, and supportive environments for staff to live healthier, happier, and more productive lives, both at work and at home. In addition, the Wellness team engages with staff throughout the year to encourage healthy habits such as exercise and spending time outdoors, while also encouraging staff to team up and build relationships through the periodic challenges where teams can earn prizes. There have been two wellness challenges this fiscal year: Walktober during the month of October and 10K a Day during the month of February, both in alignment with the “Nurture Employee Growth, Safety, and Wellness” Powered by People objective. In both challenges, participants were encouraged to form teams, utilize the interactive message board to connect with others across the City, provide daily tips and healthy recipes, and build in time to get as many steps in per day as possible.
In addition, the Wellness team has developed a robust intranet page for staff to access a variety of resources to support healthier lifestyles.
Building a Pipeline of Talent
San José State University Partnership
For FY 2023-2024, Human Resources upgraded the annual partnership program from silver to gold level to reinforce strengthening our relationship with our neighbor, San José State University (SJSU). This included participation in additional career fairs and more informal opportunities to engage with students both virtually and in person. These included the following activities:
September 12, 2023 Business, Financial Services,
and Logistics Job/Internship
Fair
Over 600 students present
September 19, 2023 STEM Undergraduate
Student/Job Internship Fair
Over 700 students present
September 29, 2023 Student Organization
Partnership Program
Networking Event
Student Organization leaders met
with City staff
October 3, 2023 Diversity Week Racial Equity Manager Andrea Truong participated in a panel
discussion with over a dozen
students participating in a Q&A
session afterward
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
October 13, 2023 SJSU 6th Annual Leadership
Conference
Director of Communications
Carolina Camarena sat on a 4-
employer panel, followed by
Housing Department hosting a
breakout activity to get students to
craft ways to use $3.5+ million grant
funding to alleviate homelessness in
the City
November 8, 2023 Veteran’s Day celebration WL&D hosted an information booth in partnership with the Veterans
Resource Center, followed by a
more intimate presentation on what
it means to work for the City, the
benefits, and how to continue giving
back to the community after military
service.
February 14, 2024 Journalism Capstone Project WL&D coordinated a unique project opportunity for the Journalism
student’s capstone class to create
advertising campaigns to address
one of two topics for the Housing
Department to use for a social media
campaign.
February 28, 2024 Tour of the City Over 50 students in attendance to learn about the City Service Areas
and what departments do on a
regular basis to keep the City
functioning.
March 1, 2024 Student Organization
Partnership Program
Networking Event
WL&D representatives addressed
student questions that they could
share back with their student
organization members.
Activities that are scheduled for the remainder of the Spring 2024 semester will include:
March 15, 2024 Employer Insight Series SJSU Alumni will participate in a virtual panel to discuss how
Environmental Services are
improving the livelihood of the
residents of San José.
March 27, 2024 Explore Careers at City of San
José
Host the City’s Annual open house
event for the SJSU community
April 1 – 5, 2024 Job Shadowing Program The City will host students to job shadow during their Spring Break
week.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
April 9, 2024 Employer Day Virtual event hosted by the
Employment Division to help
students navigate the application and
hiring process for the City.
April 16, 2024 San Jose State University Job &
Internship Fair
The HR Employment team will join
this Spring Job/Internship career fair
with the efforts of attracting talent
for critical positions available
throughout the City. Over 600
students are expected to attend.
April 17, 2024 Veterans Resource Center Panel discussion with City staff who are veterans followed by a Q&A
session
Santa Clara University
A new relationship has developed since the summer of 2023 with the Santa Clara University (SCU) Career Center similar to that established with SJSU. Preliminary conversations included the types of programs SCU participates in with employers, what would the priority majors be for their campus, and how to best introduce the City to the students. SCU has a more informal style of engaging with the students which inspired the following series of events for City staff from various departments to partake in through the coordination of the WL&D team:
October 11, 2023 STEM Fair Over 600 students in attendance November 1, 2023 Meet-Up An informal meet-up where 3 staff from Public Works and 1 from
Planning, Building and Code
Enforcement engaged in one-on-one
conversations with students from the
various engineering fields
February 8, 2024 Winter Career Fair HR Employment Team engage with hundreds of students eager to learn
more about career opportunities
available to them
February 13, 2024 Inaugural Diversity Works
Expo
Participation was coordinated by
WL&D to have representatives from
Transportation and Human
Resources participate in various
activities during this engaging
opportunity
The City looks to develop stronger, long-lasting relationships with neighboring institutions of higher learning and is excited to be partnering with Santa Clara University in future endeavors.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
March 6, 2024
Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
East Side Union High School District Field Trip with Public Works It has always been a critical point to engage with students in the K-12 space to help plant the idea of government – specifically local government – as a viable employer for the residents of San José. With the growing WL&D team, this initiative led to the coordination of a high school field trip on November 9, 2023. The Public Works Department hosted 30 students from East Side Union High School District’s Building Trades Pathways at Yerba Buena High School for the City’s first facility tour. The students saw the ins and outs of what it takes to keep City Hall functioning and running smoothly daily, from the basement to the roof. Given the success of this event, WL&D has been engaging with other departments to design and execute another successful field trip opportunity for more students, particularly in the various trades’ fields.
Building Trades Panel at Silicon Valley Career and Technical Education On January 25, 2024, Public Works and industry experts from Transportation and Environmental Services Departments convened a 6-person industry panel for the building trades students at Silicon Valley Career and Technical Education (SVCTE). The school hosts 2 cohorts every day so the panel was held twice with over 180 students attending to hear about the real-world experiences of City staff, of which some used to be students at SVCTE. Shortly afterward, 6 departments participated in SVCTE’s 2nd Annual Career Fair which was hosted in person on February 8, 2024. Hundreds of students attended either one of 2 fairs that day and engaged with the City representatives to discuss career opportunities available to them when they graduate.
WL&D understands the long-term impact these interactions have on students from this demographic who are mostly just starting to explore what career they want to focus on, whether they want to continue their education or jump right into the workforce. Whatever their options, the team wants to communicate that all those options are possible across the City of San José.
Work Study Program with Cristo Rey High School
The City’s Work Study Program is moving along successfully, with 6 departments hosting 8 students for the 2023-2024 academic year that started in August 2023. Mid-year performance reviews were conducted in December 2023 and the feedback received from the students was overwhelmingly positive. Many of the students are thriving and the supervisors are being very considerate in introducing the students to what the City’s functions are, getting their students involved in relevant, real-world projects, and having them participate in regular meetings as if they were official City staff. The success of the program has been due to the great working relationship established between the relationship managers and the students’ respective supervisors who have the main goal of seeing these students thrive in a real work environment.
Internship Opportunities
After the City’s Internship Policy was updated in May 2023, the City entered into a 3-year University Organization Agreement in partnership with San José State University that enables
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
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Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
students interning at the City to earn academic credit for their contributions during their internship. This agreement covers the period of July 2023 through June 2026. Most recently, the City Manager’s Office and BCE have utilized this agreement to recruit an intern and offer academic credit with the scope of the learning plan in place with that student’s professor. For the student to earn credit, it will take coordination between the student, their respective faculty, and their City supervisor, to define a Learning Plan that would be sufficient for academic credit.
Upon satisfactory completion of the Learning Plan, students will then be granted credit by the College of Education accordingly.
Inspired by the University Organization Agreement, the WL&D team initiated a broader survey to all the departments in January 2024 to scope out City processes on how interns are attracted to the City, their onboarding experiences, whether they have defined projects to work on for the duration of their internship, and whether any retention strategies are in place to encourage interns to consider careers with the City. A report is being compiled with a more thorough analysis to help guide a more uniform citywide experience for interns in the future.
For the interns currently at the City, WL&D continues to host quarterly networking events to supplement their experience. These included the following programs:
o October 26, 2023: Mock Interview Workshop. A member of the Employment Division walked 18 City interns through the process of reviewing a typical job posting from the City’s job board, what key elements to focus on, and provided some useful tips on how to be mindful of their responses in terms of the skills the position is asking for. Afterward, the students were arranged into groups to conduct mock interviews of each other with a set of mock questions. A rating sheet was drafted, and each student was tasked with rating their peers and then sharing their feedback with each other.
o March 5, 2024: LinkedIn Learning Workshop. The Spring 2024 workshop provided networking opportunities for City interns and focused on educating City interns on LinkedIn Learning resources available to them free of charge through their San José Public Library card.
SJWorks Summer Internships: Additional activities involving student interns includes supporting recruitment efforts by SJWorks for their annual summer internship program hosted through work2future. For the Summer 2023, there were 5 students placed in Public Works, City Manager’s Office, Fire Department, and Human Resources. Students are San José residents who will partake in an intensive 5-week internship program that will give them an opportunity to work on a short-term project to support the needs of the host department.
Recruitment and Retention Collaboration
Beyond the above-mentioned partnerships, WL&D and the Employment Division are working together to participate in other relevant virtual and in-person career fairs. Examples of these include:
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A. Fall Career Fair at San José City College in collaboration with Work2future (November 1, 2023)
The HR Employment team and Public Works staffed a booth at this event and discussed job opportunities with interested attendees. Over 400 attended this event.
B. Silicon Valley Career and Technical Education Career Fair (February 8, 2024) City staff joined the SVCTE career fair to talk to interested students and share information about job opportunities across the city.
C. Youth in Action Conference at Mayfair Community Center (February 17, 2024) The HR and PRNS teams hosted a booth at the 4th Annual Youth in Action Conference to share City resources and job opportunities.
This continued partnership between the WL&D and Employment divisions will ensure the success of reaching as many potential applicants as possible and promote vacancies to various demographics that would otherwise not know about such positions. In addition, HR will continue to highlight the work of all of the HR divisions from Benefits to Safety, via social media and mediums such as LinkedIn, which further promotes why the City of San José is a great place to work and further enhances our recruitment and retention strategies.
Social Media Presence and Metrics
The WL&D team, in partnership with the City Manager’s Office of Communications, has made a conscious effort this fiscal year to engage with the “next generation” of potential City employees on social media platforms, starting with LinkedIn. In order to have the most impact on recruitment and retention, HR must meet the applicants where they are at X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, or in their community. Recruiters have to be flexible with the platforms being used, the information being conveyed, and how the brand of the organization is being presented. Postevent surveys solicit qualitative feedback on what applicants are seeking and how the City of San José can adapt to meet those expectations. QR codes are being used to help monitor and track visits to the City’s social media pages which are also referenced on all flyers and marketing collateral are being studied.
As part of the City of San José’s approach to active and passive recruitment, HR is in the process of purchasing LinkedIn Recruiter as a tool to broaden the City’s reach into a larger candidate pool. LinkedIn Recruiter will cost the City approximately $56,000 per year and will enhance the ability to reach and communicate with diverse applicants utilizing a tested and accepted medium and post job opportunities to drive interest to the City’s NEOGOV site where candidates may identify additional interests and can invite them to apply to career opportunities with the City.
Tying applicant outreach to the City’s LinkedIn corporate profile, which currently has more than 27,000 followers, will help attract talent and tag others who may be interested in careers in
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Subject: Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Biannual Status Report
public service. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of LinkedIn Recruiter, HR will evaluate the analytics of the number of candidates reached, number of job post impressions, applicant response, and applicant conversion to employment rate. HR will continue to utilize LinkedIn to elevate the City’s brand awareness, tell employee stories, and evaluate whether there is an increase in followers, responses, and communications based on its posts.
HR Staffing Update
In November 2023, the HR Department hired a Deputy Director to help provide direct oversight of the Employment and WL&D Divisions to support the City’s efforts in reducing vacancy rates across the City through cross-departmental collaboration, oversight, and modernization of processes while building out pipeline activities to engage community partners.
CONCLUSION AND FOLLOW-UP
In summary, HR will continue to evaluate new ways to continue to improve the City’s recruitment, hiring, and retention efforts.
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Manager’s Office of Communications.
Jennifer Schembri
Director of the City Manager’s Office of
Employee Relations
Director of Human Resources
The principal authors of this memorandum are Santa Barota, Senior Analyst, and Janet Medlin, Analyst I. For questions, please contact Jennifer Schembri, Director of the City Manager’s Office of Employee Relations/Director of Human Resources, at (408) 535-8154.