IPMA-HR Selects Colorado Springs Utilities Talent Acquisition and Selection Unit and City of Madison, Wis., Human Resources to Receive Agency Awards…

IPMA-HR Selects Colorado Springs Utilities Talent Acquisition and Selection Unit and City of Madison, Wis., Human Resources to Receive Agency Awards for Excellence

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 26 -- The International Public Management for Human Resources issued the following news release:

IPMA-HR has selected the Colorado Springs Utilities Talent Acquisition and Selection Unit and the City of Madison, Wis., Human Resources to receive IPMA-HR's prestigious Agency Awards for Excellence.

IPMA-HR has selected the Colorado Springs Utilities Talent Acquisition and Selection Unit and the City of Madison, Wis., Human Resources to receive IPMA-HR's prestigious Agency Awards for Excellence.

Awards for Excellence recognize the overall quality, accomplishments, and contributions of an agency personnel program that exceeds the normal operation of a "good government personnel program." The award is based on agency program initiatives, accomplishments and contributions within a three-year time period. Awards may be given in the small agency, medium agency and large agency categories, based on the number of employees covered by one's human resource program.

The Colorado Springs Utilities Talent Acquisition and Selection Unit (TAS), part of the Workforce Operations Management section of the Human Resources Department (part of the Customer and Corporate Services Division within Colorado Springs Utilities), received this year's Agency Award for Excellence - Small Agency.

TAS is responsible for recruitment and selection, regulatory compliance, conducting orientations for new employees and overseeing the agency labor personnel program. They use a number of best practices and best-in-class tools to find, attract, assess and select talent.

The implementation and integration of Taleo Business Edition (TBE) Recruit and Onboard with existing Lawson HRIS system, initiated by TAS in 2009 in an effort to improve the candidate, recruiter and hiring manager experience during the hiring process, is just one of the many programs and initiatives launched by TAS deserving of recognition. Until 2009, Colorado Springs Utilities was using a homegrown recruitment tracking system--a very manual system requiring applicants to fill out separate information forms each time they wanted to apply for a position--to follow candidates through the talent acquisition process. This led to applicant dissatisfaction and lost candidates. The TBE application process, however, provides automated job updates and real-time information regarding their application status, leading to a better overall experience for candidates.

In addition to the TBE application process, TAS has also changed the way they conduct reference checks. In July 2010, the agency began a pilot program to explore opportunities to improve the way they collect references. The solution was a Web-based one, improving the reliability and specificity of reference data and reducing the turnaround time to obtain them. Partnering with a group that offers Web-based, confidential reference checking system based on validated job-specific surveys, they have been able to reduce their time to obtain references from five days to two, and increase overall efficiency in the information gathering process, allowing references to provide feedback at their convenience, and in turn eliminating the delays caused by the difficulty of reaching references directly.

TAS has also, since late 2009, been using a compensation calculator, built in Excel, to standardize how they determine starting pay for employees. All pay scales and job classifications were loaded into an Excel file and formulas were created using experience and education to calculate a recommended starting pay. The method of calculating compensation has already aided in defending discrimination claims questioning pay practices and offers.

Other initiatives, accomplishments and contributions TAS has made over the past several years include the development of a search engine-optimized career site designed for easy access by mobile device users, and a program addressing the need to hire, develop and train engineers in key operational areas in key operational areas in anticipation of future vacancies and the need to build a pipeline of talent in engineering disciplines due to the shortage of experienced engineers in the available labor force.

TAS employees also led the creation of the Colorado Energy Consortium, whose mission is to combine the power of the energy utilities, government, and the educational system to develop and enhance the Colorado energy workforce. Members of the TAS team also serve on local advisory boards for Pikes Peak Community College's Water Quality Management program and local school district ACE advisory boards.

Colorado Springs Utilities also, in 2008, began exploring the use of standardized tests and assessments to better qualify candidates for entry-level positions in their power plants, leading to the introduction of the Edison Electric Institute's tests for several job classifications. Since then, they have been exploring options to expand the use of standardized testing for other positions in an effort to improve the quality of hires and aid in the legal defensibility of hiring decisions.

Finally, in 2011, Colorado Springs Utilities began using video interviews as a solution to save costs and improve the overall candidate experience by providing the option to interview for positions without several days off from work to travel to their locations. Video interviewing technology has increased productivity and reduced time-to-fill by removing the 10- to 14-day window they required for advance notice to arrange travel, saving more than $13,000 in 2012. They expect to save even more this year.

The city of Madison, Wis., Human Resources Department negotiates and administers collective-bargaining agreements within 13 different bargaining units covering more than 2,200 permanent employees. Between 2002 and 2012, the HR Department budget shrank by four percent while, over this same time period, the other administrative agencies in the city (Attorney, IT, Civil Rights, Finance) saw budget increases of between 12 and 48 percent. Additionally, the HR Department has seen an 18 percent reduction in staff, from 22 to 18 full-time positions. Madison'sHR Department has weathered a number of changes over the last three years--some of which can be attributed to various functional areas, but most of which required a response by the entire department.

Some of the changes Madison's HR department has made are at the state level and deal with collective-bargaining and benefits programs. In November 2010, Republican Scott Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin. Walker ran on a platform of job creation, so major changes to public sector programs were not anticipated. However, on Feb. 11, 2011, Walker revealed his Budget Repair Bill (BRB), which ultimately had major impacts on public sector programs, including public sector unions, the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) and the city's participation in health insurance programs administered through the State Department of Employee Trust Funds. All of these actions were unexpected and announced on a Friday afternoon, at which time the HR Department immediately began drafting a memo to employees outlining the impacts of the BRB for review by the mayor's office and the office of the city attorney. The mayor, using much of the information provided by HR, then issued an email to all employees.

Because most of the bill's provisions as they relate to collective-bargaining would not take place until current contracts expired, and because the city values its positive relationships with representative unions, labor relations staff immediately began negotiating contract extensions with the various bargaining units, except police and fire, as those units would be unaffected by the BRB.

The BRB passed in mid-March, 2011, and became effective March 25. Other changes were implemented and/or clarified during budget deliberations in July 2011. Most major elements have been implemented, including the change in the WRS contribution and health insurance contributions. However, lawsuits followed, mostly relating to the collective-bargaining changes, and at this time, the final status of those changes is still uncertain. Certain elements have been upheld through federal and state courts, while other elements have been overturned. The effects of various decisions remain unclear, and the legislation is still pending at the State Appeals Court level.

Overall, though, the HR Department received positive feedback from employees during this turbulent time, for keeping everyone informed as to what was happening. This was a difficult time for the Madison'sHuman Resources Department, as most paychecks were affected and employees needed to know the impact that would have on them; the goal of the HR Department was to keep people informed and to keep abreast of the changes as they happened. To that end, they were successful.

The HR Department also, over the past several years, unveiled a performance management system to be used citywide for supervisors and managers. The system, developed by then-compensation and benefits manager, labor relations specialist and organizational training and development manager, is based around developing job-specific position descriptions, developing expectations based on the tasks in the PD in the areas of quality, quantity, interpersonal relationships, and/or dependability, communicating expectations to employees, offering job-required training, and then holding employees accountable for meeting the expectations through ongoing coaching and counseling. The system does not depend on a formal performance evaluation given once a year. Rather, it advocates supervisors and managers to engage in constant coaching and counseling of employees to give both positive and negative feedback as incidents occur. This eliminates many of the biases inherent in a traditional performance evaluation system.

The city of Madison HR Department has also made changes in its service delivery. In 2011, the department saw the retirement of three staff, including the personnel services manager, in the recruitment section, constituting more than 120 years of experience. That, combined with the retirement of an HR analyst in 2009 whose position was not filled, meant that the entire recruitment section, with more than 140 years of experience, had retired. Because of this, the HR director saw an opportunity to restructure and change the delivery of services to city agencies. The old model saw services delivered by separate units--Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits, Labor Relations, EAP and ODT. If supervisors, managers, or employees at agencies had a question, they had to call the proper area to get a response. This was inefficient and at times employees did not know where to go for an answer to an HR-related question.

Due to the retirements, new analysts were hired, with the most senior being hired in July 2011. In order to accomplish this shift in service delivery, an internal training program was developed by the HR services manager and implemented over the course of four months for the analysts in all areas of HR, including specific city policies and procedures.

The response to this change in service delivery has been positive. Managers and supervisors in the agencies now know who to contact regarding HR-related issues and the analysts have greater familiarity with the workings of their assigned agencies through regular contact and meetings.

In addition to their changes in service delivery, Madison'sHR Department has been innovative in its use of technology in delivering HR services. The department now records training and posts it to a website for employees, has moved to an exclusively online application system, and has begun storing personnel files and I-9 forms electronically.

Overall, the changes over the last few years have been difficult. Budgets continue to be tight as a result of the recession. However, the HR Department has not only managed to maintain service delivery but has actually found a way to increase service to city agencies and the public over these difficult few years.

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