Response to Grand Jury Report Report Title: Humboldt County Hiring: Status, Process, and the Future Report Date: June*

Humboldt County Human Resources is now sending exit questionnaires to all departing County employees. Analysis of these responses may allow Humboldt County Human Resources to determine strategies to improve recruitment and retention. Response: Agree.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has longer hiring times than other county positions due to necessary written and oral testing, and required background checks. However, overlapping testing and interviews have allowed them to shorten the hiring process by weeks. This shortened hiring time increases the likelihood of successful recruitment. Response: Agree.

Many departments continue to be short-staffed, including Humboldt County Human Resources itself. Productivity decreases when staffing is inadequate, and the workload for individual staff increases, affecting employee retention. (R1, R2, R3) Response: Agree.

The average length of time from announcement to hire is on a par with other counties, but the process still takes months. This long time reduces the qualified pool of applicants and potentially forces the hiring department to start over. (R4) Response: Agree.

Hiring times are longer for departments that do not work efficiently or proactively with Humboldt County Human Resources during the hiring steps to provide subject matter experts and oral examiners. Longer hiring times make it more likely that applicants will give up, endangering the success of finding and hiring qualified employees. (R4) Response: Agree.

The California Department of Human Resources controls the hiring of Merit System Staffing positions. Until Humboldt County Human Resources has control, the lengthy hiring process will continue to delay filling positions and may cause applicants to withdraw, making the recruitment less successful. (R6) Response: Agree.

As of a 2020 survey, county pay levels are low relative to similar counties. This hinders both recruitment and retention across many departments. (R7) Response: Agree. While the county agrees with this finding, as noted in the Grand Jury's report, the data from the survey was used for the last round of negotiations in 2021 and 2022. What is not noted in the report is that all staff received at least a base salary increase of 7.5%, while those represented by the Humboldt Deputy Sheriff's Organization (HDSO) and Law Enforcement Management (LEM) received a base salary increase of 10%. In addition, many classifications received additional salary adjustments above and beyond the base salary increase to maintain equity. Below is a table including the the salary increases from the last round of negotiations, and equity adjustments for each bargaining unit: Increases to bargaining units' base salary by year 2023 2024 Bargaining Unit 2022 3.0% HDSO 10% 2.0% LEM 10% 2.0% 3.0% County Attorneys 9.0% 2.0% 3.0% M&C 9.0% 2.0% 3.0% AFSCME 7.5% 2.0% 2.5% Department Heads 9.0% 2.0% 3.0% (Appointed and Elected) HDSO AFSCME Equity Adjustments Accountant Auditor II: 1.0% Equity Adjustments: District Attorney Investigator: 2% to 4% Administrative Analyst 1: 6.5% Deputy Sheriff Recruit: 9.5% Bridge Crew Supervisor: 5.0% Deputy Sheriff I: 5.5% Communicable Disease Investigator I: 15.5% Deputy Sheriff II: 8.0% Communicable Disease Investigator II: 11.5% Probation Officer: 1.0% Correctional Deputy I: 12.0% Deputy Sheriff's Sergeant: 8.0% Correctional Deputy II: 12.0% Election Worker: 2.5% LEM Equity Adjustments Epidemiologist: 16.5% Chief Investigator (D.A.): 6.5% Juvenile Corrections Officer I: 6.0% Senior Investigator (D.A.): 2.5% Juvenile Corrections Officer II: 6.0% Correctional Captain: 12.0% Laboratory Assistant I: 12.5% Correctional Lieutenant: 12.0% Laboratory Assistant II: 2.0% Undersheriff: 2.0% Planner II: 9.0% Sheriff's Captain: 18.0% Senior Correctional Deputy: 12.0% Sheriff's Lieutenant: 12.0% Senior Juvenile Corrections Officer: 6.0% SSB - System Support Analyst: 10.0% Staff Services Analyst I: 6.5% County Attorneys Association Child Support Attorney I-IV: 4% Substance Abuse Counselor I: 4.0% Substance Abuse Counselor II: 5.0% Deputy District Attorney I-IV: 4% Deputy Public Defender I-IV: 4% Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee: 4.0% Senior Deputy District Attorney: 4% Supervising Juvenile Corrections Officer: 6.0% Traffic Control Maintenance Worker: 4.0% Management & Confidential Veterans Service Representative: 19.5% Supervising Probation Officer: 2.0% Vocational Counselor I: 7.0% Vocational Counselor II: 5.5% These increases do not include regular step increases that occur annually, or longevity for long-term employees, or reclassifications/wage increases for specific classifications that have occurred since the labor agreements were executed.

As of a 2020 survey, the cost of medical benefits to employees is high relative to similar counties. This high cost hinders both recruitment and retention across many departments. (R7) Response: Agree.

Humboldt County Human Resources has fewer strategies to improve recruitment and retention compared to some other counties. Having fewer strategies could hinder both recruitment and retention. (R5) Response: Agree.

Unlike many other counties, Humboldt County Human Resources does not have a single comprehensive policies and procedures manual for hiring. This lack of direction could lead to misunderstanding and ignorance of hiring procedures. (R8) Response: Agree.

Humboldt County Human Resources does not have or use a standard set of metrics for the completion of hiring steps, hiring timeframe, recruitment success, or retention. Without these metrics, it is hard to evaluate hiring performance for county employment. (R9) Response: Partially agree. The Humboldt County Human Resources Department has confirmed that there are standards set for completion of hiring steps and hiring timeframes; however, there are no set standards for recruitment success, other than the obvious metric of whether someone was hired, or retention of employees.

Performance evaluations of Human Resources staff are not always conducted annually. This results in performance and accountability being difficult to assess. (R10) Response: Agree. While the county agrees with this finding, it should be noted that many employees in the Department of Human Resources currently have up to date performance evaluations. Staff who have not yet received an annual performance evaluation will be provided with one at the earliest opportunity to do so. The Human Resources Department is committed to ensuring performance evaluations are up to date moving forward.