02
Worksession Item
WORKSESSION
February 23, 2016
To:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From:
Dee Williams-Ridley, Interim City Manager
Submitted by: Sarah Reynoso, Acting Director of Human Resources
Subject:
Status of Action Plan in Response to the Mason Tillman Report
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to provide the Council with an update on the
implementation of the Human Resources Department (HR) Action Plan which was
developed to address concerns raised in the Mason Tillman report. HR adopted its
Action Plan after review by the Personnel Board. The Action Plan was provided to
Council on July 9, 2014 and on June 5, 2015, as an attachment to the Personnel
Board’s Interim Report on the Board’s review of the City’s Personnel Policies and
Procedures Related to the Mason Tillman Report.
The HR Action Plan contained the following four components:
1. Human Resources Department Audit
2. Hiring Process and EEO Workshops
3. Training
a. Hiring Managers and Supervisors
b. Managing Your Career for City Staff
4. Diversity Training
DISCUSSION
1. HUMAN RESOURCES AUDIT
Status: Completed
Action Plan Description: The City Auditor included an audit in the Fiscal Year 2015
work plan for the purpose of evaluating the Human Resources (HR) Department’s
application of the merit-based hiring system, as well as its adherence to equal
employment opportunity laws and policies.
Update: The City Auditor completed her audit and submitted her report to Council on
January 19, 2016. The City Auditor will be present at the Worksession to address her
report. The City Auditor’s report found that HR is committed to maintaining and
strengthening the City’s merit based hiring and promotional system. The City Auditor
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7000 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7099
E-Mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.CityofBerkeley.info/Manager
Status of Action Plan in Response to the Mason Tillman Report
WORKSESSION
February 23, 2016
also recognized that recent efforts by HR to train supervisors/managers on best
practices for hiring/promotion practices and to provide written procedures for hiring
practices were significant. The City Auditor also provided several recommendations to
address misperceptions about the hiring process and improve transparency. HR is
committed to improving its transparency and will implement the City Auditor’s
recommendations by July 30, 2016.
2.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND HIRING PROCESS WORKSHOPS
Status: Partially Completed
Action Plan Description: The City wants every employee to clearly understand the
City’s hiring and EEO investigatory processes. HR will achieve this by offering
workshops on EEO policies, the City’s EEO Complaint Investigation and Resolution
Procedures, and the hiring and promotional process. This will enable employees to
become knowledgeable about the City’s hiring process and how it is administered; learn
about EEO policies; and understand how to initiate a complaint and how complaints are
investigated. The goal of these workshops is to provide a forum to increase
understanding and improve transparency related to City processes. These workshops
will also allow management staff to obtain feedback from participants on City practices
and communication methods.
Update: The Human Resources Department convened meetings with representatives
of the various unions in the fall of 2014 to obtain input and suggestions of subjects to
include in the workshops. HR developed the first workshop covering the Examination
and Hiring Process, titled “The ABC’s of the Examination and Hiring Process”. A pilot
workshop was presented to union leaders and members of the Personnel Board on
February 27, 2015. HR received positive feedback and constructive suggestions, and
incorporated revisions to the final product. The following description has been used to
publicize the workshops:
“The City wants every employee to clearly understand the City’s Examination
and Hiring Process. This workshop is an interactive forum to increase
employees’ understanding of the Merit-based Examination and Hiring
Process. Participants will learn the steps of conducting a recruitment, creating
an examination, screening job applications, and the hiring supervisor’s role in
filling open positions. Methods used to inform employees of recruitments and
vacant positions will be reviewed, as well as tools employees can use to stay
informed of the hiring process. Participants will also learn the criteria used to
evaluate classification and desk audit studies.”
HR provided The ABC’s of Examination and Hiring Process seven times in 2015
and 125 employees attended. In 2016, the course will be offered once a month for
managers and supervisors who participate in departmental interviewing and hiring
Page 2
Status of Action Plan in Response to the Mason Tillman Report
WORKSESSION
February 23, 2016
and once a month for non-supervisors. The ABC’s of the Examination and Hiring
Process is a mandatory training for all supervisors and managers involved in the
hiring/promotional selection process.
The second workshop will cover the EEO Complaint and Investigation Procedure. On
May 4, 2015, the Personnel Board approved an updated EEO Complaint Investigation
Procedure. The new procedure will serve as the foundation for designing that
workshop. HR has retained Liebert Cassidy and Whitmore, a law firm with expertise in
EEO employment law, to assist in developing and teaching the workshop in conjunction
with the City’s EEO and Diversity Officer. A pilot workshop will be presented for union
representatives and members of the Personnel Board in March 2016. HR will refine the
workshop after obtaining feedback from the participants, and then schedule sessions for
City employees beginning in the summer 2016.
3a.
TRAINING - Hiring Managers and Supervisors
Status: Completed
Action Plan Description: While the merit-based hiring system is administered by the
Human Resources Department, applicants are interviewed and selected for
employment opportunities by supervisors and managers within the City’s operating
departments. This creates the potential for variations in administering these duties. In
order to ensure a high degree of consistency, staff developed a training course
designed to 1) increase supervisors’ and managers’ understanding of the merit-based
hiring system, 2) provide specific instruction on personnel rules pertaining to
employment and classification actions, and 3) convey techniques for establishing
selection criteria. This is a mandatory training for all supervisors and managers
involved in the hiring process.
Update: On October 27, 2015, HR launched a course titled Effective Interviewing and
Selection. The ABC’s of the Examination and Hiring course is a prerequisite to the
Effective Interviewing and Selection course. Both are open to managers and
supervisors who participate in hiring. In 2015, two sessions of Effective Interviewing
and Selection were offered. In 2016, this training will be offered once a month.
In response to the City Auditor’s report recommending that the ABC’s of Hiring and
Effective Interviewing and Selection trainings be mandatory, HR has committed to
training all hiring managers and supervisors by July 30, 2017. HR tracks employee
attendance and after July 30, 2017, only those managers and supervisors who have
completed the two courses will be allowed to participate in departmental
hiring/promotion selection panels. To date, 85 managers and supervisors have
completed The ABC’s of the Examination and Hiring training and 74 have completed
Effective Interviewing and Selection training. In October 2016, HR will prepare a
report to each Department Head identifying their staff who have completed the
Page 3
Status of Action Plan in Response to the Mason Tillman Report
WORKSESSION
February 23, 2016
trainings and advising that effective July 2017 only staff that have completed the two
courses may participate in the departmental interviewing and selection process.
3b.
TRAINING – Managing Your Career for City Staff
Status: Completed
Action Plan Description: In an effort to support employees in their career development
goals, the City partnered with the Claremont Employee Assistant Program to produce a
new two-part workshop on career development. This workshop demonstrated how to
leverage experience, education, and training to achieve career goals by providing
participants with instruction on resume writing and job interviewing skills.
Update: This workshop was offered for the first time in March 2014 and again in
October 2014 and March 2015. All 58 participating employees expressed
overwhelmingly positive feedback. However, when HR offered the workshop in July
2015, only three employees registered for the class. This may have been attributed to
the course being offered during the summer vacation season. HR plans to offer the
course twice in 2016 and plans to conduct more outreach to employees before setting
the new course dates. All trainings, as well as job openings, are announced in the
biweekly Berkeley Matters, which is available on line and hard copies posted at
Departments that perform primarily field operations.
4. DIVERSITY TRAINING
Status: Completed
Action Plan Description: Diversity is a core and unwavering value of the City
organization. Staff identified the need to develop a new training course on
Understanding and Valuing Diversity as part of the Citywide Training Program. The
goal is to create a context that allows participants to learn and apply strategies for
increasing diversity awareness and interacting effectively in a diverse workforce.
Update: In June of 2015, the City’s new Training Officer, invited union representatives,
Personnel Board members and representatives from the NAACP to participate in a
Diversity and Inclusion Committee. This committee was responsible for selecting the
vendor to provide diversity and inclusion training, working with the vendor to design a
course that meets the City’s needs, participating in the roll-out of the pilot course, and
providing feedback to the trainers before the course is offered to all employees. On
December 17, 2015, the pilot program “Leveraging Differences for a Competitive
Advantage” was offered to the Committee and several managers. The training was
very well received. The Committee is now working with the Training Officer on
advertising and outreach to employees. Because diversity and inclusion are integral to
the City, this new training is part of the City of Berkeley Core “3 C” curricula.
Page 4
Status of Action Plan in Response to the Mason Tillman Report
WORKSESSION
February 23, 2016
The course is being led by Dr. Santalynda Marrero and Mr. Elmer Dixon from the
consulting firm of Executive Diversity. Learning Objectives of the training module are as
follows:




Understand a Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion
Understand how perception impacts team effectiveness
Understand how differences in communication styles can impact the workplace.
Learn tools for improving effectiveness
HR is excited to launch this training to all employees in 2016. The first sessions of this
training are scheduled for February 24 and 25, 2016. A total of nine training sessions
will be offered in 2016.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
There are no identifiable environmental effects or opportunities associated with the
subject of this report.
POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTION
HR will complete its Action Plan and implement the City Auditor’s report
recommendations by July 30, 2017. HR will continue to work with the Personnel Board
to improve its policies and procedures. Additionally, the Acting HR Director and
Training Officer are part of the City’s 10 member cohort participating in the Government
Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE). GARE is year-long program aimed at providing
local government with policies and practices that can help advance racial equity. It is
anticipated that GARE may provide additional practices that may be implemented.
FISCAL IMPACTS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTION
Unknown.
CONTACT PERSON
Sarah Reynoso, Acting Human Resources Director; 981-6807
Page 5