Merit - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Merit

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Merit & Workforce Planning Donna Terrazas PTC/SC May 2005 What is Merit? Equal opportunity in selection and promotion Open competitive process Objective, job ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Merit


1
Merit Workforce Planning
  • Donna Terrazas
  • PTC/SC May 2005

2
What is Merit?
  • Equal opportunity in selection and promotion
  • Open competitive process
  • Objective, job-related decisions based on
    assessment of qualifications
  • Absence of favoritism

3
What is Workforce Planning?
  • Analysis of future organizational needs and
    development of action plans to address needs
  • Options
  • Retain current workforce
  • Eliminate the work
  • Do the work differently
  • Fill through external recruiting
  • Fill by developing employees

4
The Inherent Conflict
  • Workforce Planning often viewed as anointing the
    heir or favoritism
  • Only special folks get special assignments
  • No definition of special exists
  • No formal competition for special exists
  • The heir apparent is typically unchallenged

5
Tools to Manage Pre-Selection
  • Objective needs analysis
  • Assessment of alternatives
  • Focus on competencies
  • Systematic approach
  • Communication

6
Workforce Planning at EBMUD
  • Identified REAL staffing needs and options early
  • Built a plan to address greatest needs first
  • Partnered with top management
  • Accepted that multiple solutions would be needed
  • Learned that workforce initiatives take TIME!

7
We Started Early
  • 2000 Presentations to management and the board
  • 2001 Initial planning for the LEAD Academy
    began
  • 2003 First LEAD Academy held
  • 2003 Initial planning for Pathways began
  • 2004 Early Design for Management
  • 2005 First Pathways begins

8
EBMUD Staffing Needs
  • Older workforce than most other utilities
  • History of internal promotions in many operations
    and maintenance areas
  • New hires often older than the average
  • Jobs typically highly technical
  • Retirement plan enhanced in 2003

9
EBMUD Resources
  • Many well established training programs in place
  • Selection and promotion based on merit through an
    open competitive process
  • Top management aware of aging workforce issues
    and willing to support workforce planning efforts

10
Our Strategy
  • Focus on employment categories rather than
    specific positions
  • Forecast/predict potential retirements by
    category based on eligibility over 5 years
  • Factor in regular turnover and domino effects
  • Identify categories where the greatest impacts
    are likely to occur soonest

11
EBMUD Demographics in 2003
  • 2000 employees average age 47
  • Workforce 68 boomers (nationally 44)
  • 70 managers/supervisors in Lab and ISD retiring
    within 2 years
  • 65 of first line field supervisors retirement
    eligible within 5 years
  • 60 of superintendent level retirement eligible
    within 5 years

12
Issues
  • Too little time to develop staff for lab and ISD
    leadership
  • Some District functions could be out-sourced or
    restructured but not field operations
  • Retention highly variable by occupation
  • OM department willing to partner with HR on
    substantial WFP development programs

13
The First Target - Supervisors
  • Matriculating from entry level through journey in
    the field takes about 5 years
  • 98 of all first line supervisors have been
    promoted from within
  • Combining all foremen job classes, there are over
    50 target positions and 250 in the feeder pool
  • Development needs cross department lines

14
Issues Conflicts
  • Many lower level employees lack fundamental
    skills
  • Math writing
  • Leadership
  • Cash incentive to promote is small
  • Union resistance and distrust
  • Department seeking to create a higher performance
    standard

15
Program Elements
  • Creating the Success profile
  • Defining what we will train and what we wont
  • Establishing qualifications to participate
  • Determining how training will be delivered
  • Marketing
  • Open competitive process
  • No guarantees of promotion

16
Second Target Superintendents
  • Middle level supervision
  • Higher level skills and 2 years college needed
  • Increased future job expectations
  • Technology
  • Environmental/municipal regulations
  • Tighter fiscal environment
  • Many foremen/supervisors in logical feeder pool
    also retiring

17
Issues
  • Variety of technical operational areas
  • Maintenance
  • Water and wastewater operations
  • Skilled trades
  • 75 positions historically filled by promotion
  • Eclectic feeder pool
  • Highly variable levels of readiness

18
Program Elements
  • Success profile that crosses technical
    disciplines
  • Cross departmental involvement
  • Competitive process to participate
  • Application
  • Pre-test
  • Panel interview
  • File review
  • Individualized training

19
Assessing for Training Needs
  • Math, English, Reading Comprehension
  • Critical analysis writing project
  • Cognitive skills tests
  • Leadership survey
  • 360 evaluation
  • In-basket situational judgment test
  • B-Pad
  • Readiness interview

20
Why It Works
  • Training sold as a privilege not a requirement
  • Standards to both compete and participate in
    these special training programs are clearly
    stated
  • There are REAL promotional opportunities waiting
  • All impacted managers are involved

21
To Date
  • All LEAD and Pathways participants selected
    through a competitive process
  • 2 LEAD Academies completed a third is planned
  • Pathways began in January 2005 and participants
    are completing their ICDPs
  • Holding vacancies for both Lead and Pathways
    target positions

22
On the Horizon
  • Design implementation of OJT components for
    LEAD graduates
  • Still learning the best ways to use assessment
    information for development
  • Management Development program design completed
    with kickoff in January 2006

23
What weve learned
  • WFP is a major undertaking!
  • High staff demands
  • Substantial time investment
  • Comprehensive workforce analysis is the essential
    first step
  • Program design and development must involve cross
    functional top managers
  • Everything takes longer than you think it will

24
And
  • When you raise expectations you must be able to
    deliver
  • Hold trainees accountable for their own learning
    and promotion
  • Attendance, homework, ICDP contracts, etc.
  • Management buy-in and support is critical
  • Wont stop appointment of heir apparents
  • People will surprise you!

25
WFP In Summary
  • Identify current future staffing needs
  • Develop success profiles
  • Assess qualifications of current staff
  • Identify and analyze skills gaps
  • Develop strategies to address the gaps
  • Create competition for opportunities to develop

26
And
  • Start early!
  • Repeat the WFP message in many forums
  • Roll up trend data to illustrate the issues
  • Change the focus from pre-selecting a person to
    developing a strong pool
  • Involve others in developing solutions
  • Communicate consistently

27
Thanks!
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