2H22
STRATEGIC STAFFING SPECIALIST

This is specialized human resources planning work, with responsibility for coordinating the development of strategic staffing plans for City departments which incorporate recruitment, selection, job design, and compensation activities. Strategic Staffing Specialists develop metrics to track relevant employment data for critical positions and determine the impact of technology changes and job redesign on the City's ability to meet future staffing needs. Employees in this class initiate workforce planning processes with client departments and prepare and update annual workforce plans which are reflective of departments' service, project and operational priorities and which integrate training and diversity opportunities. Work includes collaborating with hiring services personnel to develop and implement staffing plans which ensure the alignment of target dates with departmental hiring needs, and with budget and training personnel to facilitate availability of funding and employee development opportunities necessary to meet priority objectives. Ensuring frequent communication with client departments, hiring teams, budget analysts and shared services within the Personnel Department to effectuate hiring goals is a significant aspect of the work. Work is performed under the direction of a Hiring Services Portfolio Manager.

ALLOCATING FACTORS: (The following conditions must be met for a position to be allocated to this class.)

• Positions in this class must be responsible for the development of strategic staffing plans and hiring consultation services for an assigned portfolio of departments.
• Positions in this class must be located in the Personnel Department.

• Analyzes and tracks employment data for critical positions in departmental portfolio, including reviewing attrition turnover rates related to retirement, separations, dismissals, etc.; reviews organization programs that are growing or diminishing in importance and reviews projected impact on staffing; reviews positions in portfolio which may be affected by technology changes, restructuring, promotions and transfers, staff productivity measurements and skill level of current staff; determines and monitors staffing metrics utilized to obtain relevant data for staffing; conducts staffing metrics analysis, such as cost-per-hire, position gap analysis, number of new hires, number of vacancies, sources of hire and attrition; evaluates future staffing needs for each department in portfolio; researches and tracks internal and external factors that impact critical positions in portfolio, including, but not limited to economic trends, technology and process improvements, competition for positions, demographics, geographic/social trends, government and legal trends, information sources on trends, workforce changes and availability, and changes in environmental culture.
• Identifies current and future required skill sets; works with clients and hiring teams to identify skill gaps resulting from downsizing and devises strategies to reduce gaps; assists clients in developing training action plans to address skill gaps; works jointly with Personnel Department colleagues to identify needed recruitment and assessment activities; works with client departments and hiring team members to incorporate strategies for increasing diversity opportunities, such as mentor groups and targeted recruiting; develops staffing plans in concert with workforce plan designees and departmental managers; reviews staffing needs to determine if job design activities are required; works with hiring teams to ensure that job design activities are aligned with recruitment and assessment activities.
• Establishes and maintains contact with a diverse group of officials and administrators, union officials, employees, and personnelists; meets with client departments regularly to determine staffing needs; provides guidance on organizational development issues; identifies and receives requests for plan modification; identifies conflicts in priorities that require decision-making by senior managers within or outside the Personnel Department; identifies service delivery problems and recommends changes in service delivery approaches and revisions to the workforce plan as appropriate; negotiates changes to workforce plan priorities; trains departmental representatives in workforce planning, resource allocation and needs assessment as required; identifies and informs departmental representatives about best practices in human resources planning.
• Learns and understands client departments' organizational missions; assists client departments to identify long and short-term staffing priorities; acts as consultant in departmental reorganizational efforts; suggests alternatives to staffing requests; meets with hiring teams to discuss new developments in departments' organizational structures; coordinates classification activities among teams when classification changes are precipitated by departmental reorganization efforts; alerts hiring teams when new departmental initiatives are underway which may influence work outcomes; recognizes broader implications of classification issues affecting multiple hiring teams and/or departments; ensures consistency among specification revisions within class series across hiring teams; advises hiring team personnel in classification and organizational analysis matters.
• Receives requests from departmental authorities to fill existing positions; ensures that requests are in workforce request system; reviews requests; approves or disapproves requests not requiring hiring team review; routes requests to appropriate hiring teams; follows up with hiring team as needed; receives and reviews classification decisions and notifies department; meets with hiring team managers to resolve disagreements regarding classification decisions; reviews supplemental information; acts as primary liaison with union representatives; meets with union representatives to discuss pending classification and pay issues; meets with departmental human resources representatives or union representatives to discuss classification decisions; works with union and departmental representatives to resolve grievances of classification decisions; assembles classification committee to review classification appeals; prepares reports of classification committee recommendations; ensures timely review and resolution of grievance issues as necessary.
• Monitors the achievement of workforce plan commitments; measures the impact of hiring services activities on departmental goals and missions; evaluates performance measures to ensure that information effectively tracks goal attainment; participates in the development of new benchmarks to improve service; ensures that balanced measurement approaches are in force; prepares reports on performance measure results; solicits client feedback; responds to feedback and shares pertinent information with hiring teams and other colleagues in the Central Personnel agency; tracks client complaints and works with teams to develop approaches to remediate dissatisfaction; works with EEO to facilitate affirmative hiring goals; monitors turnover; alerts hiring teams when new eligible lists are needed; prepares statistical and narrative reports documenting activities.
• Fosters a sense of teamwork and works effectively across operating departments and the Central Personnel agency to achieve goals; anticipates problems and develops contingency plans; organizes and participates in ad hoc committees to review hiring practices; promotes ideas and suggestions for process improvements; implements strategic initiatives designed to enhance service delivery or workforce planning efforts; acts as member of standing committees, such as Classification Committee and Pay Evaluation Committees, as needed; attends management meetings; participates in joint human resources-budget planning meetings; maintains regular and ongoing contact with client departments and hiring teams.
• Responds to requests for information regarding examination status, eligibility of applicants, and testing methodologies; works with hiring teams and client departments to determine most effective method of addressing position vacancies; reviews requests for equivalent list determinations with hiring team managers and Deputy Personnel Director; reviews and approves requests for target date renegotiation; updates examination projects with new or revised dates; explains selection plan decisions to affected departments; resolves problematical certification or appointment paper issues with client departments and shared services.
• Prepares Civil Service Commission hearing agendas; gathers preliminary classification and pay information for presentation at pre-agenda meetings; revises preliminary agendas as needed; assembles and forwards preliminary agenda and draft revised specifications to unions; prepares final agenda for distribution to departments and union officials; solicits agenda ponies and prepares report for Commission; responds to requests for clarification of agenda items or removal of items; presents agenda at public meetings.
• Performs related work as required.

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• current trends and developments in strategic staffing
• the organization structure of City government
• Civil Service Regulations pertaining to classification, selection and certification
• provisions of Home Rule Charter pertinent to the hiring function
• the principles, practices and techniques applied in determining the classification and allocation of position, including the content, terminology, qualification, and audit and specification factors of a variety of occupations
• principles and practices used in the design and construction of selection instruments with particular emphasis on the interpretation of training and experience requirements
• principles of organization design
• personnel procedures used in placement, training, grievances, turnover reduction, promotion, discipline, demotion and dismissal
• report writing principles and techniques

SKILL IN:

• identifying critical issues which will impact the development of staffing plans
• translating broad hiring goals into clear objectives
• providing ongoing feedback to clients regarding status of hiring activities
• managing and prioritizing assignments
• working with others toward mutually acceptable solutions to problems

ABILITY TO:

• work with clients to assess hiring needs and to develop strategies to meet those needs
• anticipate and deal effectively with change
• apply statistical methods and techniques for the collection, compilation and analysis of data
• work in partnership with hiring teams and client departments to achieve goals
• exercise sound judgment in generating and evaluating alternatives
• interpret and explain department policy procedures and Civil service Regulations
• deal calmly and effectively in stressful situations
• establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, both within and outside the Personnel Department

EDUCATION

• Completion of a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university in human resources, industrial psychology, psychology, business administration or a related field.
AND


GENERAL EXPERIENCE

• Two years of experience in public personnel work, one year of which shall have been above the trainee level.
AND


SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE

• Two years of full-performance level experience in the City’s Central Personnel agency which has included performing classification audits, revising job specifications, and developing and administering examinations, or in a departmental personnel program, which has included preparing departmental workforce plans and coordinating classification and examination requests.

OR

Any equivalent combination of acceptable education and experience, which includes possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university as an educational minimum and the Specific Experience mentioned above.

PHYSICAL AND MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required of a position in this class.