By Pepper Parr
July 6th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
Laura Boyd, Executive Director of Human Resources, gave a presentation to staff on the problems the city is facing attracting the staff needed and keeping the staff they have.
She did not give them a pretty picture.
It was one of those Receive and File reports that was pushed down the line until September when some hard decisions have to be made on the staffing requirements the city is facing and a budget that could balloon to much more than the 5.47% projection.
The presentation was done in two parts – the discussion and debate and then into a CLOSED session where some of the hard and probably very expensive decisions will be outlined. We never know what is said in CLOSED.
There are 48 positions that have to be filled; there are a number of very senior positions that are expected to take retirement in the not too distant future. At the close of the meeting it was announced that 31 year city veteran Vito Tolone will be retiring on August 27th.
Almost every department needs additional staff and the brand, the way the City of Burlington is being described, perceived and seen by the public – on social media particularly, is taking a bit of a beating.
Boyd was telling council what the Human Resources Management Risks are and how she proposes they be managed. She explained that the city does not have control of its brand and that from a staffing perspective they were headed for a perfect storm.
The ability to attract great people is going to require “new ideas and approaches”.
Another problem is the ability to retain great employees. Part of the solution is to “engage employees actively; develop them professionally and treat them fairly”.
The presentation was heavy on graphs that put a lot of facts before Council.
Vacancies by department at mid June 2021
Where the retirements are going to take place.
The Human Resources compliment now – several contract positions.
The HR department three years from now.
Red line: Average Voluntary Turnover since 2010 = 5.4% Blue is the total turnover, orange is voluntary turnover.
Retention: Voluntary Turnover- Quits plus Retirements by Salary Grade. What is the data telling us? Voluntary turnover is trending beyond historical average. Grades 10 and 11 have a higher rate of quits– losing future leaders. Quits are double retirements in nonunion workforce. Quits and retirements balanced in unionized workforce. First four columns are union, others are pay grades.
The demand for people with very specific skills is being faced by every municipality in the province. The salaries that are being asked for would create a situation, explained Boyd, where you would have a staff member earning more than their supervisor. She added that talented people are accepting better offers elsewhere – when they leave we are losing our future leaders.
Boyd said she needed to get a handle on the compensation issue and beef up the HR staffing and improve the IT tools they have. “We are using five different applications and they don’t all work together.
However, it isn’t just having the tools that are needed – there is a cultural shift taking place; a work life balance is now important to the people being hired. The city is realizing that the “focus should be on people” and that all employers have reached a turning point.
The pandemic had an impact on several levels. People found they were able to have more time with their families and at the same time realized that working collaboratively isn’t all that effective when it is done virtually.
Councillor Sharman was surprised to learn that the HR department no longer performs formal annual performance reviews. Boyd said that they found the review process didn’t add much value to HR administration. Sharman clearly didn’t agree with that argument.
The work being done by many of the departments is much more complex. The Planning department is desperate for staff – they need people who have experience with high rise developments. Burlington doesn’t have much experience with that type of concentrated development – and there are several of them that will see the light of day in the next couple of years.
LPAT hearings have become an issue – staff with significant experience are needed to take part in a hearing to make the city’s case.
The strongest thing Burlington has going for it is that it is a nice place to live. The flip side is that it is an expensive place to live.
One of the surprising things heard was that people like working in Burlington because they get to interact with members of city council, which apparently isn’t the practice in most municipalities.
Laura Boyd – Executive Director Human Resources
All the data Boyd presented will be part of the hard look that will be taken in September when detailed reviews of everything the departments deliver in terms of services to the public gets drilled into. Staffing to deliver those services will be a large part of those sessions.
Mayor Meed Ward asked Boyd how many people on the payroll were contract workers – Boyd said she felt a little squeamish – she didn’t have those numbers.
Right now at times it feels like we are playing “wack a mole” going from crisis to crisis to crises with the hiring process. Hiring people virtually hasn’t made the jobs any easier.
Related news stories.
Boyd lays it all out on the table: there is trouble in paradise
Would someone please tell me what I’m reading is a joke. Are those graphs correct? This is troubling to say the least. Maybe the Mayor should pay more attention to the dysfunction at City Hall instead of looking after Get Involved Burlington surveys to garner rainbow crosswalks, banners, benches, pride flags, fire truck advertisements and possibly a parade (more police presence), all of which comes at a high cost out of “the budget”. Maybe that money could go towards salaries for full-time staff, so there is some incentive to work at the City. Any large organization should be paying the City to advertise, not the other way around.
I truly cannot believe what is going on right now and am so very disappointed.
“Finally, I guess being the best mid-sized city in Canada and the second-best Ontario city in which to live, according to an annual list by Money Sense Magazine, does not equate to hiring and retaining staff.”
The above is such a joke. What criteria is used to decide that Burlington is the best mid-sized city in Canada? No one I know who lives in Burlington has been asked for their input.
The City has run with this designation and uses it on everything that is sent out. Personally, I wonder who they are trying to convince.
I left HR in 1995 and a lot has changed since then, starting with what our education system is producing. It may well come down to COB is a crummy place to work.
I was not inspired by what the HR director had to say. For example, “Boyd said she needed to get a handle on the compensation issue and beef up the HR staffing and improve the IT tools they have”. And “Councillor Sharman was surprised to learn that the HR department no longer performs formal annual performance reviews. Boyd said that they found the review process didn’t add much value to HR administration. Sharman clearly didn’t agree with that argument.”
We need to know why staff are leaving in droves to go to Oakville or Hamilton or Timbuktu? Are they really leaving for money, lack of advancement, culture, poor or ineffective leadership, cost of housing, or just time to retire etc., etc.? COB may need to seek external and independent answers to its staffing issues. As a former HR consultant, doing justice to such an article would require an in-depth study, and access to hard data, versus opinions and comments from COB staff and/or councillors.
Finally, I guess being the best mid-sized city in Canada and the second-best Ontario city in which to live, according to an annual list by Money Sense Magazine, does not equate to hiring and retaining staff.
High performing personnel are attracted, or repelled, based on the value provided by their direct manager.
Reading this article is once again Deja Vu. We have heard this same story over and over again. The problem of hiring and keeping staff continues to be a recurrent theme. If you treat your staff fairly, pay them according to their qualifications, provide a pleasant work environment not only would they stay but would encourage others to come work in Burlington.
Interesting that Ms Boyd had no idea how many of Burlington employees work on a contract basis. It is her job to know this. Not only should she have anticipated the question but she should have been prepared to answer it.
I know for a fact that many city clerks work on contract that in some cases are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Why? This gives the city the ability to not pay benefits, to control hours worked and perhaps cut-back on staff. WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS?
How many times have we discussed “the toxic culture” that exists at City Hall. Not only in the way that they treat their staff but also residents and volunteers? An organization that I have been involved in dealt with this first hand. Bullying is the best way to describe the situation we found ourselves in. Many other volunteers in other organizations have dealt with this as well.
How many surveys, open houses, and committees have been formed to “communicate better” with residents?. Money spent and nothing changes. Issues with engaging the public are commonplace. The problem with the City’s “Brand” on social media is that it is one of the only ways that some residents feel they can engage with the city. Certainly the questions the City asks in their survey’s are skewed to get the answers they want and provide no avenue for change.
Someone I know who walks in Spencer Smith Park, who has mobility issues, was almost knocked down by a cyclist using the promenade as well. He noticed that the signs that had been there last year that indicated that cyclists should be walking their bikes along the promenade were missing. He called City Hall and was told that he would have to email the city to get the answer. He did, and finally “the decision to remove the signs had been made and they were not going back up”. No explanation etc. My question WHY? Will it take someone to get hurt before the signs to protect those more vulnerable go back up?
Burlington has a very large senior population. How many times have we heard “Burlington loves our seniors” yet only 1 cooling station during this heat wave is available. How are seniors or others in need to know it even exists? Many don’t have access to a computer, let alone internet. How are those seniors who might find out about it access transportation to get to this 1 cooling station. There seems to be no “set policies” in place.
To quote Ms Boyd “Right now at times it feels like we are playing “wack a mole” going from crisis to crisis to crises with the hiring process. Hiring people virtually hasn’t made the jobs any easier.” UNFORTUNATELY THIS DOES NOT ONLY APPLY TO THE HIRING PROCESS and “wack a mole” describes it perfectly.
The council should not be surprised. After all if they were listening to the residents in their wards they would have heard that it is not only the employee retention policy that is currently a problem.
THE” BRAND” is tarnished and not only with regard to hiring staff. Change starts at the top.
There are several absolutely shocking things raised in this article. The most serious that actually beggars belief is that COB no longer conducts annual performance reviews. I can imagine that Councillor Sharman found this to be completely unacceptable if not totally negligent. The goal setting and performance review process is the foundation of any ‘Talent Management’ program. In its absence employees have no well defined operational objectives, limited ability to link their work to the broader framework of City strategic and operational plans and no formal idea of how well they are doing their jobs and what corrections may be needed. It is also the time to reward work well done – both verbally and through performance incentives. The performance review process is absolutely fundamental to responsible human resource management. It is also the means through which Council priorities can be communicated and enforced down through the organization. No wonder Council frequently complains that “staff do their own thing”.
Finally, the fact that the Executive Director of Human Resources can not precisely identify the number of contract workers on the City payroll speaks volumes about the quality of the management information available. The City is flying blind and is hoping for a miracle. Good luck with that. No wonder good employees leave and no one wants to replace them.
Thank you for stating this so well Blair. I think the City should be consulting with people like you on such matters if they don’t know what they’re doing. Totally agree and I’m floored that they don’t do performance evaluations. This seems dysfunctional and I can’t believe a City Manager would think it’s appropriate at all.