City of Auburn | Human Resources

Human Resources

Steven A. Reeves
Director
Employees: 7 www.auburnalabama.org/hr webhr@auburnalabama.org

Responsibilities

The Human Resources Department is responsible for the successful administration of various employment-related system functions and programs including:

employee recruitment and selection
employee development
compensation and benefits management
employee relations
risk management

The Human Resources Department's activities promote the efficient and effective delivery of quality services to citizens and enhance safety within the community.

Statistics
FY 2010

The City received 5,692 applications, an average of 78 applications per vacancy in 2010 (94 applications per external vacancy). The vast majority of applicants report that they learned of a vacancy through the Internet.
Sixty-four percent of the City’s Regular employees live in Auburn, 18 percent live in Opelika, and 18 percent live in other local communities.
Thirty-three percent of the Regular employees have 10 or more years of service, and 19 percent have 15 or more years of service.
The turnover rate declined in 2010 to 5.76 percent from 6.22 percent in 2009. In the late 90s and early 00s, the turnover rate fluctuated around 10-12 percent.
Eighty-five employees are eligible to retire now or in the next five years.
The City averages about one employee grievance per year, a testament to effective supervisory practices and fair treatment of employees.

Background

The Human Resources Department is a small department of seven fulltime employees whose primary duty is to help the organization succeed in providing high quality, cost effective services to the citizens of Auburn. Within that role are a few very important functions:

To maintain an environment that treats employees with respect and courtesy while promoting professionalism and accountability;
To make the City of Auburn a very desirable place to work for people who are dedicated to serving this community; and
To protect the City and its employees from losses due to injuries, accidents, and liability claims.

Accomplishments

The department has made very good progress in meeting its 2011 goals. The Internet job application video is nearing completion. The fire suppression system has been installed in a records room. The Issues in Local Government Enrichment Series, the Crew Leader Development course, and the Customer Service Certification program have been delivered. Defensive driving training was provided to 317 employees, and 22 other safety and risk management programs have been presented. Payroll training was provided to employees engaged in payroll processing, and a seminar on the wage and hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act was presented to supervisory personnel. Five employee events have been held including the Citizen Survey Celebration, an event designed to showcase some of the results of the Citizen Survey and to acknowledge the good work City employees do in service to this community.

An analysis of a 2007 survey of 23 Alabama local governments revealed that the City of Auburn had the lowest ratio of human resources personnel (not including payroll and risk management staff) per 100 employees. Similarly, a recent nationwide survey by the IPMA-HR indicated that for the size of our workforce the City of Auburn has one of the lowest ratios at 1 to 210 employees (full-time equivalency basis). The modal response was 1 to 76-100 employees. Even if all seven HR employees were included, the ratio would fall into the survey modal response.

Responsibilities

Statistics FY 2010

Background

Accomplishments

Statistics
FY 2010