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HomeMy WebLinkAbout(0005) IR 10331 - Police Public Safety Communicators PSCsINFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10331 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 15, 2019 Page 1 of 2 i o � SUBJECT: POLICE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATORS (PSCS) r�rA re�a Executive Summary In August of 2018, the Police Department (PD) approached the Human Resources Department (HR) regarding concerns with the staffing of Public Safety Communicators (PSCS) in the Police Communications Division. Specifically, the employee turnover of PSCS was twice that of the turnover over rate for general employees citywide, or 21 percent v. approx. 10 percent. Annual overtime costs were consistently over budget, primarily due to these vacant positions, at times totaling nearly one million a year. Human Resources agreed to work in partnership with Police Department to review salaries, turnover, job descriptions and compare these findings with Police agencies in the DFW area. At the conclusion of this seven -month project, PD and HR made recommendations to the City Manager's Office (CMO). All recommendations were approved by CMO with stipulation that these newly approved initiatives would be funded in the FY 2020 budget. As of the writing of this report, the recommendations have been funded in the FY 2020 Budget and are being implemented. PSC Pay and Comparisons to the Market The Human Resources Department recognizes that internal equity is just as important as external equity. Given the current national and statewide low unemployment rates and the resulting "competitive nature" that employers must assume to be successful in hiring candidates for all professions, HR first conducted a comprehensive salary survey for the entire job series for PSCS, or PSC I, PSC II, and Sr PSC. Results from the survey showed that the pay ranges for all PSC ranks were at or slightly above the average in the market when it came to the pay range minimum, midpoint, and maximum. but, when the actual average salaries (or salaries earned) by the employees in those positions were compared to the job market, the City of Fort Worth was paying less than actual averaged salaries paid in the market. PSC's average actual salaries earned are about three to six percent below the market, primarily driven by the short tenures in the position. Factors contributing to the high turnover, other than salary ranges, had to be addressed in order to be successful. Changing the Culture in the Police Communications Division The overall change began in 2017. One of the main concerns at the time was the physical working conditions and the building that houses the Communications Division. Small improvements projects were completed e.g. carpet cleaned, portions of the interior walls repainted and deteriorating equipment, like chairs, were replaced to improve the overall working environment. The air quality of the building was tested to address an odor concern to ensure the employees that their health was not at risk. Furthermore, additional steps were taken to improve morale and so that Communication employees feel connected and truly part of the Police Department. These efforts included creating a memorial wall to honor lost members of the Division, a video to illustrate how they are truly an integral part of the department and, employees were included in several "community relations" videos. With these efforts, management began to see an improvement in the staff s morale. In addition to the physical work conditions and pay issues, Police Command Staff recognized that the culture of the Communications Division needed to change. In order to assist in lowering stress levels associated with the day-to-day job, a quiet room was established to allow personnel involved in high stress incidents a quiet comfortable place to go to, "get off the floor," and de -stress. Additionally, Vicki Tieszen in Employment Wellness Services was contacted, and a massage therapist was sent to Communications for all three shifts to allow 5-10 minute massages to relieve stress during their breaks (at the employees' cost). Another positive change was to hold employee forums quarterly to provide an outlet for personnel to raise concerns directly with Command Staff. Lastly, there were several managerial retirements in the last six months that allowed the promotions of new managers and leaders within the division. This facilitated a culture change within the division with fresh ideas, different perspectives and new direction. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10331 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council October 15, 2019 Page 2 of 2 i o � SUBJECT: POLICE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATORS (PSCS) r�rA re�a Recommendations Approved for the Police Communications Division Based on the survey related to actual salaries earned, two recommendations were approved; 1. a one-time 3% across the board (ATB) increase to all PSC employees, 2. high performing employees would also be eligible for an additional 1 or 2 percent salary increase depending on 2018 performance appraisals. Both of these actions will provide employees more movement into the salary range and make the average actual salaries more competitive to the market so that PSCS will have less incentive to look for work elsewhere based on pay alone. Employee Talent Development Program Police Communications management also recognized that staff did not have a clear career advancement path. Human Resources and the Police Department worked on a talent development plan (or "grow your own") using an auto -reclassification plan (ARP). HR offers ARP plans to City Departments when it comes to jobs within a job family (in this case the PSC I, PSC II, Sr PSC). Departments will work with employees at their own pace to train and develop them into successively higher ranked and more complex jobs within a job family. Once the employee meets the minimum qualifications and experience and has developed their skill sets to match the next higher ranked job description, Department Directors can "automatically" promote them and change the employee's job into a higher ranked job provided that the necessary funds are available. Assignment Pay According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE), all PSCS must now also be certified and pass a rigorous background check, training and examination requirements prior to receiving their license. Although there have always been continuing education requirements for tele-communicators (20 hours every two years), many of our PSC's had only qualified for or obtained the lowest level of certification. With the plan that was recently approved for FY2020, additional "ranks" of PSC's were added to encourage further training, mandate that higher certification levels be obtained and expand an employee's overall knowledge of the division so they could function as a "jack of all tradesThere were additional incentives added to encourage them to become further educated to reach the Advance ($60 per month) and Master level certificates ($120 per month). Hiring Incentive In order to improve competitiveness in the job market, the Police Department will now offer a $600 hiring incentive to licensed PSC Its upon successfully being hired. At the end of a successful six months, employees will receive another $200, and an additional $200 at the end of one year. If a candidate does not complete one year of employment, they are required to reimburse the City any monies paid to them under this hiring incentive program. The Police and Human Resources Departments will work together to closely monitor this program to ensure that it is meeting its intended objectives. Those objectives include: • increase agility of all employees to work in all areas of the division (remove specialization over time), • increase and improve training so that more of the employees strive to reach higher rankings of PSC's, • reduce employee turnover, and • improve employee morale. It is our expectation, that this will lead to a reduction in both turnover and overtime and consequently employees that are more satisfied and effective. If you have any questions or concerns related to this effort, please contact Brian Dickerson, Human Resources Director or Julie Swearingin, Assistant Police Chief. David Cooke City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS