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Client Comment The Court's original need was an assessment of recruitment practices and development of classification descriptions to assist with staff retention. Because of Kate Harrison’s excellent work, we requested additional assistance to develop labor relations rules, revise our personnel policies and procedures and update several job descriptions. Kate Harrison Consulting brought comprehensive knowledge and technical expertise in management principles and practices, knowledge of legal issues and demonstrated analytical skills. The Court could not have completed these projects without her assistance and would not hesitate to utilize her firm again. Tamara Beard, Court Executive Officer Fresno Superior Court

The Challenges: To develop strategies to improve the retention and recruitment of support staff and labor relations rules, personnel policies and procedures and classifications that reflect state requirements and local labor conditions.

Our Approach

Staff recruitment and retention can be strengthened by setting competitive salaries that reward differences in work; creating classification descriptions that describe the knowledge, skills and abilities of successful employees; developing exams that accurately test those attributes; improving outreach to potential candidates; providing incentives for training; and developing labor relations rules that reflect the needs of the employer, are evenly applied and are understood by employees.  We conducted focus groups of employees and managers, compared the salary levels of and differentials between classifications in these courts and comparable employers, determined whether the courts’ classifications reflected and the exams tested the essential qualities of employees; and analyzed labor relations’ and personnel rules for conformance with state requirements and local practice.

The Results

• Changes in compensation, job classifications, the examination process, and outreach that improved recruitment and retention
• A training academy and incentives for pursuing on-the-job training
• Modern and equitable labor relations and personnel policies and procedures

Consultants: Kate Harrison, Cyndi Spindell Berck, Hampton Smith, Gail Feldman

For more information about this project, please click here to request the Executive Summary.

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