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In 1999, Sedgwick County, Kansas, Manager Bill Buchanan challenged his human resources division. He challenged our processes (they were restrictive and inflexible). He challenged our boundaries (they served our bureaucracy rather than our customers). We simply were not meeting the expectations of our customers and not keeping up with the opportunities given by evolving technologies.
WHAT WAS WRONG?
We were bureaucratic, paper-intensive, and slow. In a time when speed and agility were valued, our process actually seemed designed to slow things down. Due to posting requirements and processes, it could take nearly two weeks from the time a position-vacancy requisition was signed until the opportunity was publicized.
Interested applicants were required to complete a Sedgwick County application form and to submit separate copies for each job of interest. This requirement caused additional delay because of the mailing or faxing of application forms and the fact that applicants had to come on-site to complete a form.
The human resources (HR) division would screen and process the paper forms and then submit paper rosters and photocopied application forms to selection teams. This process could take another two weeks. All in all, hiring supervisors could expect at least four weeks to pass before they could even begin to interview applicants.
There also was no sharing of processes or information among peer agencies. An individual applying for a firefighter position with Sedgwick County, for example, would have to submit different applications for similar firefighter positions in cities within the county or in neighboring counties. Ironically, the major difference among the various application forms was just the logo at the top of the page. This ego-driven process resulted in barrier building rather than in good-quality customer service.
THE SOLUTION
Sedgwick County's HR staff responded to the county manager's challenges by building partnerships with other local governments to develop and share solutions. The goal was to explore opportunities to share technology, intelligence, and processes.
Late in 1999, efforts began with "no-agenda" lunches with area HR professionals. These lunches were followed by formal presentations and brainstorming sessions. Finally, a project team evolved that included the author; Ron Menousek (then HR coordinator and Webmaster for Derby, Kansas); Rhea Evans (Sedgwick County HR); and Greg Faber, Jeff Piper, and John Peterson of the Sedgwick...