Toya Martin was confirmed Sept. 30 as Jackson’s director of human resources after presenting a multi‑year list of reforms the department has undertaken and goals for retention, onboarding and manager training.

Martin told council she and her team have revised more than 30 policies, modernized the city’s performance appraisal, launched a structured onboarding program and introduced manager and leadership training. She said the HR office will examine exit interviews to identify trends — for example, conflicts with managers and compensation gaps — and provide aggregated, periodic reports to the council.

Council members pressed Martin on implementation: they asked how exit‑interview findings would be translated into actionable change and how HR will ensure supervisors follow progressive discipline and document personnel actions. Martin said HR will continue “continuous training” for managers, that directors perform evaluations for middle management, and that HR will provide periodic metrics and summaries to the council.

The council confirmed Martin with a 5–2 vote after some members said they remain concerned about personnel practices and discipline processes but acknowledged steps the administration has taken to update HR systems and implement manager training.

Ending

Martin promised to share periodic, aggregated exit‑interview data and HR metrics with council members and to continue manager training and onboarding reforms.