HR: hiring timelines improving, health‑plan changes limit immediate increases; county self‑insures benefits

Bridget Paris, Larimer County HR director, presented four HR measures at the Sept. 22 work session: average days from job posting to executed offer, health‑insurance cost trends, employee survey results and overtime as a share of total earnings.

Paris said average days to hire rose in 2023 but came down in 2024; HR is expanding hiring‑manager training and targeted recruiting outreach to shorten timelines and reach candidates not actively searching. On health insurance Paris said the county is a self‑insured employer; a projected market increase of about 14% would have been significant for a roughly $40 million plan, but the county and HR made plan design adjustments to limit the departmental and employee impact to about a 3% increase in 2026. Paris noted the administration runs the plan and monitors claims closely to manage costs.

Accounting manager Nick Cole reported a 2% increase in the employee survey measure “Larimer County is a great place to work,” and a slight overtime uptick linked to wildfire and incident responses in the reporting period. Paris emphasized that employee retention and satisfaction are driven largely by supervisors and managers and highlighted HR investments in manager training.

Why it matters: hiring timelines affect service delivery; health‑plan cost shifts affect departmental budgets and employee premiums; survey results and overtime patterns inform retention and staffing strategy.

No formal action was taken. Paris and staff left materials for commissioners to review and offered to follow up on benefit redesign questions.