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Hibbing PUC endorses MMUA recruiter recommendation, debates HR reporting and org chart
Summary
Commissioners agreed to pursue the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association’s top recruiting recommendation for a senior HR director and discussed an organizational chart that would place the HR director at a senior tier with a reporting arrangement that some members want to be independent of the general manager.
The Hibbing Public Utilities Commission on July 15 signaled consensus to proceed with MMUA’s top recommendation for an executive search firm to assist in hiring a senior director of human resources and organizational development, and commissioners discussed where a new HR director would sit in the utility’s organizational chart.
Commissioners agreed that the chair will contact MMUA’s recommended firm and that staff would seek a proposed contract to bring back for commission review, with the goal of approving engagement at a working-session meeting in early August so the search can proceed. Commissioners did not vote on a contract at the July 15 meeting; the chair said a formal contract approval would be scheduled for a noticed meeting.
Discussion focused on the HR director’s level and reporting line. MMUA had advised placing certain HR functions with a reporting line to the commission (a dotted line arrangement) rather than direct day-to-day supervision by the general manager; some commissioners said they wanted clarification from MMUA on the practical implications of that arrangement before finalizing an org chart. Others said the utility should move forward now and that the HR director should be empowered at a senior level — potentially to act as assistant general manager in an absence — to avoid slow decision-making.
Commissioners also discussed staged work on the broader organizational chart: set the top tier (general manager and HR director), then finalize managers and department-level structure in subsequent steps. The commission approved no final org chart at the meeting; staff and the commission agreed to ask MMUA for clarification about the recommended reporting arrangement and to schedule a working-session discussion so the commission can take an action after receiving that information.
The chair said MMUA provided three candidate firms and that Robert Hall Executive Search was the top recommendation; commissioners asked that the chair negotiate and present an engagement letter or contract for approval at the next work session so the search can proceed. No binding recruiter contract was signed at the July 15 meeting.
