Civil Service staff and HR report $25,000 in council funding for recruiting, digitization and testing; board hears rule-change request for firefighter recruits

The Civil Service Merit Board heard staff reports March 12 covering recruiting, testing and modernization work, and received updates from the human resources deputy director on organizational changes and expanded employee benefits.

Civil service staff said a recent city council budget amendment included $25,000 for civil service recruiting and records digitization. "We did get $25,000 for civil service to use towards some of our recruiting efforts," the staff member said, adding the funds will be used for sponsored postings on job sites and to digitize archived board minutes and supporting documents. Staff said funds will also be used to expand eSkill online testing licenses.

Budget and operations: civil service staff reviewed a multi-page budget packet showing the personnel category at roughly 67% spent year-to-date and an office services category at about 63% spent. Office-supplies funds included approximately $7,400 total with about $2,700 still available, the staff report said. Staff characterized spending as on-track for the time of year.

Testing and recruiting: staff shared posting and testing statistics since October, noting expanded use of the online testing platform (eSkill) produced a higher response rate on some recruitments. The staff report said the city used large on-site recruiting events such as a Knoxville Fire Department career expo in February, where staff ran 16 laptops and the event drew roughly 200 attendees with about half filling out job applications.

Modernization projects: staff described ongoing work on an Oracle "fusion" migration with a vendor referred to as High Street, intended to improve application intake and reporting. The rules review and update project is underway; staff said outside counsel and purchasing will be engaged for an RFP to secure outside legal representation for board matters.

Successor posting and selection committee: staff said the posting for the executive secretary/succession position closed with 81 applications. A selection committee will soon finalize interview processes with an aim to begin interviews in late April or May.

HR updates: Tom, deputy director of human resources, outlined an internal reorganization into three teams (HR operations, HR consulting/business partners, and HR data analytics) and introduced Katrina Neuenschwander as the new HR data analytics lead. Tom also announced two administrative-rule updates effective Jan. 1: an increase in the tuition reimbursement cap from $3,000 to $5,250 per eligible employee per fiscal year and expanded eligibility for courses; and changes to paid parental leave and bereavement leave for immediate family members.

Training and hiring events: HR reported a police academy graduation that produced 12 new officers and a fire academy graduation that produced 14 new firefighters since the last meeting. Staff reminded the board of a citywide job fair on the 26th and said civil service would provide on-site application capability.

Rule amendment request for firefighter recruits: the board also discussed a request from the Knoxville Fire Department to schedule a hearing to amend Rule 13(o)(3) that, as written in the current application process, excludes applicants who have not yet graduated high school. Assistant Chief Scott Calloway said academies often start in the fall and testing currently falls before many seniors' graduations, forcing recruits to wait a year before starting the process. Calloway asked that the board consider processing applicants who are pending graduation into a candidate pool with offers conditioned on obtaining a diploma. Staff recommended using the board's waiver process at the April meeting to address the immediate recruiting need and pursue a broader rule change for all departments through the comprehensive rules review project.

Procedural vote: at the start of the meeting the board approved the minutes of its February 12 meeting by voice vote.

What's next: staff said they will work internally to reach out to recruited applicants who were excluded by the current application logic, extend the posting deadline if needed, and return to the board in April with a waiver request and a proposed rule amendment as part of the rules-review project.