Goodyear HR reports shorter hiring timelines after process changes; targets set for sworn police and fire recruitment

Sabrina Deso, senior HR business partner, told the council May 5 that the city has shortened hiring timelines by mapping the recruitment process, reducing redundant steps and adopting automation and candidate‑friendly tools.

Deso explained the city’s baseline time-to-fill metric was 69 days when the review began; after process changes — including moving away from continuous job postings to 7–14 day posting windows, adding prescreening, self‑scheduling, and system-based e‑offers and e‑references — the department set a non‑sworn target of 46 days and reported a FY25 average of 49 days so far. “Time to fill refers to the number of calendar days it takes to fill a job opening. And here at the city of Goodyear, we define time to fill as job requisition approval to contingent offer to the candidate,” Deso said.

Public safety recruiting received focused changes: sworn fire managers agreed to experiment with active recruitments open for 21 days, to expand use of recorded interviews (Public Safety Answers) and advertising, and set a target time-to-fill of 61 days for sworn fire. The police department expanded use of iSWIFT to allow candidate self-scheduling and remote initial interviews and has a target of 51 days for sworn police hires.

Deso described daily visual management meetings (5–10 minutes) for real-time tracking of active recruitments, interviews and offers, and noted prescreening and one-note taker protocols to speed panels and improve candidate experience. Recruitment outreach has expanded to internships and partnerships: IT hosted interns, and the city partnered with local schools (Agua Fria Union High School District, Buckeye Union High School District and Estrella Foothills High School) to place six paid interns in water services this year. Deso also noted the city is a SkillBridge partner for military transition internships and runs an internal “Goodyear Grows” mentoring pipeline.

Council members asked about double-fill hiring for anticipated public-safety retirements; HR noted an existing council‑approved policy allows double fills in public safety for up to 12 months, which helps start hiring earlier in the budget cycle. The presentation contained no new council action items; HR will continue to monitor time-to-fill metrics and report adjustments as needed.