Riley County HR reports slight turnover uptick, ongoing recruitment and training efforts; commissioners approve out-of-state travel

Elizabeth Ward, Riley County human resources director, delivered her regular monthly update and outlined recruitment, retention and training activities across county departments.

Ward said the county had 283 regular employees and 353 total workers when including stipends and interns. For February and March the office recorded seven new hires and six separations; year-to-date figures were 10 hires and 10 separations. Ward reported a 21.6% turnover rate for regular employees and average tenure of 8.9 years, both showing slight movement compared with previous months.

Ward described active hiring needs in public works (including parks), EMS, community corrections, health department and the appraiser's office; she said the appraisal supervisor position will be difficult to fill. She noted ongoing supervisor training, onboarding improvements and retirement seminars for employees approaching retirement. Ward also described a DriverDQ program to manage CDL testing, random drug testing and Clearinghouse requirements with a third-party administrator.

Ward said she had cataloged internal and external committees that county employees serve on and would add advisory boards and estimated meeting durations at the commissioners' request so the board could evaluate time commitments.

Commissioners then considered Ward's out-of-state travel request to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) national conference. Commissioner John moved to approve the HR director's registration, airfare and lodging for the 2025 SHRM convention; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

Separately during the meeting commissioners approved multiple personnel-related motions on other agenda items, including filling a vacant county treasurer office position; that hiring request was presented separately by the treasurer and approved in this session.