Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hr Audit Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Internal audit urges AEDs, HR software bridge and pay review for skilled trades
Summary
An operational audit of Columbus’ Human Resources department recommended placing AED units on the Dragonfly Trail, funding a NeoGov–Advantage tech bridge (~$50,000) to cut manual transactions and re‑evaluating compensation for skilled trades to ease recruitment and retention issues.
The city’s internal audit team delivered an operational audit of Human Resources covering 2021 through October 2025 and presented three targeted recommendations to council. Internal auditor Donna McGinnis and forensic auditors outlined comprehensive field work including document review, payroll testing and interviews; auditors said HR’s daily work volume is high but generally well managed.
The audit’s three recommendations were: (1) place AED units along the Dragonfly Trail to improve emergency response access; (2) pursue a tech bridge between NeoGov (hiring/onboarding) and Advantage (payroll/pension) with an estimated one‑time implementation cost of about $50,000 to reduce manual data entry and improve processing efficiency; and (3) reevaluate compensation for skilled trades (plumbers, electricians, HVAC) where the city struggles to recruit and retain staff.
Director Aretha Hallowell said HR agrees with the recommendations and is already working on responses. Hallowell and auditors described operational pain points: approximately 51,000 leave transactions in fiscal 2025, an on‑going vacancy load concentrated in trades, and efforts to reduce posted vacancies from 125 to 88 year‑over‑year. The audit team noted training enrollments of roughly 16,000 across 2022–2025 and a 73% course completion rate.
Councilors pressed on timing, costs and expected benefits. Auditors and HR staff said the tech bridge would be a one‑time expense with ongoing maintenance likely covered under existing support contracts. Councilors asked for clearer budget language and for tracking metrics to measure whether the $50,000 investment reduces staff time and backlog. Director Hallowell said the work aligns with recent pay‑study implementations and recommended sampling hard‑to‑fill jobs in the next budget process to check competitiveness.
Next steps: HR will provide written responses and engage stakeholders on implementation timing; councilors signaled interest in considering funding for the tech bridge during the next budget cycle.
