Portage County schedules April 21 onboarding, plans digital attendance and payroll logging

Clerk announced that Portage County will host an all-day onboarding for supervisors on April 21 for both incumbents and incoming members, saying, "on April 21, we will be hosting an all day onboarding." The session, Clerk said, will include formal introductions from department heads, a provided lunch and training on new procedures intended to reduce paperwork.

Clerk described a proposed change to attendance and payroll procedures: "since everybody has issued computers, that at the beginning of meetings, supervisors will log in and enter that they're basically in attendance, and then that will automatically be recorded," replacing current paper 'green sheets' and manual spreadsheet entry. Clerk said staff will offer training on the system during the onboarding.

Chair said the onboarding "is something that's long overdue" and supported the idea as a way to get all supervisors hearing the same information. Committee members discussed whether onboarding should be required for incumbents as well as new supervisors; Clerk said because Portage County has not held onboarding before, incumbents are being asked to attend to ensure consistent baseline knowledge.

Speakers noted the onboarding is also an opportunity to review the county's mission statement, capital improvement plan and strategic plan priorities. Clerk invited feedback and asked supervisors to submit suggestions in advance by email or in person.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the onboarding announcement; the item was presented as information and next steps included finalizing the onboarding agenda in coming weeks.