Lancaster County reports stable staffing, lower turnover and plan to move applicant tracking to Oracle

Barb McIntyre, director of Lincoln-Lancaster Human Resources, briefed the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners on March 5 on the department's annual metrics and modernization plans.

McIntyre reported the county maintained roughly 920 full-time-equivalent positions in the year covered by the report, with applications and hires dipping during an ongoing hiring freeze. She said total turnover decreased to 17.4% and three-year turnover improved from 67% in 2024 to 64% in 2025. McIntyre highlighted efforts to strengthen equity-based hiring practices, revised and more-documented background checks and reference checks, and expanded onboarding: 110 employees attended new-employee orientation in the reporting period.

To modernize recruiting, McIntyre said HR plans to replace the NeoGov applicant tracking system with Oracle Recruit at the same projected cost; preliminary work and a targeted implementation timeframe were underway. She also described benefits engagement activities (297 individual Empower retirement meetings), increased participation in 457 plans, and technology improvements including a mobile benefits app and COBRA administrator transition. McIntyre flagged rising healthcare claims growth that, despite pharmacy rebates, remains an ongoing budgetary concern.

The board discussed measures to strengthen quality-of-hire metrics, training expansions (including the Leadership Academy), and a draft DEI strategic plan. McIntyre said HR will continue coordination with agency leaders on policy and cybersecurity-related items as implementation work progresses.