CC SR 20240702 E - Recruitment Changes - Engineer Positions
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 07/02/2023
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to receive a status report on the current Senior
Engineer and Principal Engineer recruitments.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Receive and file a status report on recruitments in Public Works Department
consisting of underfilling one Senior Engineer vacant position as an Associate
Engineer position and offering a sign-on incentive bonus for the recruitment of two
Principal Engineer positions; and
(2) Receive and file a status report to offer an incentive sign-on bonus of $12,000 each
for two Principal Engineer positions for a combined total of $24,000.
FISCAL IMPACT: The Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget for the Senior Engineer and Principal
Engineer positions is $430,400 for salaries and benefits. The total incentive bonus of
$24,000 will be funded from the available budget of approximately $40,000 from
underfilling the Senior Engineer position to Associate Engineer. VR
Amount Budgeted: $3,282,300
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): 101-400-3110-41XX (various accounts)
(General Fund – Public Works – Salaries & Benefits)
330-400-3110-41XX (various accounts)
(CIP Fund – Public Works – Salaries & Benefits) VR
ORIGINATED BY: Eileen Jacinto, HR Analyst
REVIEWED BY: Ramzi Awwad, Director of Public Works
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Revised Organizational Chart for Public Works (page A-1)
B. Recruitment Incentive Program (page B-1)
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BACKGROUND:
The Public Works Department, despite its recent recruitments in the past year, continues
to face challenges in recruiting critical engineering positions based on the Department’s
current organizational chart. These positions include one Senior Engineer and two
Principal Engineer positions. These vacant positions are advers ely impacting the
operations of the Department and responding to City Council and community requests.
Thus, Staff is providing the City Council with a status report and recruitment strategies.
DISCUSSION:
Senior Engineer Recruitment
In April 2023, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with Gallagher
Benefits Services, Inc. (Gallagher) to help with recruiting four engineering positions , two
Associate Engineer and two Senior Engineer. Prior to working with Gallagher, these
positions had been vacant for two years, and the City’s Human Resources Division had
conducted five separate recruitments, but with no successful h ires. Since April 2023,
Gallagher’s team has filled three of the four vacancies with highly qualified individuals.
There is one vacancy for Senior Engineer left unfilled. This position has been open with
Gallagher since July 2023, and has yielded few results. Over the past several years, there
have been continuous recruitment challenges in the public and private sectors to attract
highly qualified senior-level candidates in civil engineering.
In contrast, the Associate Engineer recruitment that was conducted by Gallagher in 2023
produced two superior hires for the City within two and three months of being open. Based
on these positive results, the Director of Public Works would like to underfill the Senior
Engineer position with an Associate Engineer. It is our belief that in the next few years we
will see our Associate Engineers grow and develop in their positions at which point we
could revisit and potentially re-open a Senior Engineer position and recruit internally for
it.
Underfilling the Senior Engineer vacancy with an Associate Engineer provides budget
savings of about $40,000 annually. This evening, Staff is asking City Council to receive
and file a revised organization chart for Public Works that reflects this change (Attachment
A).
Principal Engineer Recruitment Incentive Bonus
On May 17, 2022, the City Council approved a Recruitment Incentive Program as part of
the Administrative Instruction Manual No. 2-21 (Attachment B), which allows the City
Manager to approve a one-time signing bonus in amounts determined by the City
Manager based on the approved budget for the fiscal year. To use the incentive bonus ,
recruitment “must have demonstratable recruitment difficulty”. Recruitment difficulty may
be based on any one of the following: limited applicant pool, recruitment difficulty, and a
continued high vacancy rate.” A full-time employee recruited under the program would be
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eligible for up to 25% of the bonus on their first paycheck, another 25% after successfully
passing the probationary period (one year), and the final 50% after completing 24 months
of employment.
In January of 2024, the employee that held the Principal Engineer position retired.
Gallagher was approved by the City Council to provide recruitment services and help fill
this position. In March of 2024, the City Council approved adding a second Principal
Engineer position based on the growing needs of the department. Gallagher has been
running this recruitment now for several months and has been unable to produce the level
of highly skilled candidates for the position.
Based on the difficulty of this recruitment and time length of time the recruitment has been
opened for, the City Manager has approved a $12,000 sign-on bonus for each hire for a
total of $24,000. Staff believes the sign-on bonus will incentivize and secure highly
qualified employees for these two difficult-to-fill vacancies.
Pursuant to the City Council-approved Recruitment Incentive Program, Staff is providing
the City Council with a report on the pending implementation of this program.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Direct Staff not to underfill the Senior Engineer position.
2. Direct Staff not to apply the Recruitment Incentive Program.
3. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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Organizational Chart
Capital Projects
Director of Public Works
(Civil/Roadway)
Senior Engineer
(Transportation)
Associate
Engineer
(Utilities)
Associate
Engineer
(Utilities)
Permit
Technician
Permit
Technician
Assistant
Engineer
Project
Manager
(Facilities)
Maintenance
Worker
Lead Worker
Staff Assistant
Administrative
Assistant
Maintenance
Worker
Deputy Director
of Public Works
Maintenance Superintendent
Senior Administrative Analyst
(Budget)
Maintenance
Project
Manager
(Environmental)
Principal Engineer (Operations)
Operations
Principal Engineer (CIP)
Senior Engineer (Under-fill w/ Associate Engineer)
A-1
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUCTION MANUAL
NUMBER 2-21
SUBJECT: RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM
I. BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE
The City shall make available to appointing authorities a Recruitment Incentive
Program to incentivize and secure highly qualified employees for positions that
the City has determined to be difficult to recruit in accordance with the
guidelines established herein and when funding is available.
II. DEFINITIONS
a. APPOINTING AUTHORITIES: City Manager and/or designated Subject
Matter Expert (SME) assigned to the recruitment , inclusive of Human
Resources
b. HARD-TO-RECRUIT POSITIONS: Classification must have
demonstratable recruitment difficulty, which includes limited applicant pool,
recruitment difficulty, or a continued high vacancy rate. Job requirements
such as technical expertise, certifications, licensing and/or advanced
educational requirements may limit the pool of qualified applicants. If two or
more consecutive recruitments have been done, resulting in a limited
applicant pool, the recruitment would be defined as difficult to re cruit. A
continued high vacancy rate is demonstrated through actively recruited
positions that continue to remain vacant.
III. PROGRAM APPLICABILITY
Appointing authorities may request authorization to apply the Recruitment
Incentive Program to assist in filling difficult-to-recruit positions in their
department. To apply, said position/classification must have demonstratable
recruitment difficulty. Recruitment difficulty may be based on any one of the
following: limited applicant pool, recruitment difficulty, and/or a continued high
vacancy rate. The Human Resources Manager shall have the authority to
determine the applicability to each requested position/classification and shall
submit a request to the City Manager for consideration. The City Manager or
his/her designee shall approve, deny, or amend the request based on the
information provided. Prior to advertising a position utilizing the Recruitment
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Incentive Program, the City Manager shall notify the City Council in writing by
explaining the reason for utilizing the program and how it will be implemented
and funded.
IV. PROGRAM
A full-time employee hired into a position/classification certified for participation
in the program shall be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive in an amount
set by the City Manager and/or designee based on available funding, as
described below:
a. The full-time incumbent will be eligible for 25% of the incentive on their first
paycheck.
b. After successfully passing the probationary period, the full-time incumbent
will be eligible for a second 25% payment.
c. After completing 24 months of employment, the full-time incumbent will be
eligible for the final 50% incentive payment.
Each incentive payment shall be considered taxable income and subject to
withholdings.
V. JOB POSTING
Prior to the posting of vacant positions, the Recruitment Incentive Program
description must be included in the job posting advising applicants they must
meet the eligibility requirements.
VI. LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS
No incentive will be paid for any candidate whose recruitment does not meet
program applicability and has not had applicability certified.
No incentive will be paid to any candidate whose name was placed on the
eligible list for full-time positions in the classification prior to the determination
of program applicability. Similarly, no incentive will be paid to any candidate
whose name was placed on the eligible list for full-time positions or forwarded
to the department for part-time positions, if applicability was not previously
certified by the City Manager and/or designee.
In the event the employee is unable or unwilling to work, is taken off work, or is
on an approved leave of absence, any payments owed shall be delayed the
same amount of time as the employee remains off work.
In the event the employee resigns, is terminated from employment, or fails to
successfully complete the probationary period with a “meets” or greater overall
B-2
rating, the employee will not be eligible to receive any outstanding payments
owed.
The Recruitment Incentive Program will remain in effect while funds are
available.
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