Pearland targets city employee retention with compensation study[/caption]
As Pearland continues to add to its population, city officials are working to attract and retain employees to deal with growing pains.
From July 2014 to July 2015, Pearland was the seventh-fastest growing city in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The rapid growth has caused the city to more than triple its staff since 2000. As a result, the city is undergoing a compensation and classification study to compare its employee structure to similar municipalities, officials said.
The study—which is expected to take four to five months to complete—will provide data and strategies to help the city remain a competitive employer in the region, Human Resources Director Michelle Graham said.
“The important thing to remember about a city is it operates just like any large business,” City Council Member Trent Perez said. “It’s got multiple departments with multiple skillsets, and the more staff that you have to deal with the amount of growth, the more efficient the system is. Like any company, you have to look at how much money you have available for staffing.”
Although the study will not address staffing levels, maintaining an adequate number of employees as the population increases is a concern among officials.
“The ratio of our employees to citizens is lower than some other communities—right, wrong or indifferent, that’s where we are,” Graham said. “I think you have a good group of people who are working very fast and very hard. The growth of the community does add a challenge to our workload, but I wouldn’t specifically target a certain department that I would say is more understaffed or overwhelmed.”
As it stands, third-party contractors are hired to supplement city employees in some departments, a strategy that receives mixed reviews from officials.
“I just think there’s a different level of ownership [with city employees],” City Council Member Keith Ordeneaux said. “I want our employees and the people servicing the citizens to have ownership in what they do.”
In June, the council moved forward with plans to survey four plats of land for annexation. While the future annexed land is not expected to have a significant effect on the population, the additions will increase the city limits and with it the amount of area covered by some services, such as police protection.
Dealing with growth
The Pearland population has increased each year since 1970, according to census data. The most significant spike took place between 2000-10 when more than 53,000 people moved to the city.
About 117,000 people live in the city limits as of July 1, according to an estimate by the Pearland Economic Development Corporation. The population rises to about 139,000 when including Pearland’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Pearland targets city employee retention with compensation study[/caption]
“When you became a stable community and growth has stopped, you’re able to reduce your staffing to just the needs for service in the community,” Mayor Tom Reid said. “That’s not us. We’re growing so much.”
With the increase in population comes a greater need for city services, officials said. Today, Pearland employs 800 workers compared to about 250 who worked for the city in 2000, Graham said.
The current study will compare salaries and job responsibilities with municipalities in the Greater Houston area as well as those with similar employee structures to Pearland, Graham said.
“It’s important for us to have [the study] done so that we make sure we have a compensation and classification structure that can support keeping individuals who are already within the organization [and] also assist us in recruiting when we do have vacancies or new positions,” Graham said.
Officials said it is suggested this type of research be conducted every three to five years. The last employee study for Pearland was completed in 2013; however, only some departments were examined, Graham said. A complete study similar to the one approved in July was last conducted in 2006.
Third-party contractors
At its July 11 meeting, City Council renewed a contract with Frees & Nichols for services relating to plan review and engineering studies. Officials said the additional assistance—which is used on a per-need basis—will aid the city’s Planning Department with the increased activity with building permits.
The city outsources work to reduce workload and overtime hours for full-time employees, officials said. The strategy is utilized in multiple departments.
Ordeneaux said he would prefer expanding staff over hiring third parties. The city lacks funding, however, to create a significant number of positions, he said. While most new jobs are added to public safety departments, Ordeneaux said all city staff should be considered.
“With the funding levels we have now, it’s the only strategy we have,” he said. “I would much rather see us have the positions be in-house. I feel that when you outsource, you lose some of the pride and consistency.”
Perez said the use of third parties is smart because Pearland’s growth could slow and cause the city to consider cutting positions. However, Perez does feel adequate staffing is needed to handle a growing amount of infrastructure needs.
“We don’t know how long this growth is going to continue,” he said. “We don’t know once the growth steadies or stagnates how much staff we would need to deal with the difficult-to-predict services we provide, like plan review and inspections. It’s important that we don’t overstaff and put ourselves in long-term commitments.”
Reid also said the city should use population data rather than projections when considering additional staff positions. When growth stabilizes or stops, he said, there is no longer a need to increase staff.
“It does affect your city staffing when you have a higher growth rate in your community,” he said. “Once we start stabilizing and the population stops expanding at this rate, we’ll probably stabilize more and hire less staff.”
