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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-27 Merit Appeals Board MinutesREGULAR SESSION Merit Appeals Board Hilo Council Chambers Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401 Hilo, Hawaii October 27, 2022 (Thursday) Call to Order (Item 1) The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board, County of Hawaii, was called to order at 10:03 a.m. by Chair Gabriella M. Cabanas, at the Hilo Council Chambers, Hawaii County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, Hilo, Hawaii, on Thursday, October 27, 2022. Roll Call — Present Ms. Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair Mr. Mel Ventura, Vice -Chair (via ZOOM) Ms. Kate De Soto, Member Mr. Charles Kunz, Member Absent and Excused Ms. Gay Mathews, Member Also Present Mr. J Yoshimoto, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Office of the Corporation Counsel Mr. Waylen L. K. Leopoldino, Director, Human Resources Department Mr. Ryan K. Caday, Human Resources Program Specialist, Human Resources Department Ms. Glynis Yamada, Secretary -Reporter, Human Resources Department Mr. Relley Araceley, Council Services Coordinator, Office of the County Clerk This meeting will be held through a combination of the board members being physically present at the meeting location and participating via ZOOM. Members of the public may attend this meeting either in-person at the meeting location or via ZOOM. Merit Appeals Board Call to Order (Item 1) October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, everyone. The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board is called to order at 10:03 a.m. Today is October 27th, 2022. We are seated in the Hilo Council Chambers of the Hawaii County Building, at 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, in Hilo, Hawaii. We have quorum today with four of our Board members present. I'm Gabriella Cabanas, Chair, of the Merit Appeals Board. Sitting in via ZOOM from Kailua-Kona is Mr. Mel Ventura, our Vice -Chair. Good morning, Mel. MR. VENTURA: Aloha. Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: And with me in the Council Chambers are the following Board members Ms. Kate De Soto and Mr. Charlie Kunz. Good morning. MR. KUNZ: Good morning. MS. DE SOTO: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Our fellow Board member, Ms. Gay Mathews, is absent and excused from today's meeting. Also, present with us in the Hilo Council Chambers are our Assistant Corporation Counsel, Mr. J Yoshimoto. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Good morning, Madam Chair. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, J. And our Secretary -Reporter, Ms. Glynis Yamada. Good morning, Glynis. MS. YAMADA: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Also present is our Director of Human Resources, Mr. Waylen Leopoldino. Good morning, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: And I see that you brought your new EOO/ADA Coordinator and he is Ryan Caday. So, welcome, Ryan. And I know you will formally introduce Ryan to the Board in a few minutes. So, welcome, everyone. Page 2 Merit Appeals Board Addendum to Agenda (Item 2) CHR. CABANAS: There is no addendum to the agenda. Statements from the Public (Item 3) CHR. CABANAS: There are no "Statements form the Public." Approval of Minutes (Item 4) October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: No meeting minutes to approve—either regular meeting or executive session meeting minutes. Communications (Item 5) CHR. CABANAS: No "Communications." New Business (Item 6) FY 2022-2023 Annual Performance Evaluation Of The Director Of Human Resources (HR) - Discussion Re Six -Month Update By The Director Of HR Regarding Department's Goals And Objectives For FY 2022-2023 (Update To Occur In December 2022) (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matter, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(2) And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Evaluating An Officer Or Employee Of The County Of Hawaii, Where The Consideration Of Matters Affecting Privacy Will Be Involved And Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting) CHR. CABANAS: So, we are now on Number 6, "New Business"—and this concerns fiscal year 2022-2023, the annual performance evaluation of the director of human resources. At one of our last meetings, the Board decided, Waylen, that we would have a six-month assessment of your job performance. And so, today, we are discussing the six-month update by the director of human resources regarding the department's goals and objectives for fiscal year 2022-2023. This update is not going to occur today, Waylen. This update will occur in December, but the Board wants to give you advance notice that this is coming up in two months. Yeah—'cause this is still October. Page 3 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 I'm not sure if we need to go into executive session. I think we do because I think the Board needs to discuss what format this six-month update assessment will involve concerning your department goals and objectives for this fiscal year. So, if you don't mind, we're going to I'm going to read this part about the executive session, `cause I think we need to go into that. So, the Merit Appeals Board anticipates convening one or more executive meetings regarding the above matter pursuant to HRS, Sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(2), and 92-5(a)(4) for the purpose of evaluating an officer or employee of the County of Hawaii where the consideration of matters affecting privacy will be involved and consulting with the Board's attorney on questions and issues pertaining to the Board's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities. A two-thirds vote pursuant to HRS, Section 92-4, is necessary to hold an executive meeting. So, at this time, I'd like to entertain a motion for the Board to enter into executive session. MS. DE SOTO: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Kate. Is there a second? MR. KUNZ: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Charlie. Any discussion? If not, will initiate a rollcall vote on the motion made to go into executive session to discuss the six-month annual performance evaluation for fiscal year 2022-2023 of the director of human resources. So, we'll start with the rollcall vote with Mr. Ventura. MR. VENTURA: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. There are four ayes. Motion is carried for the Board to go into executive session. Let the record reflect that Ms. Gay Mathews, our fellow Board member, is absent and excused from today's meeting. Page 4 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 So, I'm going to ask, Waylen, if you and Ryan could step out just for a few minutes, yeah. And then, Glynis will secure the Council Chambers. RECESS: The meeting recessed at 10:09 a.m. to convene executive session. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened at 10:27 in open session. FY 2022-2023 Annual Performance Evaluation Of The Director Of Human Resources (HR) - Discussion Re Six -Month Update By The Director Of HR Regarding Department's Goals And Objectives For FY 2022-2023 (Update To Occur In December 2022) (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matter, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(2) And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Evaluating An Officer Or Employee Of The County Of Hawaii, Where The Consideration Of Matters Affecting Privacy Will Be Involved And Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting) CHR. CABANAS: Okay. We are now back in open session at 10:26 a.m. Let the record reflect those that are in the Council Chambers are Mr. Charlie Kunz, Ms. Kate De Soto, I'm Gabriella Cabanas; J Yoshimoto, our assistant corporation counsel; Ms. Glynis Yamada, our secretary -reporter; sitting in via ZOOM from Kailua-Kona, Mr. Mel Ventura, our vice chair; Mr. Waylen Leopoldino, the director of human resources; and Mr. Ryan Caday, our new EOO/ADA coordinator. (At this time, Mr. Waylen L. K. Leopoldino, Director, Department of Human Resources, came forward.) CHR. CABANAS: Waylen, we are now back on Item 6, "New Business." Basically, this is the mid -point assessment of your performance and the Board, in executive session, concluded that this is not really going to be a formal evaluation in December. It's going to be just, kind of, like, a talk story—general discussion on how you are progressing with your goals and objectives for fiscal year 2022-2023. We are not requiring any specific information. In other words, you don't need to provide us data. It's just how are you doing, and how are you progressing, and are you experiencing any challenges with the progress thus far toward your three goals that are outlined on the rating form that Glynis has provided the Board and you. So, to, kind, of, like, make sure you're doing okay and if any clarification is needed then that can be provided at the time. How does that sound for you. Do you have any question? MR. LEOPOLDINO: No questions that sounds great. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, it's just a general summary. Page 5 Merit Appeals Board MR. LEOPOLDINO: Sure. October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: You don't need to provide specific data just how are you doing with Goal number 1, Goal number 2, Goal number 3—any challenges with any of those three goals. And then, of course, the Board might ask the Board members may ask questions just for clarification. But it's just—kind of, like, short and sweet—kind of, a general summary. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Okay. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So that will be at our December meeting, which we already have scheduled—December 20'', at 10:30. Okay. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: You're welcome. Unfinished Business (Item 7) CHR. CABANAS: Okay, so we now going on to Number 7, "Unfinished Business" which we have none. Director's Report (Item 8) Introduction – New EOO/ADA Coordinator; MAB Quarterly Reports: July – September 2022; MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: October 2022 (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matters, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4 And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Of Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting CHR. CABANAS: And we are now at "Director's Report" Number 8, on the agenda. And so, I'm going to yield to you, Waylen, and you are going to introduce to the Board members our new EOO/ADA coordinator. So, come up forward, Ryan, to the dais. (At this time, Mr. Ryan K. Caday, Human Resources Program Specialist, Human Resources Department, came forward.) MR. LEOPOLDINO: Good morning CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. MR. LEOPOLDINO: —Chair Cabanas, and members of the Merit Appeals Board. Waylen Leopoldino, Director of Human Resources. Page 6 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 Introduction — New E00/ADA Coordinator MR. LEOPOLDINO: As part of my director's report, the first bullet point is the introduction of our new EO and ADA Coordinator, Ryan Caday. Some of you have met him this morning. But we're very, very happy to have him on board. Ryan has been with us for two weeks and he has meshed well in our organization not only with the staff, but he's already started his connections and networking with the departmental staff and our Administration. So, I could go on and on about the last twoI'm just happy that he's still here after two weeks. But I'm going to turn it over to Ryan to do a brief introduction. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Waylen. Welcome, Ryan. MR. CADAY: Good morning, Madam Chair, and members of the Board. As Waylen said, my name is Ryan Caday. I've been with the County for approximately 10 years. I'm just in a different position been with HR for about two weeks and I'm excited to be here. So, yeah that's my introduction. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Well, we welcome you to the HR team. Having been with HR for many years, it's a great department and I think we just want to wish you much success in your position. I think you will enjoy your time in HR and I hope it will be a long, long duration for you to be in the Department of Human Resources. So, welcome and good luck to you. MR. CADAY: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Do any of the Board members have any comments for Ryan? Charlie, Kate—no—Mel, you're okay—any comments? MR. VENTURA: Yeah, I just want to say welcome and aloha. MR. CADAY: Aloha. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Thank you, Ryan, have a great week. Thank you, Waylen. So, you may proceed now to summarize your quarterly reports and your monthly divisional activity report for October. Page 7 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 MAB Quarterly Reports: July — September 2022 MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. The next item on my director's report is the quarterly reports for period July I" through September 30th, 2022, and the reports are attached. At this time, I am happy to entertain any questions that the Board may have at this time. I do want to point out the change in format for the Personnel and Organizational Development Division. At a prior Merit Appeals Board meeting, there was some discussion about the formatting and I had worked with the division head for this division and asked to be a little bit more to provide us with a little bit more narrative description versus just a numerical report. So, I'm hoping this will provide more insight CHR. CABANAS: It did. Thank you very much for that. MR. LEOPOLDINO: You're welcome. CHR. CABANAS: Does anyone have any questions on the quarterly report? And you can break it down by divisions, if you do. I noticed for classification and pay, the redescription review actions for the quarter was 190. And out of the 190—let me see now -97 were for recruitment purposes—well, no, that's the reallocations. But why is the 190 so high, `cause that's really high. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Well, in our classification and pay more recently we part of this part of us trying to re -strategize and look at different ways to attract more people to fill our vacancies—one of the ways is to look at our position descriptions. A lot of them are extremely old. I know you can attest to that. And so, when departments come in to fill positions and if it's tied to other positions, we'll take a look at the series of classes of work—and if they need to be updated, it might just be "driver's license" needs to be added or removed or any of the job duties needs to be updated—technology—or anything like that. The team in classification and pay have, kind of, been they've been proactive in reviewing these position descriptions. And when a position is redescribed, it's counted here. CHR. CABANAS: That's good because the position descriptions are the base for everything that follows—recruitment— MR. ollowsrecruitment MR. LEOPOLDINO: Correct. CHR. CABANAS: interviews, job performance evaluation. So, I'm glad that they're being proactive `cause that's really important. Page 8 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 MR. LEOPOLDINO: In addition to that, we hold the departments accountable when they come in to fill their vacancies. They are required to review the class spec. and the position description before we even consider opening a recruitment. This is so that the applicants when it gets time to the interview and selection process they have a clear understanding of their expectations in that position. So, that iswe hold the departments accountable for making sure that it's done before the recruitment is opened. MR. KUNZ: Have the departments, then, as proactive in following and making changes as well? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. One of the things that I've done is I've added a "checkbox" to the recruitment—the Request to Fill form that the departments have to acknowledge that they've done that. And we'll—if—we have that opportunity to also review the position description, but we've realized that the departments have taken a more active role in reviewing specs. and position descriptions. And it's, kind of, tied into grievances and complaints that the departments may get because the employees are, like, "Well, that's not part of my job description"—and whatnot. And so, that really forces the department to really pay attention to position descriptions and to be sure it's as accurate as possible. So, the answer is, "yes." CHR. CABANAS: I noticed for recruitment and examso, the department has suspended the written exams? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Due to low turnout. But if turnout gets better MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Is it the intention for the written exams to resume? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. MR. LEOPOLDINO: It's a temporary suspension. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. MR. LEOPOLDINO: And you'll see the list of—we made the decision at the end of August to suspend written exams but you'll still see them listed because we had to finish up what was already, kind of, in progress. CHR. CABANAS: I noticed the new banners. They're very nice. They catch your eye. Page 9 Merit Appeals Board MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: With the QR code. You have, what, over 60 continuous recruitments. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Today, we're at 63. CHR. CABANAS: So, is the division still short-staffed or MR. LEOPOLDINO: But I do want to add to that because it might be a misleading number, I have to say that we did close a bunch of continuous recruitments. A lot of it includes a lot of the new positions that were allocated July 1st and there're new classes. So, a lot of that weren't— they eren'tthey weren't filled right away, so we put them on continuous recruitment because they're difficult to fill. So, I do have to say, we did close a few continuous recruitments but a lot were added to the new positions that were allocated. And I'm sorry, what was the second part of your question? CHR. CABANAS: Trying to remember what I askedoh, short-staffed—is the division short- staffed. Thank you, Kate. MR. LEOPOLDINO: I can share with you CHR. CABANAS: Just generally. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. So, this week I have only one recruitment staff person in the office. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, my. MR. LEOPOLDINO: So but that's been happening over the last few months and I can't go into details as to why. CHR. CABANAS: Right. MR. LEOPOLDINO: But when I say we're "short-staffed"—we're short-staffed—and Danny I will jump in as much as we can. We understand the limits but the work's got to get done. And we're—and I don't know what's going on, but we're getting it from all divisions. It's not recruitment—it's all eight divisions. We are there's a lot of work and a lot of projects going on. I mean, I don't know if it's anything to do with the time of year, but it's really unprecedented and Danny and I are stepping up where we need to. But it's been very challenging, primarily, because of staffing. And it is flu season. A lot of departments are experiencing the same thing—staff that are existing are out. And so, we're trying to do our best with what we have. Page 10 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you. Anyone with other questions? Okay. So, that was for the quarterly report? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: You're welcome. CHR. CABANAS: What about the monthly divisional MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: October 2022 MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. So, the next item is our monthly divisional report. Does anyone have any questions there? I have a couple of highlights that I wanted to bring up under the recruitment and examination division. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Proceed. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Okay. So, we have put in for—and got approval for an HR program specialist in the recruitment and examination division. As you all know, in response to this recruitment crisisis what I call it the recruitment manager position has changed significantly—and I think we've had discussions in this group about what we're going to be doing going forward. We cannot rely a lot on past recruitment efforts where everybody wanted to work for government—State, County that's not as appealing anymore. And so, our efforts thus far include building up our social media platforms, doing more outreach more than everschools, colleges, job fairs. We initiated these resource fairs. We're going to be doing more pop-up type events. And so, we've seen over the last year, this recruitment manager position morphing into being more of a talent acquisition-type—heavy on that—on the duties. And so, with that being said, we need someone that's in the office overseeing the day-to-day operations with remaining specialists who are screening, taking in applications the list goes on and on. But we feel that the HR program specialist will be that position in the office to maintain continuity in the office, while the HR manager is still overseeing the division but the focus has shifted to be more—doing more outreach and talent acquisition -type duties. So, we—it was approved at council, so we're going to try and recruit for that, hopefully, to fill. Page 11 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 MR. KUNZ: I have a quick question or comment—I'm not sure what's going to come out—but I like what you just said. And then, on the flip -side, it's like be careful what you wish for because then, if you start getting all these people coming in that we need so desperately and you're short-staffed to process them, then we're back at this catch-22 thing. So, I admire, I think the direction because the shortage of getting qualified applicants in to fill a lot of the jobs—at the same time, then it falls back on the department—your department to drive those new applications forward. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Right. MR. KUNZ: So, it'sI'm not sure the strategy that how that's going to play out. Hopefully, they both play out and you have staff back in on board where they're helped. The other comment I wanted to, kind of, throw in there was—is there—are you able to see, like, where everything was a year -and -a -half ago, let's say, 18 months? And what percentage or the level of progress that recruiting and processing and getting people in positions, like, let's say a year ago—compared to, like, now. If there has been an improvement? Is it trending that it's improving? Or is it still, kind of, maybeI don't want to use the word "spiraling"but more challenging? Or do you see it changing that there's a wave of change where there's, like, "Oh, we're taking care of more people. We are—we see that we've been able to fill more"—or is it getting harder and harder with all the different circumstancesstaffing, recruitment—and if you do I know it's going to be hard to predict whether or not you can see that trend changing for the better or for the worse. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Okay. So, yes, we can. And that's part of the package is the metrics, right. So, we propose implementing all of these things but it's great to have all these things in place—but we also want to make sure that it's actually working. So, the system that we haveNeoGov—does offer a report—it's a "Time to Hire Report." Basically, it picks up on all those points that you mentioned. And we can do a comparison. I haven't had the opportunity to do it. I don't have access to NeoGov as the director, but that's, definitely, part of our reporting and we are moving into that because we've already initiated. I think it's been a couple months since we initiated a lot of these new engagements. So, want to monitor that and then take some metrics at that point. So, yes, we do have that opportunity and I think those points are very valid. And your first point about the unintended consequences our staff could experience with all these new efforts, we've been engaging with the recruitment staff as much as possible pretty regularly—and that concern has come up. And so, we're monitoring. We're paying close attention to any kind of spike or anything like that, so we can try and address it as best as possible. But, yes, we have recognized that. So, thank you. MR. KUNZ: Will the department ever get to a point where you come so saturated with recruitment, which is a good problem to have where people are applying that it actually will Page 12 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 justify getting more positions. And I know the budget circumstances but at what point does that trigger whether it warrants you receiving more funds to hire more people? MR. LEOPOLDINO: I can tell you, right now, the administration is in full support of recruitment and funding any additional positions that we need. I think that's pretty clear to me, especially because departments are so hard-pressed to fill their vacancies. But I'm very careful that we're not—we don't have a knee jerk reaction because I don't want to fully staff our recruitment division, and then we maintain a sustainable level of the positions filled, and then we have all these extra staff. So, that's definitely on my radar and I have to figure out how to address those metrics to make sure that we don't overcompensate for what we need. So, definitely, under consideration. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: So, you have one new position this fiscal year. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: The one that you're going to—that you're recruiting for. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: So, what's the total for recruitment and exam with that new position? MR. LEOPOLDINO: So, with that new position we have one HR assistant, two—well, two HR specialists—it's a total of three HR specialists but one of those positions is down at the HR tech level until the incumbent meets performance requirements—and then, the HR manager. So, four plus the HR manager CHR. CABANAS: Does that include the new position? MR. LEOPOLDINO: No, it does not. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, okay. That's the largest that, I think, it's ever been. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Mm-hmm. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Any other questions? The timeline for hiring by Rule was 90 days. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: And it's still 90 days? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes, correct. Page 13 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: With 63 open continuous recruitments, how are the departments doing with that timeline—are they expediting it or are they still keeping it to 90 days or are they asking for extensions beyond 90 days? MR. LEOPOLDINO: So, they are asking for extensions beyond 90 days. A lot of these recruitments are on continuous with zero applicants. So, I mean, even if we were to close the recruitment, we would reopen it and it would go back on continuous. So, we're trying to work through limiting all the extra work but we are mindful of the extensions. So, we're getting extensions for the referred list, but we don't have that luxury anymore. As soon as they find a good candidate, they're making the selection. And the list—the referred list I have never seen such small referred lists. So, when they have the opportunity they'll hire. And I've been—from my experience in recruitment, I've been pushing departments to not wait. As soon as they get a referred list, even prior to getting a referred list—once they decide to open up a recruitment—be prepared to start your interview and selection process once the referred list is received because, really, waiting not even days anymore you'll lose that great candidate. So, we've been working with departments on that because the challenge we get back from—or the concern from the departments is trying to convene a panel of three. And so, they don't want to interview two or one—and then I understand that. I understand the timing but on the other end of it, we just don't have that luxury to wait. And so, I've been trying to communicate that to our departments. CHR. CABANAS: `Cause that was the concern with even City and County of Honolulu. The mayor there wanted the departments to expedite their hiring timeline from six months to 90 days. Well, here, the County of Hawaii has always been 90 days MR. LEOPOLDINO: Right. CHR. CABANAS: —from the time you make the referral. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: But the age-old wisdom to the departments was the longer they take, they'll lose the quality applicant— MR. pplicant MR. LEOPOLDINO: Correct. CHR. CABANAS: —and that's what we used to tell them back then—even more so now. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. Page 14 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: So, how's that goinganyI guess my major concern is streamlining it— MR. t MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: so it's not so bureaucratic. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Cut out that red tape. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Whatever red tape there is, eliminate it, because in government the longer you take, we know you're going to lose those quality applicants. That's what we saw with police many years ago. So, anything happening there, just generally? MR LEOPOLDINO: Well, so because we don't have a recruitment manager at that time, I've just been brainstorming on my own. And so, once we do get a recruitment manager on board that's going to be—ever since City and County made that public announcement, that has been at the top of my list to have that discussion and review our entire recruitment process to see where we can streamline. Yes. Absolutely. MR. KUNZ: WaylenI'm sorry, is your mic. on? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. MR. KUNZ: Okay. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Maybe I need to go closer—sorry. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Anyone with comments or questions? Kate. MS. DE SOTO: Yeah. Under recruitment and examination you mentioned continue with efforts to boost recruitment through higher education partnerships. And as you're describing the new recruitment position, are you imagining that that position will be taking trying to maximize that through, like, PR marketing efforts or by, like, creative means of like sitting on advisory boards for degrees making sure that graduates are actually meeting minimum qualifications by the time they finish school. Page 15 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah. So, all the above. A more recent opportunity that fell into our laps—and we recently signed up for is called the "Handshake"I don't know if you guys know what the Handshake Program, but it—are you familiar, Kate, with that? So, it's a social—it's, sort of, like, a social media platform only for higher education institutions across the nation. And so, this is one way for employers and these institutions to have a connection and they're still, kind of, ironing out the bugs `cause I hear a lot of complaints about it. But it's a great opportunity because you get invited to virtual job fairs, which we normally would not have access to, right. So, maybe, we got invited to the University of Washington's virtual job fair for IT professionals. That's something that we could take advantage of virtually and our department head for DIT can attend—speakers that they might want to come into the school to talk about us as an employer. Sitting on advisory board—I currently sit on the Community College Business and Technology Advisory Board and, recently, we had a discussion about curriculum development. So, yes, we are getting out there and that comment was specifically for the Handshake Program because we've already seen tremendous opportunities for us, not to only recruit statewide, but on the West Coast for students that may want to come back home and are not familiar with what the County has to offer. So, as they iron out kinks, we're kind of working closely with them on how we can maximize the benefit there. MS. DE SOTO: Thank you for sharing some of that. I think from the realm that I come in— come from with the university and learning more through this Board about how the HR world and how things work, I think that's that sometimes there's a gap between education systems what they produce as a final outcome versus what is translated into minimum qualifications. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. MS. DE SOTO: And sometimes there seems to be a gap there. And I know the education world is very motivated to gear itself to making sure its graduates can find jobs, right. So, I just think that gap is really interesting and as you're talking about these kind of innovative ways of working with recruitment, I think there's a lot of conversations to be had about making sure both sectors are being—working together. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah. And we attended the UH Manoa's Engineering Expo and what we learned was the engineering expo is the largest career fair on that campus—larger than business education. And about 800 students came through and we talked to—geez, I don't know—maybe close to 100 students. I traveled there along with our director of environmental management, an engineer from public works—and among the three of us, we talked to a ton of students and just, kind of, got their feedback on what they feel is important to them. It's definitely not retirement and health Page 16 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 insurance—it's how much are you're going to pay me that was—and opportunities for advancement. So, we really promoted working for the County of Hawaii in other aspects, like, we're very community focused. And interestingly enough, a large percentage of the students we talked to were focused on environment, civil engineeringso, we had to promote that. And now we know what to gear our marketing and advertising for the County is, right, when we look for engineers. So, it was a great opportunity for us. We connected with the dean of the college of engineering. And so, he's offered other opportunities for us to actually be on campus and do interviews or meet with students, do orientation. So, I think—and that has opened doors with other organizations and associations. So, I'm glad we did participate. CHR. CABANAS: Did any of those 100 apply for our—for the recruitments. MR. LEOPOLDINO: No, they didn't because the engineering class the civil engineer I requires them to have a degree, which most of them were still senior students juniors and seniors. But we were trying to create that pipeline and get them interested when they were—we handed out a lot of business cards for them to reach out to us once they're ready to go. And I can tell you that about 10 of them were really excited about moving to the Big Island—and so, would be reaching out to us. MR. KUNZ: Waylen, thank you for the detail. I think with the recruitment/examination I know there's this one paragraph but the details on those things, I think, kind of stir some discussion and interaction. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. MR. KUNZ: I had one comment because I know that there are so many things that you can share with us, but is there now or will be, like, a formal interfacing with the American Job Centers? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah. Actually, through the community resource fair that we did at the Prince Kuhio Plaza, we connected even more with American Job Center. So, the Housing Coordinator, Royce, is going to—he links us up with a lot of events and we're working closely with Denise Pacheco, I think, she's the coordinator there. So, we're doing more and more events with them where there's a two-way communication now. We're looping them in on what we got going on and then Denise and Royce are good about looping us in. So, there is definitely a partnership building there. MR. KUNZ: Thank you. Page 17 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 MR. LEOPOLDINO: And they're a great resource because they have access to a huge population looking for work. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Are there questions? Mel, do you have any questions or comments for Waylen? MR. VENTURA: No. Just that I appreciate these struggles with recruitment. We go through the same thing here. And I have the same kind of discussions here with my board. In the last 18 months nothing really moved the needle for us until we started paying bonuses. So, we pay both a referral bonus and a recruitment bonus. So the employee that refers the qualified applicant will get a bonus and then the actual applicant will get a bonus also. And that seems to have moved the needle a little bit, as well as increasing the starting pay. Yeah, like you alluded to earlier, what they want is pay. So, we had to do that. And also that Kona Village here is going to open up in a few months and we're all competing for the same employees. So, that's going to make things even more challenging in West Hawaii. And when that resort opens up because I heard that the number that they're looking for is in the hundreds. So, more—yeah—so, potentially, more challenges to come. But, again, I appreciate the work you're doing and it's not easy. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you, Mel. I do want to say that Kona has been especially hard for our departments to fill, especially in our finance department with our vehicle registration and licensing. It's very hard to compete with hotels. So, I do feel your pain over on the Kona side with competing to try and get—it's just an added layer, right, on the Kona side to try and get people in the door. But it's—what I remind our department heads, it's not just the County—everywhere you go you'll see stores, restaurants cutting down their hours—and I'll ask why. It's because of staffing They just can't keep staff. So, I'm hoping to get through this. CHR. CABANAS: So, where is everyone going? Are they unemployed? Are they used to working from home because of the pandemic? MR. LEOPOLDINO: It's all of those things. People are trying to start their own business businesses. Instagramif you go on Instagram you'll see all these people having pop-ups— they're selling anything, right, on Instagram. So, I think COVID really changed the workplace in a sense that it really made people realize—or re -prioritize, right, what's important to them. And so, we probably lost a lot there. I also heard that a lot of people are moving out-of-state. It's just too expensive to live here for what people get paid and the cost of the goods—in the marketplace it's very tough. I mean, I Page 18 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 went to Costco a couple weeks ago. I was surprised at the increase in prices at Costco—it's just crazy. So, I understand. I get it. But that's the million -dollar questionis, like, where did everybody go? I'm thinking after the holiday season, everybody's going to realize they have to pay bills, right, so we're hoping for a slew of qualified applicants. CHR. CABANAS: Waylen, we can only hope. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Right. MR. KUNZ: Interestingly, though, there have been there's been an increase, I think, statewide—or is it nationwideI think statewide on people opening up bank accounts. Well, part of it was because, I think, they were receiving all of this kickbacks from the federal government, right. All the those kinds of checks and stuff but—yeah, there's been an increase. And on a side note, my orthopedic surgeon—one of them on Oahu, sent us a notice that he's moving to Arizona. And I know he has college kids that may or may not be going to Arizona but, just he and his wife up and leaving and he's going to open up a practice there. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah. MR. KUNZ: `Cause it's probably so darn expensive here— MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. MR. KUNZ: in Honolulu. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah, it'sI almost daily, I hear stories like that. So, it's very challenging. CHR. CABANAS: Well, keep up what you're doing. Keep up the momentum and we really appreciate MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: —all the efforts that you and your department are doing. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. I have a lot in my desk drawer. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Any other comments, questions? If not—no one? Okay. Thank you, Waylen MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: —for the reports. Page 19 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 MR. LEOPOLDINO: You're welcome. Thank you. MR. KUNZ: Thank you. Schedule Next Meeting Date (Item 9) CHR. CABANAS: Okay. We are on Number 9, scheduling our next meeting date. And I had requested that Glynis poll all the Board members, so we have the meeting scheduled for November 21st, 2022, at 10 a.m.is that correct? Ten a.m., here in the Hilo Council Chambers with ZOOM capability, if Mel chooses to sit in via ZOOM. MR. VENTURA: Gabriella, I think at the last meeting we discussed that date was not—yeah, I was not able to make that date and CHR. CABANAS: Oh, okay. MR. VENTURA: yeah, I think from the other meeting, some Board members weren't able to make the other date— CHR. CABANAS: Right. MR. VENTURA: —and—yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, you'll be absent and excused. MR. VENTURA: I will be absent from that meeting. CHR. CABANAS: On November 21st but then our next meeting following that—Charlie will be absent on November 21st? Oh, so we have two Board members absent on November 21" Charlie and Mel—but we will have quorum with three remaining. And then, in December, our December meeting is December 20th, at 10:30. MS. DE SOTO: And I'll be absent for the December meeting. CHR. CABANAS: You'll be absent from the December meeting—okay—you'll be absent and excused from the December 20th meeting at 10:30. Okay. Adiournment (Item 10) CHR. CABANAS: And then we are now on Number 10, "Adjournment." So, do I have a motion to adjourn today's meeting? MR. VENTURA: So moved. Page 20 Merit Appeals Board October 27, 2022 CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Mel. MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Kate. Any discussion? If not, we will start with a rollcall vote with Mel lo adjourn today's meeting. MR. VENTURA: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Kate. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Charlie. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Gabriella—aye. Four ayes. Motion carried to adjourn today's meeting. Meeting is adjourned at 11:06 a.m. Thank everyone. Respectfully submitted, iljfrUL' Glynis Yamada, Secretary-Reporter APPROVED: v&AA U- U4 ' " . &Pa- I.0 ' Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair Merit Appeals Board Page 21