History - The Personnel Review Committee (PRC) was formed on November 9, 1999 by County Administrator Michael B. Press to review requests for additional personnel.  On March 1, 2000, the County Administrator clarified the role of the PRC by stating that it would be involved in variety of personnel decisions, including evaluating the following requests:

1. Additional FTEs/new positions;
2. Conversion of a position (or portion of a position) to County funding, thereby, increasing County support;
3. Grant/contract/fee-based positions for which grant/contract/fee-based funding no longer supports the personnel originally approved; and
4. Other position control/personnel actions as requested by the County Manager.

Role:

When the PRC was formed, the role of the PRC was somewhat undefined. A countywide review and analysis of personnel decisions had not been performed previously on a systematic basis.  As the PRC has evaluated requests and worked with departments/agencies, the role of the PRC has evolved to provide better service to the County, the County Manager, and departments/agencies.  The PRC provides analysis to departments/agencies from Human Resources and Budget perspectives, helping them prepare for presentations to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) by anticipating BOCC questions and considering internal equity issues.

Membership:

The membership and the administration of the committee has evolved over time to reflect the needs of Johnson County Government and the County Manager.  Currently, the committee consists of seven members.  Standing members of the committee are the Director of Human Resources or his/her designee and appointees from the Budget and Financial Planning Department and the County Manager’s office. The remaining members are comprised of two individuals representing the Development Services area and two individuals representing the Community Services area.  Representatives of these areas are Department Heads or key managers, with at least one Department Head from each Service Area.  Representatives of the Development Services and Community Services area have three year staggered terms.  All members are appointed by the County Manager.  The committee selects a Chair each year to lead the meetings and serve as a liaison between the committee and departments.  The Chair is usually a Department Head.  A list of current members is in the Appendix.

The PRC relies heavily on the expertise and knowledge of the Classification and Compensation Specialist and Management and Budget Analysts.  The Human Resources and Budget and Financial Planning staff are instrumental in the information gathering and analysis process for the PRC.  Their ongoing relationships and operational knowledge of County departments/agencies ensures that a partnership exists during the development, assessment, and determination of recommendations for those requests.

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The PRC reviews personnel requests in three areas.  They are personnel requests made through the annual budget process (RAR), personnel requests associated with CIP projects, and personnel requests for immediate action.

Requests for Additional Resources – Annual Budget Process

As a part of the annual budget process, departments are asked to request additional resources to fund new projects or programs or to enhance existing projects and programs.  Often these requests are for additional personnel. The County Manager has asked the PRC to review these requests during the budget process and provide the Manager and Budget staff with recommendations.  It is important to note that PRC members do not rate requests submitted by their own departments.

This process is coordinated with the annual budget process.  Forms and procedures are updated annually and shared with the organization with other annual budget.  The procedure is as follows: 

1. The PRC’s RAR – Personnel Forms are sent to departments with the Annual Operating Budget Forms in accordance with the Budget Calendar.
2. Departments with requests are asked to submit their forms by the date outlined on the Budget Calendar.
3. The PRC reviews all written requests.
4. Meetings with the PRC and departments are held to review and discuss requests.  The meetings generally occur over the period of a week during a time established in the Budget Calendar.  The lengths of the meetings are related to the size of the request. 
5. The PRC rates each requests using a three-point criteria (high, medium, or low priority).
6. The PRC discusses their recommendations with the County Manager.
7. The PRC shares their recommendation with each department in a memorandum outlining their rating. 
8. The County Manager considers the recommendation of the PRC when developing the proposed budget, but has no obligation to follow the ranking established by the PRC.

During the budget process, the PRC rates requests individually, based on the merits of the proposal.  The factors used to rate requests are somewhat dynamic and are based on the budget parameters approved by the Board of County Commissioners. 

• How does the request fit with the staffing plan for the department?
• What methodologies or best practices were used to develop the request?
• How does the request address the strategic goals and objectives of the department and the County as a whole?
• What internal resources can be allocated to meet the request? 

Departments are also asked to provide the PRC with the following information when submitting their requests and making their presentation.

• An organizational chart for the department that highlights the requested positions.
• A position description.
• A brief outline of the recent staffing history for the department.
• A review of the staffing plan for the department, including how the requested position(s) fits into that plan and what the staffing plan is based on.
• A description of what efforts the department has taken to accommodate growth. 
• The specific job duties and assignments of the position.

Personnel Requests Associated with CIP Projects

The role of the PRC in this process is different than its role in the other processes outlined in this document.  In this instance, the PRC performs an advisory role on the personnel and operating side of the capital request.  Any feedback that the PRC provides on the personnel and operating aspects of the request are taken into consideration by the CIP committee, but the ranking of the request by the CIP committee consists of a multitude of factors and an objective formula.  It is important to note that PRC members do not rate requests submitted by their own departments.    The following is the procedure used by the PRC with this process.

1. The PRC is copied with CIP requests that have personnel associated with them.
2. The PRC reviews the request and sends the department questions or concerns with the request.
3. Departments respond to the questions.
4. The PRC considers the responses and makes a recommendation to the CIP committee.

Immediate Action Requests

The PRC also reviews personnel requests outside of the budget process.  To remain consistent with our goal of providing greater analysis on requests before the Board of County Commissioners reviews them, the PRC reviews requests outside of the budget process that will require BOCC action.  Again, PRC members do not evaluate requests submitted by their own departments.  Personnel requests that require BOCC action are listed below.

• Requests that require additional FTE.
• Requests that require additional funds. 
• Requests associated with a grant/contract/fee based positions.

For definitional purposes, a request that would need additional funds includes only requests for additional funds that require approval by the Board of County Commissioners.  

The following procedure is used by the PRC with this process:

1. If a position description needs to be created or the position needs to be graded, please contact the Compensation and Classification Specialist in HR to have that completed. 
2. PRC Immediate Action Request forms to the department on the HR Website or from their Budget Analyst.
3. The department submits the completed forms to CMO-PRC via email. 
4. The department contacts Sarah Plinsky with the County Manager’s Office to schedule a meeting time.
5. The committee reserves the right to reschedule the meeting if the forms are not submitted 5 business days before the meeting and/or they are incomplete.
6. The department meets with the PRC to review the request.
7. The PRC makes a recommendation to support or not support the request and forwards the request to the County Manager.
8. The County Manager either supports or denies the request and forwards that determination, along with the PRC’s recommendation, to the department, Human Resources, and Budget and Financial Planning. 
9. The department contacts the HR Classification and Compensation Specialist to ensure that the proper paperwork is completed to implement the request.

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The creation of the PRC coincided with a renewed emphasis on the role of the County’s personnel resources in achieving our mission.  It was decided that decisions involving the personnel investments of Johnson County were just as important as the decisions involving the capital investments.  With that perspective in mind, it is natural that personnel decisions should receive the same focus and attention as other types of investment decisions in the county.   

Furthermore, the County Manager feels it is important to fully examine and analyze a request for additional staff or resources before it is forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners.  It is a goal of the PRC to assist departments in preparing for the Board of County Commissioners. 

To assist departments in preparing for the PRC, the committee strongly urges departments to work with HR and Budget Analyst.  Both of these groups are very familiar with the PRC and the criteria they use to make recommendations and should be instrumental in preparing your request. 

In the memos written to the County Manager concerning requests, the PRC outlines its reasoning and criteria.  The PRC has developed the following criteria as general guidelines to help the committee analyze and develop their recommendation. 

• How is the position designed?  Does the position have duties that logically fit together?
• How does the requested position fit into the staffing plan?
• What is the staffing plan for the department?
• What is the staffing plan based on? 
• What best practices or models were used in developing the position request and the staffing needs for the department?
• What efforts have been undertaken by the department to try to address the need for the position before it was determined that an additional position was the best course of action? 
• How does this position request address the strategic goals and objectives for the Department and the County?
• What efforts have been made to utilize existing personnel and financial resources allocated to the department to accommodate this request?
• Is there an incumbent involved that impacts the need for the request?

In addition, any supplemental documentation, such as organizational charts and position descriptions, are also extremely helpful to the PRC when deliberating on a request.  If you have any questions about what written material would assist the PRC, please contact the PRC, HR or your Budget Analyst.

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Name	Title	Representative of	Term Exp. Date
Cindy Kemper, Chair	Director, Environmental	Development Services	1/1/08
Dr. Leon Vinci	Director, Public Health	Community Services	1/1/09
Chris Butler	Director of Operations, Infrastructure and Public Works	Development Services	1/1/09
Kent Brown	Chief Financial Officer, Sheriff's Office	Community Services/Governing Board	1/1/10
Jill Jolicoeur	Budget Analyst	Budget and Financial Planning	Standing
Megan Laha	Senior Management Analyst	County Manager's Office	Standing

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