Monday, June 19, 2017

Strib reports Anoka County's exceptionally high employee turnover rate. The problem is insufficient turnover on the County Board; a.k.a. ossification of officeholders not super smart at the start, with baggage-agendas.

The Board's page. Four of the headlined sort; here, here, here and here. In descending order. Perhaps some misjudgment, in the ordering, not the listing.

And I've only been able to consistently vote against one of them.

That's districting at work.

Strib's item, stating in part:

Anoka County logged the highest employee turnover rate in the seven-county metro last year. Officials say that’s partly because of a voluntary separation program as well as the typical struggles facing public-sector employers in a stronger economy: retiring baby boomers, ample private-sector jobs and fierce competition for a shrinking number of applicants.

In some counties, turnover has doubled since 2010, with officials citing trouble with recruiting and retaining employees.

“It’s a statewide issue,” said Julie Ring, executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties. “It’s intensifying.”

Time spent hiring and training can make the churn costly, officials say. And in Anoka County, some current and former staff say pay in certain positions is largely to blame.

Department heads have made urgent pleas for salary boosts as workers are siphoned off to smaller counties and cities, where employees say they are often taking similar jobs for thousands more in pay.

[...] “It is hard to keep a highly motivated staff when they have one foot out the door or feel stupid for staying here,” [county transportation division manager, Doug] Fischer wrote.

Good quote. Notice that Board members stay. And -

“We are never going to be the county that pays the highest in the metro area, but we are looking at being within a particular range,” Chairwoman Rhonda Sivarajah said.

Rhonda stays.