Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/850954
E n s u r i n g a S t r o n g F u t u r e 36 | P a g e Workforce Management: Key focus Areas The key focus areas of Workforce Management and Support are Recruitment/Retention, Total Compensation, Learning and Development and Employee Injury & Illness Prevention. Recruitment/Retention Employees are the heart of Padre Dam and it's a priority to attract, hire and retain the talented workforce necessary to move the District forward. Competing for qualified applicants begins with developing and maintaining a reputation as an outstanding place to work. This is accomplished by creating innovative pathways that highlight the value of public service employment, offering a competitive total compensation package, cultivating an engaged and collaborative working environment and providing opportunity for long-term growth. An additional priority is to ensure our workforce is representative of the diverse population we serve. The need to develop and reward internally the ability of employees to perform in multiple capacities is on-going. This requires continuous improvement in hiring processes to keep pace with service requirements, needs, desires and capabilities of employees. Total Compensation As we work to maintain our competitive total compensation package, made up of medical benefits, retirement benefits and work/life balance, we must do so within feasible budget constraints; this requires strong management of healthcare and retirement costs. Padre Dam has shifted to a Pay-for- Performance merit system and will continue to emphasize these performance practices while driving employee engagement in the performance management process. A final strategy is to educate employees on the value of Employee Total Compensation more effectively. Learning and Development We will continue to offer individual development planning to employees as we ready high-potential employees for career development and prepare for targeted succession planning. Continuous assessment of educational, technical and leadership knowledge gaps will allow for leveraging of funds earmarked for training and development. The creation and implementation of Padre Dam University will provide targeted individual training, management readiness training, competency management, micro learning and the establishment of a Skills Sharing Bank. As we work to develop and maintain readiness of future District Leaders we will champion process improvement initiatives to help leaders engage in change management strategies.