The Johnson County West Courthhouse Annex.
Daily Journal File Photo
Johnson County, for the first time, will have contracted human resources services.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an agreement Monday for third-party human resource services from Waggoner Irwin Scheele & Associates Inc. The company will review the county’s HR and personnel policies and practices while also offering consulting assistance upon request.
County employees do not have a dedicated HR representative. The commissioners, department heads, county coordinator and county attorneys all team up to perform different HR functions. Many Indiana municipalities with large workforces have hired in-house HR personnel in recent years, including Greenwood, Franklin and Bargersville.
This contract is a step toward a more formalized HR process without the step of hiring a new employee. The company’s work will include a county-wide HR audit where elected officials and department heads will be surveyed on the county’s current HR practices, including procedures for recruitment and onboarding, personnel records retention, salary administration and payroll practices.
Upon request, consultants will also offer services including updating and administering personnel policies, forms and procedures, help with recruitment, hiring, discipline and problem solving, and conducting internal complaint investigations, expert witness research and guidance.
The HR audit was approved for an amount not to exceed $18,460. Any additional consulting services on top of the audit will be billed separately on an hourly basis at a rate of $45 to $145 per hour, depending on the type of service and who at the company performs it, according to the contract.
The vote for the third-party HR services was a unanimous decision from the commissioners. Commissioner Ron West, who has expressed opposition to hiring an HR employee in past interviews with the Daily Journal, “reluctantly” seconded Commissioner Kevin Walls’ motion to approve the contract on Monday.
“As most everybody knows, I’ve been somewhat opposed to this kind of arrangement,” West said, “But since how we had a somewhat contentious situation with the council, going forward during the budget process, I think this might be a good step in helping ease that and bring more agreement to the forefront as to how we classify people and salaries.”
Commissioner Brian Baird reminded people Monday that the consultant will audit what the county is already doing, rather than put something new in place. The audit can also reveal the steps the county can take to support employees with the resources they already have.
“This just gives us a third party to help us with resources and to make sure that we’re doing things properly so that we’re not out of line in what we’re doing to this point,” Baird said. “And again, this will help us in what we do down the road as far as figuring out the best way to continue forward with this. So I think this is a great project and I think we’ll be fine with it.”
Walls has been working toward getting something done on HR for about four years, he said. The audit is the first step, but as for a dedicated HR representative, he said “that’ll be my second fight.”
Waggoner Irwin Scheele is also the company behind the salary and job classification study that was approved in September and will be conducted this winter. The commissioners and the Johnson County Council went back and forth on the need for the study, but it was ultimately approved.
West was originally opposed to the study because he alleged the compensation information was readily available through the Association of Indiana Counties and he didn’t think the information would be used by the council. He ended up voting for the study in September because he understood the council had the right to enter into the contract and he supported their right to do that, he said at the time.
