Overview
The Human Resource Division (HRD) consists of both commissioned and civil service employees. Each position within HRD has a specific purpose related to the management of personnel needs of the organization. HRD staff includes, HRD commander (captain), recruiters, background investigators, polygraphists, human resource consultants and assistants, human resource manager, human resource operations manager, diversity equity inclusion officer, industrial organizational psychologist, industrial hygienist, safety officer, forms and records analyst, assistant to HR director and a secretary senior.
The HRD recognizes the importance of its role as a business and strategic partner to districts, divisions, and WSP executive staff. Therefore, HRD provides general and specialized HR services, recommends policies, and provides training and programs to assist WSP accomplish its vision, mission, and strategies.
Key Measurements and Statistics
The HRD was responsible to implement the Governor’s COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement of August 9, 2021. HRD ensured approximately 2,200 WSP employees were informed of the Governor’s proclamation and their individual rights regarding temporary medical and religious accommodations and reassignments. HRD received approximately 42 requests for medical accommodations and 388 requests for religious accommodations and verified and tracked vaccinated and non-vaccinated employees. HRD also had to revise all recruitments, interviews, and selection processes to comply with Office of Financial Management and State HR COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Guidance. The WSP complied with all COVID-19 mandate requirements.
During calendar year 2021, HRD managed approximately 660 COVID-19 related cases. Employees exposed to or tested positive with COVID-19 were informed of the Department of Health and Center Disease Control COVID-19 protocols.
In 2021, HRD hired 60 trooper cadets for the 39th Arming Class. Of the 60, 5 percent identified as female, 16 percent identified as Hispanic, 8.6 percent identified as African American, 6.8 percent identified as Asian and 15 percent identified as two or more races. COVID-19 continued to be problematic, but the WSP partnership with Public Safety Testing has allowed the agency the opportunity to offer both online written and virtual physical fitness examinations, thus limiting the necessity for in person contacts.
Successes of 2021
During 2021, the centralized recruiting team continued to focus their efforts on increasing diversity composition within the commissioned and civilian ranks utilizing data driven recruitment goals. The time to hire fell to 45 days from the date of application for commissioned positions. The Polygraph Unit conducted 977 pre-employment polygraph examinations for all job classes.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Throughout 2021, the WSP consistently worked on making the WSP a diverse place of work, identifying and filling gaps to bring equity and create an inclusive organizational culture. WSP created an external and internal webpage for DEI education. In November 2021, the WSP hosted an agency-wide training, “How to beat Your Own Unconscious Bias” that also included tips on being an inclusive leader for command and executive leaders. The HRD produced and published resources for leaders to help them be an inclusive leader. DEI initiatives and goals were included in performance evaluations for supervisors to recognize and reinforce exemplary work in the DEI space. DEI principles were incorporated in every step of our recruitment and hiring process.
The WSP established an agency-wide DEI Council to hear from employees all across the agency and guide DEI initiatives and implementation. DEI transmitted agency wide communications to the agency, which included information about upcoming training or messages to celebrate diverse cultural days. In July 2021, the first annual DEI pulse survey conducted to gauge the sentiments of employees about DEI work and needs. In April 2021, the HRD participated in an agency wide DEI by Deloitte which made specific recommendations for recruitment, retention and training. In response, HRD introduced several new initiatives that align with those recommendations. In fall 2021, the HRD published a comprehensive real time demographic DEI report using Power BI that is available to all employees on the agency’s intranet web service. The reports are also available on the agency’s external website. This data is helpful in understanding the demographics, trends and changes, which inform the decisions made by agency leaders.