The Town of Hanover is Hiring a Human Resources Director!

Speakers are labeled SPEAKER_N. This transcript is machine-generated.

Recording

everybody my name is Alex torpy I am the
town manager and I'm here with Dave
Stewart our Human Resources Director and
we wanted to talk to you a little bit
about the job posting that I think
you're probably looking at right now
um Dave why don't you introduce yourself
how long have you been here in Hanover
uh well thanks Alex I've been here
working for the town as the HR Director
for about 10 years now I've decided to
step back and I'm looking forward to
helping you find the right successor for
this position I appreciate that
um and so for folks that are looking at
this job and interested in maybe coming
to work here what's the scope of the
human resources department here in town
well really I would say that the scope
is that of One-Stop shopping
we cover the whole range of the human
resources uh uh Playbook uh everything
from uh FMLA Administration uh to
compensation to benefits uh to a complex
employee uh and Labor Relations cases
contract negotiations if you're coming
into this job you really have to have
that generalist mindset and be ready to
handle a number of different facets of
HR that in some organizations might be
handled by uh by Specialists but here
you have to be able to uh speak all the
different languages so to speak
yeah that's great and I think that's
probably true for I mean for an
organization our size yes that's often
going to be the case correct and so
um over the last 10 years that you've
been here uh what have been I mean the
last couple years I think in every
workplace everywhere have been
challenging but what have been some of
the challenges in town in the last 10
years
well I think that
um
over the last decade uh We've certainly
seen our Workforce starting to age there
have been fewer uh people coming into
local government
um and that the applicant pools have
been solid but in some ways have
been getting smaller over time as
there's been less interest by young
people and coming into the into uh
Municipal work
um and so I think a real real challenge
going forward is going to be in
developing a highly effective recruiting
strategy in an environment that has
become very competitive and requires
really top-notch skills to make sure
that we're attracting and retaining the
the best possible employees and we were
talking about this a little bit just
before and you were reflecting that that
market really has changed since when you
started yes and and so for somebody
coming into this position thinking about
where we're going as an organization
uh what are some of the things that you
think need to be sort of at the top of
their mind what are going to be some of
their biggest challenges
um and what kind of person do you think
that we're looking to kind of fill the
role that you've been
um uh playing here well I think that
um certainly having somebody who is very
comfortable in the recruiting realm who
has a background in uh motivating
rewarding recognizing employees is going
to be very important I think we also
have to acknowledge the fact that with
the current economic conditions that
we're in and the fact that inflation is
taking more of a bite out of employees
paychecks
we're going to have to really look at
our compensation practices obviously in
the public sector we have to balance the
need for employee total compensation
with the interests of taxpayers in the
community
but we're going to need people who can
be and certainly someone in the HR
Director role who can think very
creatively about how we can effectively
compensate our employees at a level that
is attractive and at the same time is
budget friendly yeah and that is not an
easy balance to strike but it's
something that we've been working on and
I've been really appreciating all those
conversations that we've been having
thinking about creative ways to approach
some of these problems I've also done a
little bit of work there's some links in
the packet that you might have seen
already
um that we've put out for this position
um I did write a piece on sub stack
about some of the challenges that I've
heard from other Town managers in New
Hampshire and Vermont about Recruitment
and Retention that's something that Dave
and I have been talking a lot about and
it's something that for anybody coming
into this role you know we are expecting
and we need someone you know
all that enthusiasm and interest in
thinking about how to do things
differently yes and sort of like you
said I mean we can't keep do you know
government the way that governments uh
manage to hire people is no longer the
name of the game and we've got to do
something different that's correct I
think
um sort of elaborating on my earlier
point about about applicant pools
um when I first started here the
applicants just came right for the jobs
that we posted
um and that really has changed
dramatically in the last few years
um certainly in the covet era and the
era of the so-called great resignation
right has changed and
um so I think we're gonna need someone
who's very Savvy in in the area of
recruiting but I think also someone who
really has a good touch in terms of
employee relations as well too because
our employees here as in most workplaces
I think are feeling the stress of the
pandemic
um and there are um there can be issues
of burnout and also
feeling like they are in you know
stressful jobs uh that made more
stressful by the times that we're living
in so I think really being able to have
that that human touch and knowing how to
relate well with our employees and
empathize and understand their concerns
I think is really important here
yeah I appreciate that context
um and um and appreciate you sharing
some of those thoughts with prospective
candidates
um you know it's been a real as we've
talked about uh privately it's been a
real pleasure to get to work on some of
these things together and um of course I
think we're very sad to see you go but
also very happy that you'll be able to
find something that is you know that
that works really well for you and I
really appreciate you helping us provide
some context for people that are
thinking about coming here is this the
right environment for you is it the sort
of challenges I mean every workplace has
challenges and
um you know we've got a lot in motion
here and that's the kind of candidate
that we're looking for yep and and this
really I I think this is a great
environment in which to work it has been
a great environment for me I think I've
reached a point in my life where I'm
just interested in dialing it back a
little bit and this is a job where we we
really need someone who's going to come
into it going full steam ahead right
um and I think that this is both a
challenging time for people in the HR
field but it's also an exciting one as
well too and there are some real
opportunities here to really make a
difference in the lives of our employees
and ultimately for the community
great thank you Dave and if folks that
are watching if you're interested in
learning more you can go to
hanovernh.org employment if you haven't
seen that page already and please reach
out to us if you have any questions