We are committed to being a strategic partner with city departments by providing outstanding customer service in attracting, retaining, developing and deploying a high-performance, diverse workforce in support of the changing needs of the organization.
Department Mission
We are committed to being a strategic partner by providing outstanding customer service and stewardship of resources in attracting and retaining a high-performance, diverse workforce in support of the changing needs of the organization.
Department Vision
We empower employees to be collaborative, innovative, and responsible, one person at a time, throughout the work life cycle.
Department Goals
We are committed to being a strategic partner with city departments by providing outstanding customer service in attracting, retaining, developing and deploying a high-performance, diverse workforce in support of the changing needs of the organization. As a business partner to each of the city’s departments, the HR Department promotes the sound management of employee resources and best practices for the city that fulfill community needs and citizen expectations.
Work Culture and High Performance Organization Focus – Continue to implement human resources programs that focus on the desired high performance work culture, and that support the city’s core values of Exceptional Public Service, Stewardship, Commitment to Employees, Integrity, and Innovation.
Organizational Workforce Development – Implement improvements to the city’s learning management and employees’ performance management systems with a One City performance evaluation process, which includes annual goal setting, individual development plans, ongoing feedback between supervisors and employees throughout the year, training for all managers in people management fundamentals, and training for all employees to strengthen the demonstration of the city’s core competencies of customer focus, instilling trust, communicating effectively, and cultivating innovation.
Diversity and Inclusion - Continue to implement strategies and programs that result in the city’s workforce demographics reflecting the community that we serve, increasing access and opportunities, and a supportive, respectful, and inclusive work environment.
Metric 1: Annual Voluntary Turnover Rate
This metric represents the percentage of employees that left the city voluntarily within the calendar year. This figure excludes involuntary terminations, temporary assignments, and retirements.
How was this calculated?
This metric is computed by dividing the number of voluntary separations by the average number of employees throughout the year.
Data:
Why is this important?
Tracking employee turnover is critical in determining the effectiveness of the city’s employee engagement and people management strategies. It is a broad metric that when combined with demographic data and exit interviews leads us to a deeper understanding of who’s leaving and why they are leaving. This and other metrics enable the city to determine the effectiveness of our engagement and retention initiatives and drive action to improve performance.
Workers change employers all the time, and it’s a normal part of career building. A high turnover rate is as undesirable as a zero-turnover rate. A certain amount of turnover is expected and healthy and provides our employees with internal options for career advancement. According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, the average turnover rate in the U.S. is about 12% to 15% annually. We believe the City of Bellevue should strive for a turnover rate between 5 and 7%.
Combined with exit interviews and demographic data, we can begin to answer questions such as: Why did the employee leave? Is there anything we could have done to prevent the loss? What level of impact will the loss have on the department and the city? Finding answers to these and other questions related to employee retention is important. We want to reduce the costs of replacing employees. These costs include the time and money spent on recruitment, overtime costs to make up for lost employee, costs of onboarding and training, and productivity losses until the new employee is up to speed. According to The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) research, direct replacement costs can reach as high as 50%-60% of an employee’s annual salary, with total costs associated with turnover ranging from 90% to 200% of annual salary.
The voluntary turnover rate is an indicator of employment engagement and satisfaction. A lower turnover percentage demonstrates a more engaged and productive workforce.
What are the next steps?
We will evaluate Human Resources programs to determine appropriate adjustments and best practices to incorporate. We will also combine voluntary turnover data, demographic data for those leaving the city, and exit interviews to discover areas where we can target efforts to increase retention.
Contact Name: Bellevue HR
Contact Email: BellevueHR@bellevuewa.gov
Contact Phone Number: 425-452-6838