Civil Service Reform
Originally created to protect against cronyism and to increase
efficiency,San Francisco's civil service system was first established
in 1900.
Over the last century, the City's personnel system has evolved into a
convoluted web of Charter provisions, ordinances, Civil Service Rules,
human resources policies and procedures and collectively bargained
agreements.
Too
often in government, laws are passed and policies are created to fix
particular problems of the moment -- and then we allow decades or more
to roll by without ever following up to see what the long-term
consequences have been. A solution a half a century ago may very well be a problem today.
To
ensure our personnel system can continue to provide San Francisco with
the highest quality workforce in the 21st Century, Mayor Newsom, the
Board of Supervisors and the Civil Service Commission asked the City's
Department of Human Resources to examine our civil service and human
resource systems and to identify the areas most in need of reform.
Civil Service Reform – Preserving the Promise of Government
DHR
is committed to ensuring that merit-based employment, equal opportunity
and strong labor relations remain the foundation of our personnel
system. Our goal is to preserve the promise of local government by
helping employees, operating departments and policy makers deliver to
San Franciscans the highest quality services effectively and
efficiently.
Phase I of Civil Service Reform
For
Phase I of Civil Service Reform, the Department of Human Resources
conducted research and outreach efforts over a period of several months
and synthesized the results into a policy paper to Mayor Newsom in May
2005 with recommendations for reform.
Read DHR's May 2005 Civil Service Reform Report (PDF)
Approximately 36
of the City's 45 recommendations in the May 2005 Civil Service Reform
Report have been achieved or partially achieved, many with DHR's
ongoing efforts for expansion and/or improvement.
Of those, 3 are no longer necessary or no longer recommended; DHR is
seeking to implement the remainder of the recommendations through Phase
II of its Civil Service Reform efforts.
Phase II of Civil Service Reform
DHR
is currently embarking on Phase II of Civil Service Reform in its
continuing effort to make the City's personnel system less confusing
and more responsive. From spring to fall of 2008, DHR convened working
groups with a number of the City's stakeholders in order to develop
recommendations for this second phase of reform.
In
addition to its efforts to implement the remaining recommendations of
Phase I, DHR is also proposing additional civil service reforms geared
to:
Further modernize and streamline the hiring and promotive process to
ensure that the City can hire or promote the best and the brightest
candidates in a timely and efficient manner.
Enable the City to do a better job of managing performance and attendance.
Rationalize the City's separation policies and procedures to ensure
that they: 1) meet operational needs; 2) are fiscally responsible; and
3) are consistent with best practices.
Modernize and simplify the governance of our personnel system.
Click Here for a Review of the City's Civil Service Reform Efforts
