Wausau, Wis. To Consider HR Department Merger With Neighboring County

The human resources departments for the city of Wausau, Wisconsin is considering a merger with the HR department of the adjacent Marathon County.

An administrator for Marathon County, Brad Karger said, “I believe that it will not be effective if the employees are not clear that they have one boss, not two, and that they work for one organization that provides serve to two, not for two organizations.”

Karger met with the Mayor of Wausau, Jim Tipple, on Friday. Tipple, who would ultimately sign any agreement, in a letter to Karger, “Retaining our positions will ensure the city receives sufficient cohesive, cost effective human resource services and maximizes the probability of success of this joint endeavor.”

Tipple was referring to the city’s two HR positions, which has become an issue for the two parties. Tipple is subject to a county-imposed deadline of Monday to decide whether or not to sign the agreement. Tipple says he will stick to it.

The one thing to take away from the merger is the efficacy of HR. Should a smaller city like Wausau relegate its HR department to Marathon County?

Karger is not sure if the merger would take place if Tipple did not make Monday’s deadline.