Commissioners Seek Human Functional Resources Department

Stark County commissioners are currently taking steps on the right track for developing a functional human resources department for each of the county offices. This current move is coming after a period of two years when a review from citizens of the county provided a recommendation on developing a countrywide human resources department. Prior to taking these steps to creating a human resources department for the county and its offices, the county officials would handle the responsibilities of the different human resources functions.

Earlier on in the week, the commissioners came to an agreement to search for applicants to take on the position as the human resources director. The applicant would also need to work as the employment counsel for the county. Anyone who is interested in applying for such a position would need to have a law degree and should also have experience with employment law for the state and federal as well. The current salary for the position has yet to be decided but commissioners say it is negotiable. All applications must be submitted by the 16^th of November for those looking to apply. Any application submitted after this date will not be reviewed or accepted. Only qualified professionals should apply for this type of position.

For those who are applying for the position, there are a number of responsibilities that they will need to take on. Some of the responsibilities include making updates and edits to the current employee handbook for the county, developing training for new employees within the county, taking care of the public records, providing discipline to employees and firing those who are not performing as they should be. The individual will also need to come up with a strategy that would allow the county to work on any employment issues that may arise. The administrator, Michael Hanke, says that this new human resources director would have to observe the different human resources functions that are currently being used in the offices.

Back in January of 2011, the Citizens Review Committee for the Stark County area provided a lengthy report to the commissioners. The report featured a number of different suggestions from these citizens who happened to have plenty of ideas on how leaders of the county could improve the current operations. The committee felt that a human resources department was absolutely necessary and that all of those duties relating to human resources should be combined to one department. While the suggestion came nearly two years ago, it is finally happening for Stark County.