Vancouver City Council

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: May 23, 2003
Author: I. VanKemenade

Phone: 7653

RTS No: 03342
CC File: 1379
Meeting Date: June 10, 2003

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: General Manager, Human Resource Services

SUBJECT: New Position: Administrative Support

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT City Council approve the creation of a Regular Full-Time exempt

administrative support position within the Compensation, Benefits & Systems

division of Human Resource Services. Funding of $29,180.60 to be provided

for the current year from the Contingency Reserve and on-going funding to be provided by an increase of $42,361.20 to the department's operating budget.

COUNCIL POLICY:

City Council approves all regular full-time staff positions.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to recommend to City Council the creation of a new full-time
administrative support position in the Compensation, Benefits & Systems division in Human Resource Services.

DISCUSSION:

Due to a number of the challenges facing the organization, including the significant increase
in retirees; an aging workforce; government downloading; market rate increases; and attraction, retention and succession planning initiatives, there has been and will be continue to be an increased demand for services provided by the Compensation, Benefits & Systems division related to:

Retirement Services - Due to the aging workforce, there has been a significant increase in the
number of retirements. At this point in time, the anticipated retirements for 2003 have increased
by 80% from 2002. There is a need to enhance communications to employees with respect to retirement information and expand the educational offerings in this area, as well as provide daily assistance to employees as they move through the retirement process.

Compensation & Benefits - Key concerns with the changing demographics are the ability of the organization to attract replacements for the increased numbers of retirees and retain current
employees in a highly competitive job market. In order to attract and retain new and current
employees, the organization has to remain competitive in the area of compensation and benefits.
This requires regular market salary survey analysis and an on-going monitoring of benefit
offerings to ensure the total compensation package is both attractive and competitive.

Benefit Cost Analysis - The cost of providing benefits has increased significantly in the last
number of years due to a number of factors, including Provincial government downloading and
the increased cost and usage of drugs as a result of the aging workforce and the success of new drug treatments. These increases are expected to continue. Given that benefits plans are a key component to our attraction and retention strategy, it is essential that the costs are monitored on an on-going basis to ensure we are offering an competitive benefit program in a cost-effective
manner.

Systems Development - As the HR Business Process Owner, the division is involved in all
projects related to new HR functionality in SAP. There is a growing need for systems to assist
the City to enhance employee and organizational effectiveness. Plans are currently underway to implement Manager's Desktop and Training and Events and additional modules related to the
Qualifications Catalogue and Performance Development are being piloted with a view to
expansion across the organization in the future.

Research & Communications - There has been an increased demand for the division to provide
demographic data to departments and the organization as a whole in order to assist in the
development of human resource strategies related to succession planning, sick leave and WCB
management and unfunded liability issues. As well as the departments, individual employees
have increased expectations regarding access to information quickly and easily. The need for
enhanced communciations requires an on-going effort to continue development and maintenance of an expanded HR website.

Strategic Initiatives - Many of the services provided by the Compensation, Benefits & Systems
division were referenced in the Employee Attraction, Retention, Recognition & Succession
document presented and endorsed by the Corporate Management in November, 2002, including
Market Rate reviews, Retirement Strategy, Benefit Plan Market Comparison, Pre-Paid Leave
Plan, Workforce Demographic Analysis and SAP HR Functionality.

At this time, the Compensation, Benefits & Systems division of Human Resource Services
has a staff of six, including the Manager, a Retirement Consultant, an HR Business Analyst,
a Compensation Consultant, a Compensation Coordinator and a Benefits Coordinator. The addition of administrative support will allow the Manager and the Consultants to dedicate their efforts to meeting current challenges and new initiatives.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

Creation of 1 Regular Full-Time position (Exempt Payband 3):

2003 funding from Contingency Reserve -

6 months salary + fringe $21,180.60 furniture, computer equipment, licenses 8,000.00

$29,180.60

On-going increase to Operating Budget -

Salary + Fringe $42,361.20

SUMMARY:

In order to respond to the increased demand for services and to meet the changing needs of the organization for the future, additional resources are required in the Compensation, Benefits &
Systems division. The addition of an administrative support position will allow professional
staff in the division to respond positively in many of the areas of challenge for the organization, including Retirement Services, Compensation & Benefits, Benefit Cost Analysis, System Development, Research & Communications, and Strategic Initiatives.

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