BAKERSVILLE – The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners met in special session Wednesday, May 27, to review pay plan and personnel policy recommendations from the Management and Personnel Services Group, or MAPS.
The MAPS Group conducted a study of Mitchell County through employee questionnaires, interviews, salary surveys and analysis, culminating in a lengthy report presented to commissioners.
County finance officer Mavis Parsley said the county has not completed a pay plan study in 13 years and has not implemented an updated plan since January of 2008.
MAPS Group President Becky Veazey said studies should be conducted every three-to-five years because jobs and markets change, leading to needed adjustments for classifications and salary ranges.
Veazey said a regularly updated pay plan helps recruit and retain employees, ensure internal equity, recognize equal pay for equal work, maximizes cost-effectiveness and creates a defensible system.
Veazey noted it had been so long since a new pay plan was implemented, the county is suffering from severe compression.
“What compression means is that most employees are compressed in the very beginning parts of their pay ranges,” she said.
Veasey said this could create motivation and morale problems because new employees and long-term employees are receiving similar salaries. A pay plan makes hiring new, highly qualified employees more difficult as well.
Additionally, the plan the group is recommending would not bring every employees’ salary up to where it should be.
“Because (the county is) substantially behind, the recommendations don’t catch people up to where they should be,” she said. “The people who are the most underpaid are the ones who are getting increases.”
Veazey highlighted a general management recommendation for an aggressive performance pay program that would focus on employee conduct and achievement to address this problem. An example of this would be a different percentage increase based on annual supervisor evaluations. These could range from someone who “fails to meet standards” receiving no increase to someone who “exceeds standards” receiving a two percent increase.
Veazey also said several employees in the county had been promoted to supervisory positions without receiving proper supervisory training.
“I would also suggest supervisors take more training courses,” she said. “Leadership, motivation and how to give feedback employees hear as helpful and not tearing them down are critical components.”
According to the report provided by MAPS Group, the initial cost to implement the plan would be around $390,000. The report highlights that the state would pay some portion, approximately 66 percent, of the cost for implementation of the DSS positions. The MAPS group mentions in the report if these costs are more than the county can afford, they will work with the county to work on a phase-in approach.
A decision about the pay plan had not been made at press time.