Successful Department Head Recruitment
By Scott Randall, Village Manager, Village of Streamwood
The process of recruiting and selecting municipal
executives can be expensive, time-consuming and
fraught with such questions as:
• Can we do it ourselves?
• Should we hire a search firm?
• From what area will we recruit?
• How much will it cost?
• Who should be involved in the process?
In Streamwood, we have developed a process for
the selection of department heads and other management positions which is conducted in-house, at minimal
expense, and involves a variety of individuals associated with and impacted by the executive being recruited. While used many times, the specific process
outlined below was used in the recruitment/selection of
a new police chief in the Fall of 1994.
In June of that year, the Village was faced with the
difficult task of hiring a new police chief to replace a
retiring, distinguished and long-tenured chief. Recognizing the many relationships which exist between the
police chief and various constituencies within and
beyond the Village's borders, it was decided that the
search process should be as inclusive and broad-based
as possible.
• Recruitment — formal notice was published in
five professional and local government publications, giving approximately 30 days after the last
date of publication in which to apply; this resulted in 97 applications being received.
• Initial Screening — conducted by a three-person
staff committee including the village manager,
retiring police chief and personnel director; this
process produced a pool of 37 semi-finalists.
• Pre-Interview Questionnaire — a 16-page questionnaire was sent to all semi-finalists in order to
obtain more detailed information on their background, professional experiences and personal
philosophies. Candidates were given 15 days in
which to respond; 26 of 37 candidates completed
this task.
• Selection Panel — an eight-person assessment
panel was appointed, consisting of a local business executive and Chamber of Commerce representative; local grade school principal; village
manager of a neighboring community; police
chief of a neighboring community; a police officer from our department; our retiring police
chief; personnel director; and village manager.
The panel reviewed the cover letter, resume and
supplemental questionnaire for all 26 semi-finalists. Each panelist identified those candidates that they were interested in meeting for a final interview. Based upon this process, we identified a total of seven candidates which received
expressions of interest from at least five of the
eight committee members. This group constituted our pool of finalists.
• Assessment Process — a total of six candidates
accepted our invitation to a one-day interview,
consisting of six parts: panel interview, oral presentation, in-basket exercise, self-evaluation, facility tour and community tour.
• Staff Participation — other Village staff members
were involved in the assessment process — either
as "audience" in the oral interview, proctors for
the in-basket and self-evaluation or in giving
tours. To assist the selection panel in its evaluation
of candidates, each of these staff members was
asked to complete an evaluation of each candidate. This material was shared with the selection
panel as it reviewed each portion of the interview.
• Selection — at the conclusion of the interview
process, each panel member rated each candidate. At that point, one finalist was eliminated
from further consideration. The panel then reviewed the written and video work product
generated by each candidate. At the conclusion of
this review, each panel member again rated each
candidate. At the conclusion of this process, the
panel reduced the pool of finalists to two — with
one unanimous choice.
• Background — an extensive background and reference check was conducted by the police department and personnel director. In addition, the
village manager conducted personal interviews
with nine municipal officials from the candidate's
current employer.
• Appointment — an offer of employment was extended and the negotiations completed on the
terms and conditions of employment.
In conclusion, the broad-based participation in this
selection process gave the community, police department employees, as well as neighboring communities, a
great sense of satisfaction with the selection of this
high-profile local government executive. Furthermore,
the process was completed within 90 days at a cost of
less than $2,500, including all publication and travel
expenses.
August 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 5
|