Media Release

City launches recruitment and retention strategy to better compete in tightening labour market

Hamilton, ON – The City of Hamilton has launched a recruitment and retention strategy to help it become more competitive in an increasingly difficult fight for talent.

The strategy follows a comprehensive third-party analysis in 2022 of the City’s competitive position as it relates to attracting non-union employees – approximately 1,100 positions including directors, managers, and various specialties such as planners, IT specialists and engineers. The analysis was carried about by Optimus SBR at a cost of $107,000 and included an analysis of the City’s current state of operations, a market analysis, and a municipal recruitment best practice scan.

The analysis found that the City of Hamilton had a weakened competitive position as an employer compared to other municipalities. Areas identified for attention include:

High workloads – analysis identified that the City’s current organizational structure may be contributing to high workload in areas of the organization
Recruitment process is lengthy – average time to fill a position was 87 days
Compensation no longer competitive – analysis identified that some of Hamilton’s compensation comparators are no longer appropriate as they do not reflect Hamilton’s economic conditions
Variations in policy implementation – analysis identified need to further standardize the City’s hybrid work policy to ensure it’s being applied as equitably as possible

To strengthen Hamilton’s competitive position and improve recruitment and retention rates, the City’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy will prioritize these recommendations from the third-party review:

Completion of a corporate organizational structure review – the review will aim to identify areas of organizational structural improvements with an aim to ensuring sustainable workloads and service excellence
Update technology in human resources – the City will aim to make better use of technology and systems to increase efficiencies and time in the recruitment process.
Realignment of Hamilton’s economic comparators – the realignment will replace some current economic comparators with cities more reflective of Hamilton’s economic reality
Adjusting the Implementation Criteria of the Hybrid Work Policy – organization will be moving to a minimum mandatory two (2) “anchor days” in the office for all divisions to support greater collaboration
Making it More Attractive for City Employees to Seek Promotions – in response to recommendations from the third-party analysis, the maximum salary increases an existing employee can receive when excepting a promotion will increase from eight per cent to 10 per cent
A comprehensive and ongoing marketing campaign – the City will engage in an ongoing, tailored marketing campaign to ensure the opportunity to, and benefits of, working in Hamilton are well understood

The competitive analysis showed some similar trends to the City’s 2021 Our People Survey (OPS), a survey of all City staff, which found that most employees enjoyed working for the City and would recommend it as an employer, but that there were issues such as work-life balance that employees were looking for the City to address. The OPS survey also found that the areas of the City of Hamilton that were the highest-rated by the majority of employees were pride in their team, pride in work and job, and safe and respectful workplace.

We have understood for years that the labour market was preparing for a significant demographic shift as more baby boomers opted to enter retirement. That shift is well underway and was hastened by the pandemic and ability to work virtually, which has led to municipalities across Ontario and Canada, including Hamilton, to review what they are offering current and potential employees and how that compares to other cities seeking the exact same talent.

Janette Smith, City Manager

Our third-party review confirmed what we in human resources were already seeing, that Hamilton was starting to lose its position as an employer of choice. We believe that with the renewed approach Hamilton is taking, the value and advantage of working in, and for, Hamilton will be clear, and that Hamilton will continue to attract the best and brightest to help move the City and its important work forward.

Lora Fontana, Executive Director of Human Resources

Quick Facts

Hamilton has been experiencing recruitment and retention challenges similar to other public sector organizations and are starting to experience service impacts due to hard-to-fill positions.
Between 2019 and 2022, the City saw the retirement rate of non-union employees increase by 47 per cent (equivalent to 45 non-union employees in 2019 and 66 in 2022)
More than one in five participants in the Canadian labour market are aged 55 to 64 and are considered close to retirement. (Statistics Canada – 2022)
Between 2019 and 2022, the City of Hamilton saw voluntary non-union employee departures from the organization increase by 40 per cent (equivalent to 84 individuals in 2019 and 118 in 2022).
The City currently has 1,100 non-union employees, who occupy management, licensed professions such as lawyers and engineers as well as planners, IT professionals, project managers, and auditors.
A third-party review of the City of Hamilton’s competitive labour market position was completed by Optimus SBR. It launched August 2022 and was finalized with recommendations in January 2023 at a cost of $107,000.
The third-party review focused on non-union employee groups as compensation and benefits for union employees takes place as part of a union bargaining process.
The City updated its non-union employee benefit package at the beginning of 2023. Changes include greater flexibility in how benefits can be used.
The City of Hamilton’s 2021 Our People Survey (OPS) – a survey of all City of Hamilton employees – had complementary findings to the analysis, and found that while employees enjoyed working for the City, there were some challenges. The OPS found that the majority of employees enjoyed working at the City of Hamilton and would recommend it to others. Of all staff, 78.5 per cent said they were proud to work at the City of Hamilton, 3.6 per cent above the pre-pandemic municipal sector average, and 74.9 per cent said they would recommend the City as an employer, a total of 3.4 per cent above the average.
From 2016 to 2021, the number of children in Canada under the age of 15 grew at a pace six times slower than people aged 65 and older (Statistics Canada – 2022)

Additional Information

Reviewer: Optimus SBR
Review Scope: Review and assessment of the City's current state, analysis of municipal comparators, and the best practice scan.
Timeframe: August 2022 to January 2023
Cost: $107,000
Work Undertaken: Optimus SBR undertook several activities as a part of their review, including discovery interviews with key staff members, a data and document review, a non-union compensation competitive analysis, 11 stakeholder focus groups, and an external best practice scan.

Key Findings of Hamilton’s Current State

Issue	Implications
Organizational Structure	Most departments and divisions are flat, with large spans of control (i.e., several people reporting to one manager or director), creating a high workload for leadership and fewer progression opportunities.
Policy and Procedure	The City has progressive policies and procedures relating to succession planning, flexible work arrangements, and flexibility in working models. However, the inconsistent and perceived inequitable application of these policies and procedures at the individual, team, and department levels causes friction within the organization.
Practice and Process	Recruitment processes are well-defined. However, there is a need to implement more and better technology to improve the efficiency of the recruitment process.
Tools and Systems	The City’s recruitment tools and HR systems are not meeting The City’s needs of driving data-informed decisions and hastening the recruitment process.
Culture	The City’s culture is mainly viewed positively by staff and leadership, with pockets of cynicism in specific departments and organizational levels.
Compensation	The market survey shows that The City is paying 6.0% below the 50^th percentile (mid-point) market rate compared to similar municipalities. Additionally, some approved comparators are no longer valid due to significant changes within the City of Hamilton and the overarching recruitment and retention landscape.

Recommendations: Optimus SBR made a number of recommendations for the City to address the recruitment and retention challenges the City of Hamilton is experiencing. These measures were recommended to address the recruitment retention issues:

Create and implement a consistent employer brand, inclusive of an employee value proposition.
Reduce the time to fill positions by leveraging technology and clarifying roles in the recruitment process
Increase the internal pay bump for non-union promotions to bring it in line with industry standard
Change the market comparators to be more reflective of present-day Hamilton
Change the hybrid work policy and procedure to reflect mandate days in the office (anchor days).

Note on Market Comparators (Non-Union)

Current Comparators

City of Brampton
City of Burlington
City of London
City of Mississauga
Region of Halton
Region of Niagara
Region of Peel
Region of Waterloo
Town of Oakville
City of Brantford
City of Guelph

Recommended New Comparators

City of Brampton
City of Burlington
City of London
City of Mississauga
Region of Halton
Region of Niagara
Region of Peel
Region of Waterloo
City of Markham
City of Richmond Hill
City of Vaughn
City of Ottawa

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City launches recruitment and retention strategy to better compete in tightening labour market

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