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Council approves employment software

New tech streamlines hiring process

Kile Brewer
Posted 6/21/17

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Jobs with the city of Green Cove Springs will soon be a click away after members of the City Council voted unanimously to approve a new digital employee tracking platform. …

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Council approves employment software

New tech streamlines hiring process


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Jobs with the city of Green Cove Springs will soon be a click away after members of the City Council voted unanimously to approve a new digital employee tracking platform.

“The City of Green Cove Springs currently utilizes a manual employment application process in which the candidate must print the paper employment application from our website, complete, and return by email or mail,” said the city’s human resources director Mary Jane Lundy. “Human Resources staff then prints the emailed application for processing and makes copies for the hiring supervisor to review.”

Lundy went on to explain that this process is both time consuming and wasteful with the amount of paper that is necessary for every applicant. This is what prompted Lundy and city staff to explore other options, eventually landing on a software called NEOGOV.

The software allows users to upload their information from a resume or LinkedIn profile, and once they have created an account through the NEOGOV system, their information will be saved for future applications, eliminating any need to fill out all of their information each time they apply for a job.

Based on examples provided to the council, the program will work similarly to the hiring platform used by the City of Jacksonville Beach. At the meeting, City Clerk Julie Clevinger demonstrated the simplicity of the system. On the Jax Beach site every open position is listed through their human resources page, implementing the secure NEOGOV software directly into their website. After a prospective employee finds a job they want to apply for, they are able to create an account, or upload their LinkedIn or Facebook to lay the groundwork for their application.

In addition to filling all basic information, education and work history, NEOGOV will also provide applicants with a simple list of questions that would allow the city to pre-screen before calling them in for interviews.

The resolution mentioned that the city would maintain their regular paper application process as well, for those who do not have access to a computer or device that would allow them to connect to the city’s website. Councilman Van Royal mentioned that, at some point, they should instead fully adopt the digital application and abandon the paper method altogether.

“I would encourage us not to worry about doing this paper stuff, because that’s the whole purpose behind this,” Royal said. “We should all get used to doing things this way.”

The software will cost the city $7,108 at the time of adoption, using funds from the HR budget. After implementation, the yearly cost of maintaining the software will be $4,108, eliminating the $3,000 start-up cost that is attached to this year’s payment. Lundy said that after the council signs the resolution and the software is purchased, it will be about a month before all current jobs and applications are loaded into the program goes live on the city’s website.

“It’s certainly a huge plus,” Mayor Mitch Timberlake said to Lundy about the new software. “I’ll encourage you that, once you get your feet on the ground to come back to us and request the other [employee] modules.”

The council then discussed with Lundy the possibility of buying a future software module that would similarly streamline the employee evaluation process, eliminating the need for HR staff to manually email all supervisors on the anniversaries of their employees’ hire dates with reminders that an evaluation is due. The module would automate the whole process and modernize the city’s human resources department. Lundy said she would return to the council when they had settled into the hiring software for a request to move forward with the evaluation software.