KALAMAZOO (WKZO) — The search for a new Kalamazoo County Administrator could become interesting. There is some disagreement among commissioners about how to fill the vacancy.
For now they are sticking with the approach most local government’s use, and that’s to hire an executive headhunting firm that specializes in recruiting and seeking out talent from around the nation.
Last night the County Board narrowed a list of seven possible search firms to three. A month from now, the Board plans to interview representatives of those search firms and choose one of them.
Between now and then they will participate in a retreat, giving commissioners a chance to talk about what qualities they want an administrator to have, and what kind of search firm they will need to find those candidates.
The finalists are Gov HR USA of Illinois, Slavin Management Consultants of Georgia and Hiring Solutions LLC of Michigan. The interviews are tentatively set for a special 4:30 p.m. session on March 10th.
Commissioner Kevin Wordelman is not convinced that they will need to do a national search to find the man or woman they are looking for, and he may try to convince the commission to do a local search first.
That’s why he made the motion two weeks ago to ask the County’s Human Resources Department to submit a proposal on how they would approach the task. Wordleman says it may be the best and least expensive way to get the job done.
The Cities of Portage, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo all hired national search firms to find their current City Managers, and in the end, they hired locally. Kalamazoo hired Battle Creek’s Deputy Manager. Battle Creek hired Middleville’s Manager and Portage didn’t even leave town, promoting their Interim Manager.
They weren’t just being parochial. There are good reasons why there is a local preference when it comes to hiring public administrators. One of the most valuable assets a Manager can have these days is knowledge of the community and the personnel and systems inside a local government, which gives them the ability to hit the ground running.
Also valued by local boards who are all pinching pennies these days, is the experience of managing in Michigan, especially given all the changes that are taking place in revenue sharing, personal property taxes and other funding issues.
A community which has just spent six months looking for a new C.E.O. doesn’t want to lose another six months while that executive gets up to speed. It’s like hiring a quarterback who already knows and understands the coach’s offensive system or a new employee who knows the computer programs a firm is already using.
It can also backfire. Portage Schools promoted Assistant Superintendent Ric Perry after the departure of his boss, Dr. Marsha Wells and it became quite messy when they had to replace him because of a sex scandal. Then and only then did they conduct a national search and they still ended up hiring the Superintendent from Paw Paw Schools, just down the road.
Like Dorothy they all traveled to Oz, only to learn that there is no place like home.
Wordleman for one is asking, is this trip really necessary? He says if the local search doesn’t produce the results they want, they can always do the national search later.
But there is also a lot to be said for letting the professionals handle your search. They know all the players and can recruit successful managers, allowing them to tell their current bosses that they were not looking for other jobs. they were approached. They can also give candidates anonmimity until the selection process comes down to a few finalists.
A search firm will also know all the rules and can keep a board on task and on schedule and avoid mistakes that could lead to litigation. They also have experience doing background checks to make sure candidates have no skeletons in their closet. Some firms also offer gaurantees that if they strike out on a first batch of candidates, that they will supply more at no additional cost.
These are all things that will likely be discussed before any final decision is made.
