Human Resource Consultation and Services

The Department of Personnel provides state agencies and higher education institutions specialized human resource expertise and consultation. From the specific to the general, our expert staff is ready to partner with you to meet your specific HR needs. We provide:

• Customized recruitment and assessment services
• Downsizing support services
• Compensation services so employers can apply salary and pay options accurate and strategically
• Affirmative action compliance

Executive Careers

Executive Careers provides end-to-end recruiting assistance to public sector agencies, boards, commissions, institutions of higher education, legislative bodies and select non-profit organizations seeking dynamic executive-level leaders. Every recruitment is customized to meet the needs of the client; one size does not fit all. 

Our expertise and commitment to excellence, combined with the cost effectiveness and ease of intergovernmental agreements, provides you with the best overall value when compared to private-sector executive search firms. Our team of expert recruiters can find the right leader for your organization at a cost that will fit within your budget.  Consider the Executive Careers advantage:

• Customized service
• Guaranteed results
• Less expensive – no red tape
• Public sector specialists

Leadership Development

The Department of Personnel’s leadership development services and programs helps individuals and management teams succeed in today’s performance-driven public sector. We offer a variety of open enrollment and customized services and programs to help you achieve excellence. For example:

• Comprehensive performance-based leadership development programs
• Proven team leadership assessments -- modified for Washington State government
• Leadership certification programs aligned with the competencies considered the most critical for success by top leaders across state government.

Organizational Development

Now more than ever, today’s public sector requires measurable results and performance accountability. We offer a broad array of customized services to guide and support your high-performance organization including:

• Strategic business analysis and planning services
• Comprehensive culture and organizational change management.
• Assistance with confidential personnel issues including internal investigation, mediation, and conflict resolution.
• Performance management consultation.

Employee Development and Training

The Department of Personnel offers short, targeted courses that improve workplace skills, as well as certification programs for long-term career development. In addition to traditional classroom training, we also offer nearly 2,000 “eLearning” courses that you can take from your computer at your convenience. Sample course topics include:

• Communications (Interpersonal, Oral and Written)
• Personal Computer and Information Technology
• Government Management and Accountability Program (GMAP)
• Health and Personal Safety
• Entry-Level Supervision, Mid-Management, and Executive education courses.  

Employee Assistance Program

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) helps state employees with personal or work-related problems that may be affecting performance. It does so by offering high-quality professional and confidential services that access, identify and resolve employees’ personal problems affecting job performance. EAP also:

• Refers employees to appropriate community resources, when needed.
• Assists state agencies with high-risk issues impacting the workplace, including disaster response, violence prevention, threat assessment, grief and loss support, and substance abuse.
• Trains and consults with agency management on these topics.

Combined Fund Drive

Year after year, state employees and public retirees generously contribute money and give back to their communities via the Combined Fund Drive (CFD). In fact, WashingtonState’s program leads the nation in dollars raised per number of employees. The Combined Fund Drive:

• Serves as an effective and efficient way to disburse those funds to more than 1,900 non-profit organizations that badly need them.
• Offers the choice of giving to a personal favorite charity, if desired.
• Takes pride in having raised more than $72 million in donations during its 20 annual drives.

Diversity and Reasonable Accommodation

The Department of Personnel provides a variety of services to help the state attract and retain a productive workforce that reflects the state’s diversity in culture, race, ethnicity, and gender. Services include:

• Consultation on the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Assistance with affirmative action planning
• Outreach to groups that are under-represented in state employment

Information Services

The Department of Personnel owns and supports the state’s central personnel and payroll computer systems and a variety of auxiliary systems that support statewide human resource processes.

In 2006, the Department launched a new statewide personnel and payroll system, the Human Resources Management System (HRMS). This system supports the broad changes enacted in the state’s civil service system, including collective bargaining. It also provides the technical architecture and data collection capabilities to support a variety of modern personnel practices and improved strategic planning at all levels of state government.