Which is true about Grand Traverse County's staffing situation: an ideal opportunity to clean house and attract new leadership, or an alarming vacuum of leadership? Perhaps both.

The county has been without a human resources director and county administrator since early spring – and is now absent a facilities director. Danny Brown submitted his resignation letter to Finance Director and Deputy Administrator Dean Bott on August 19, requesting his resignation be effective the same day and indicating he was leaving to “seek other employment opportunities.” 

The simultaneous vacancy of three department heads reflects a “high rate of turnover” in county positions in recent months, says county HR contractor Paula Sagala, though she notes such trends can be cyclical and bring opportunities as well as challenges.

“Turnover occurs in every organization,” says Sagala. “Right now…as the economy has gotten better, there are more positions available. There are more opportunities for people to look at career moves. There are also a lot of people in the same age group who are retiring.” Such was the case with long-time Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Robert Hall, who retired from his post in August.

Dave Benda was terminated from his position by county commissioners; Brown and former HR director Jen Seman – who left in March to work for Priority Heath – resigned to pursue jobs elsewhere. Sagala is about to oversee the county’s third attempt at hiring a replacement for Seman after a finalist for the position withdrew her application last week. Sagala is working on a report for commissioners to determine if the position's salary and benefits package is competitive enough to attract qualified candidates.

The listed salary range for the county HR director is $66,649-$83,338; according to the most recent analysis by the U.S. Department of Labor, the 2012 median pay for human resources managers was $99,720. “We know also that Munson (Medical Center) and Northwestern Michigan College were both searching at the same time for HR directors,” says Sagala. “In my experience, you usually don’t have three great openings in the community at the same time in the same professional career path.”

Competing with other public and private-sector organizations for a limited pool of skilled candidates is a challenge for Grand Traverse County, agrees Commission Chair Christine Maxbauer. “One of our applicants for county administrator has an HR background, and she makes more annually than our position,” Maxbauer says. “That’s something we have to look at. If you look at the knowledge and skill involved to be a HR director, it’s one of the most important positions we have in the county. We need to have a competitive wage, and we're going to look at that."

Commissioners will discuss the issue at their Wednesday 6pm board meeting, says Maxbauer.

Sagala says she’s also reviewing factors like the timing of hiring cycles and when and where the county advertises positions. Only 19 applications were received for the county’s administrator position, compared to 49 who applied to be Traverse City’s manager. When county commissioners narrowed that field to three finalists last week, one withdrew his application (Marquette City Manager William Vajda) and another, a male applicant who requested confidentiality, has yet to respond to Sagala’s invitation for an interview.

The third candidate is Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) Executive Director Tom Menzel, who has contracted with the county since early July. Two commissioners last week suggested short-circuiting the interview process and hiring Menzel, though they were overruled by other board members.

Maxbauer acknowledges some candidates could be deterred from pursuing a position in which it appears there is a favored applicant, but she also believes the county's financial difficulties could have dissuaded some applicants. "There are challenging issues facing Grand Traverse County...and not every person is up for that challenge," she says.

Though the county's leadership vacancies have come at a price – Bott says it’s “been a challenge to keep things going” operationally, and Sagala’s HR services have totaled over $20,000 since May – in the long run, new blood could help invigorate the county, says Sagala.

“You’ll never hear an HR director say turnover is not good – if it’s for the right reasons,” she says. “It allows a fresh set of eyes to come in, and to see new things and offer a new perspective."