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San José Wins Top Award for Employee Programs

(San Jose, California)-- The City of San José will receive an Award of Excellence later this month from the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) for its employee programs. The City’s Human Resources Department will be recognized for excellence in a medium-sized agency at the IPMA’s international conference to be held in San Francisco beginning on October 15th.

The Department is receiving the award for its Citywide Safety; Training and Development; Wellness; Return-to-Work; and Ergonomics programs. The City was also recognized for its Hiring Pilot Project, which tests and evaluates process improvements to increase the effectiveness and timeliness of the City’s hiring process.

"The City has been able to realize significant savings and service improvements in some of our largest benefits programs by requiring all benefits contracts to now go through a competitive process every four years, on a rotating basis," stated Nona Tobin, the City’s Human Resources Director. Tobin will be a workshop speaker at the international conference, talking about managing change in the area of human resources.

According to the IPMA, "As a whole, San José’s Human Resources Department has been extremely successful with the innovative programs it has created to better serve the employees of the City of San José. By helping employees feel better and to work more effectively, the City is also improving its ability to provide services for the residents and businesses of San José."

The Citywide Safety Program promotes healthy and sound employees and wellness by creating a work environment where safety and its components are essential functions of the job. Healthy and sound employees are vital to maximize the scarce resources within an organization.

The Training and Development Program provides training to employees and managers to ensure they have the skills needed to deliver excellent services to customers. Of particular interest to employees has been the accelerated Associates of Arts degree program, which started in January, 1998. City employees can take courses leading to a business or general studies AA degree, transferable to four-year colleges and universities on a schedule and location convenient to most employees.

The City of San José Human Resources Department will receive this prestigious international award for these programs at the IPMA International Training Conference to be held October 15-19 at the San Francisco Regency Hotel. The IPMA is an international organization comprised of human resources professionals, whose goal is to promote excellence in personnel management worldwide.

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