Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 04-11-06 Workshop — reading text

one. Over the years, we have found that a third party can sometimes assist in correcting problems before they become serious. Communication with the City. We will provide bi- weekly reports to the City concerning the status of the search. These will be presented verbally and/or written and will be provided in what is the most effective person via telephone or in written form bye-mail or fax, depending on means to communicate with the City. 10- TECHNICAL APPROACH IlL Technical Approach - The Details Task One: Develop a Profile of the Ideal Candidate and Compensation Package Having completed many searches previously, including the Finance Director searches for the City of Venice and the City of Tamarac, we already have a good idea of the type of individual who might make a good Finance Director in Fort Walton Beach and some of the issues he/ she will face. As our first task, we will meet with the appropriate City officials to develop a complete profile of what the City is looking for. We recognize that much of this work may have been done and we would like to capitalize on it. Hopefully, that groundwork will allow us to move more quickly into the search phase. While the standard factors such as experience, demonstrated management ability, intelligence, education, excellent interpersonal and public relations skills will be used, we would expect that the City would also like to find someone who has experience: Been a finance director in a full service city of at least 4, 000 people and a budget of 8, 000, 000 and 50 employees; Experience in an upscale, coastal community where quality of life is very important, including providing services for children and seniors; Experience in a community with water, wastewater and stonn water utilities; A demonstrated track record for bringing innovative solutions to financial, operational and organizational issues; and Preferably has worked in Florida and is familiar with Florida law. As noted, Mr. Baenziger has served as a city manager and completed several finance director recruitments and as such, he has a fair degree of familiarity with the issues, the environment and the requirements of the position and knows what it takes to do the job well. In addition to developing the candidate profile, during the interviews with the City officials, our lead consultant will develop a stronger sense of the organizational dynamics, issues and leadership. An important aspect of the recruiter= s work, and one that should not be overlooked, is to sell the City to the very best candidates while also providing an accurate portrayal of the City and its environment. CB& A has, over the past few years, found this approach leads to finding and retaining the best candidates. Finally, our consultant will work with the City to detennine if the compensation package ( salary, insurance, leave, car allowance, moving expenses, etc.) is appropriate and to finalize the project schedule. Armed with this infonnation, as he identifies candidates, he will be able to tell them what to expectin tenns of compensation and infonn them when the interviews will take place. 11- TECHNICAL APPROACH This approach minimizes the possibility of surprises. Should a candidate decide to apply, he or she will know what level of compensation to expect and when they need to be available for the fonnal interview. Task Two: Develop a List of Candidates CB& A finnly believes the best approach to identifying the top candidates is to search diligently for them, to approach them and to request that they apply. Many excellent candidates are reluctant to to advertisements because they know their applications will be a public respond record and that making application may alienate their current employers. By being approached, the candidate= s credentials are enhanced, rather than diminished, in the eyes of their current employers. We also like to move quickly. In this particular situation, CB& A will utilize three approaches. First and most importantly, and CB& A will use its contacts in the profession to identify the best and the brightest candidates if ask them to apply. Second, we will consult our data base of quality candidates and detennine while we strongly feel that the best way to any are a good fit for the chiefs position. Finally, the find the best candidate is to look for quality and for someone who is not necessarily in market, we have also found that advertising in the trade press sometimes yields strong will be candidates. While we will advertise and reach out nationally, our focus, at least initially, on identifying candidates from Florida because hiring someone with Florida credentials avoids issues in Florida certifications ( which may involve agility tests, etc.). As such we plan obtaining to advertise in the publications ( and/or the websites) of the Florida Government Finance Officers, the Government Finance Officers' Association and several of the governmental jobs web sites such as GovJobs. com. and Whatever the source, our consultant will discuss the opportunity with the best candidates fit, we encourage them they apply. When we identify a candidate that we think is a good request to apply. Beach should be considered one of Quite frankl~, the position of Finance Director in Fort Walton are properly the better jobs in the industry and should be attractive to many candidates if they approached. In addition, one important benefit of actively seeking candidates is that only candidates who are what happens when recognized for their ability will be selected for the interview. Unlike who is both inarticulate and selecting candidates based on their resumes, the candidate is that that the City will only incompetent will have been already screened out. The result will be interview strongly qualified individuals and it cannot make a mistake. All the finalists well qualified and it then becomes a matter of detennining the best fit. 12- TECHNICAL APPROACH Task Three: Develop a List of Finalists Based on ourexperience, we believe we will identify between 3 to 5 top notch candidates through our search activities. We will conduct our own review of the candidates' qualifications and conduct initial interviews with those that we feel are likely to be good candidates for the City. Based on our interview with them, their education, managerial background, longevity in jobs, achievements, the materials they submit and our contacts in the profession, we will identify those who we believe are the top eight to ten candidates. As part of our process, our consultant and staff will then conduct thorough background and reference checks for the top candidates. Not only will we verify credentials and make inquiries of the references that the candidates provide, but we will also seek out others who are knowledgeable of the candidates' abilities ( such as current and fonner employers, Commission members, staff members, members of the news media, the local chamber of commerce, the city attorney, other knowledgeable individuals and anyone else we can identify who has knowledge of the candidate). Additionally, our staff will conduct an Internet search for background infonnation. Should any sensitive or potentially embarrassing items turn up in these checks, they will be thoroughly researched and a clear picture developed of what transpired. If our recruiter deems the situation to be questionable, the candidate will be dropped from further consideration. Finally, our staff will conduct credit, civil and criminal records checks and verify education and employment. Task Four: Present the Finalists= Credentials to the City Once CB& A has completed the above research, it will present its recommendations to the City. We anticipate providing a written report to the City containing infonnation on each of the top candidates and recommendations concerning whom to interview. The report will not include the results of the background checks. Instead, we will transmit those results verbally to key City officials. We will then ask the City to confinn our recommendations and invite between three and five candidates to interview with the City in Fort Walton Beach. Task Five: Notify the Selected Candidates and Those Not Selected Our consultant will notify the candidates who have been selected for an interview by telephone, which provides an opportunity for the candidates to ask additional questions. To the degree possible, CB& A will also notify those not selected by telephone and, as noted above, ask the City to follow up with a brief letter. Should the response be overwhelming, most of the notifications to the candidates not selected will be by letter. 13- TECHNICAL APPROACH Task Six: Coordinate the Interview Process CB& A would coordinate the interview process. We will work with the City and the candidates to make the necessary arrangements and ensure the process goes smoothly. As an aside, we do recommend that the City invite and pay for the finalists and their spouses to visit Fort Walton Beach. CB& A believes that it is important for the spouse to be a participant in the process. While it is not common, situations have occurred where a director has left after only a few months because hislher spouse was not comfortable in a new city or county. Task Seven: Debriefing and Selection Once the interviews have been completed, CB& A suggests that the City wait a few days and then make a selection. These few days also provide CB& A with an opportunity to debrief the City officials and follow up on any concerns they may have. Should the City not feel comfortable with selecting someone from the group of finalists we which has never happened with a search conducted by Colin Baenziger B in fact, present ( generally, the clients are extremely pleased with the quality of the candidates and have a difficult time choosing among the finalists), we will identify additional candidates and repeat the process. Task Eight: Assist in Contract Negotiations with the Selected Candidate CB& A will notify the top- rated candidate. If the City requests, we will provide advice to the City during contract negotiations. Progress Reports and Meetings CB& A will provide reports to the City on an as needed basis but