Team Members

Kari Boykin - Editor

Penny Elliott Secretary
Amanda Jones Team Leader
David Orr PowerPoint and Presenter
Annette Stuckey Professor
Vickie Weaver- Interviewer
 Date of the interview: April 6th, 2016
Organization: The City of Ketchikan Alaska
Location: City Hall
Established in 1815
Number of Employees:
450 Seasonal
375 regular
 Job: Human Resources Manager
Location: Ketchikan Alaska City Hall
Years at current job: 25
Age: 64
Years of experience: 30 years

Terry is very ecstatic about Improving the citys compensation program

and is pro-company. Her comprehensive knowledge of the citys payroll
system and benefits package is valuable to its employees. Terry is also a
proponent of the compensation program and its many positive features.
Vickie Weaver - our interviewer, asked Terry about the overall pros and
cons. Terry replied There are no cons. But truthfully, there is only one.

Of the several pros that Terry talked about, the most notable are those
within the hiring process:

New employees starting salary

Is based on their skill set
versus a starting salary where you work your way up to the top
compensation level.

This is accomplished through the use of pay grades.

Developed using the Johnson Compensation Plan.

Second major pro:

The process of hiring seasonal workers using a hierarchy hiring
system.
 Second pro cont.
The process rewards seasonal employees
Those with good evaluations are giving hiring preferences for the
next season.
Helps the city fill the many seasonal jobs more efficiently
Provides workers an incentive to reapply the next season.

The only con is within the retirement system:

The city does not allow you to opt out of Social Security
deductions.

Other state departments do allow that, but not Ketchikan.

This has the effect of two retirement deductions coming out of a

persons paycheck every pay period.

It does take a huge portion of available salary out of play for

everyday living.
Terrys knowledge of HR is extensive, and her depth of understanding of
Ketchikans program is highlighted by the following interview questions:

What do you feel are the pros and cons of cross training
current employees?
I think there are only pros when you train an employee.
They give more back to the city.
How do you decide who gets cross trained?
I think that is up to the supervisor to decide.

Would you mind describing your sick pool and how that
works?
Voluntary and can join after 6 months. Donation of 8 hours per
year.

HR manager has an application you fill out.

 Sick pool cont.
According to how many hours you have at the beginning of the
year you can have up to that many hours in the sick leave pool
but only up to 192 hours.

You have to use all your sick days and vacation before you can
take days from the sick pool - temporarily disabled.

Does the city of Ketchikan have any incentives that they

use for motivational purposes?
KPU customer service and KPU telephone have a sales incentive
program that they get so much money for signing up new services
or getting customers to switch services over to them.

How is the turnover rate?

Our turnover rate is not very high for regular employees. We have
a long standing employee list. They have been here for years.
 Turnover rate cont.
We do have seasonal employees for ports, harbors and the
museum. They are hired at the beginning of the tourist season
and let go at the end of the tourist season.

Are the seasonal employees on a rehire list for next tourist

season?

Yes, you do great this tourist season and they are going to
want you back for the next.

How do they decide how much an employee is paid?

There are job descriptions that have an hourly rate associated
with it.
We have an hour/wage scale that goes from step A to step U.
It is a system where they set all the jobs within different steps.
 Employee pay cont.
It is a Johnson plan/compensation plan that was done years ago.
It is a job table maintained with an hourly or salary rate schedule.

Im curious, Not everyone necessarily starts at step A and Does it

goes with experience and where they decide to place you?
Yes.

Can you start in the middle or somewhere?

Yes.
The supervisors are allowed to start at up to I and if it is higher
than that they have to get council approval.
 The future development of the citys benefits program.

The retirement program is the one area that looms large.

At present, the retirement plan is considered a forced investment.

There are no guarantees that an employee will get back the

entire amount they contributed.

Everything depends on the rise and fall of the stock market.

And, how well the investment company manages the
retirement fund.

In the past, the retirement fund was not susceptible to the risks
associated to investing in the stock market
an employees retirement amount was set according to their
salary and years of service.
 For 2016, the state has proposed additional changes to the
state retirement system.
However, as of this interview it is not clear what those
changes will be.

Some of the features being discussed are:

Not favorable for retirees with guaranteed retirement.

Rumors
that many of these employees will be forced over to the stock
market, forced investment type plan.

Another possibility
Employees will be removed from the plan that they now share
with the state legislators.
 Another possibility cont.
The legislators will be allowed:
to stay on the stable and secure retirement plan.

Lesser employees:
Will be forced off the plan they have worked under for many years
The alternative plan has yet to be determined.

In the foreseeable future,

there are no other changes to the citys compensation program.

The pros and cons for the changes in the citys retirement
program are still unknown - as city employees await a
decision from legislators.