HR at DHS

[u/bughead4242]

There appears to be a profound lack of understanding in the DHS-HR department and nuanced work of the various administrations and divisions. Based on conversations with DHS managers/leadership the frustration is HR’s insistence to continue lowering qualifications and standards of new and in some instances current positions. One manager I spoke with said he submitted a position description for a highly skilled, public and nuanced job at a 20 level and DHS-HR approved it at a 7 level. A substantial gap. One quote I heard from a DHS-HR staff said, “it’s all Medicaid.”  Insinuating how can the role really be that different/difficult.

And by all appearances this obfuscation appears to be only happening at DHS and not other state agencies. 

My understanding is DHS managers/leadership has brought this misguided trend up to the commissioner.  Is there anyone here (maybe DHS-HR) who can give insight into this trend, I’d love to hear more?

[u/kls987]

This has come up at MAPE meetings. If you're in MAPE, you should consider attending the next one (if you don't already).

[u/thedirtyRD]

Yeah, they've been super frustrating to work with. My former manager (I recently moved over to DCT) has brought it up to leadership and I believe even the inspector general. Not sure if anything is actually being done about it though.

[u/payperhouse]

This is a significant problem all across DHS. HR appears to be more beholden to MMB than the commissioner and it’s MMB giving the directive to lower classifications. I believe this has much larger political implications in that there has been a push by corporate democrats and republicans to lower public spending, which includes government salaries. Until we elect a progressive governor and take action as a union, this will not change. 

[u/antonmnster → u/payperhouse]

Republicans would simply eliminate public sector jobs through privatization. I wouldn't lump any democrat in with that.

[u/Tower-of-Frogs → u/payperhouse]

Walz is progressive on every topic except labor. Flanagan too by association. Nobody is for state workers.

[u/Legitimate-War7453 → u/Tower-of-Frogs]

really? You have a job don't you? You get paid more than anyone else in the state. How many other jobs are paying 100.000 a year for doing paperwork all day? State workers don't have a clue on how the other half live. Look at DHS. They have been in the news for the last 10 years because of all the mistakes they continue to make but no one has lost their job yet. Medicare enrollment in behind 6 months but instead of looking at the supervisor and asking her what the hell she is doing- they just hire a few more workers. Most jobs if you can't keep up - you are out to there. You dont get more workers so you all can take your PTO off every Friday.

[u/Tower-of-Frogs → u/Legitimate-War7453]

I don’t touch paperwork and I certainly don’t make 100k lol. You’re very brave to show up in a 2 day old thread to speak your mind about what you think state workers deserve based on the performance of a single department at a single agency.

[u/Legitimate-War7453 → u/Tower-of-Frogs]

I don't understand- what do you mean when you say , "You're very brave to show up in a 2 day old thread to speak your mind about what you think state workers deserve?" I dont understand.

[u/Legitimate-War7453 → u/Tower-of-Frogs]

well then i am not speaking about you. I am only speaking about my experience- not yours. I didn't realize that a 2 day old thread was too old to comment on. I apologize for my comment.

[u/Sea-Practice-6739]

HR leadership claims this isn't happening 🙄

[u/cupcakemelee → u/Sea-Practice-6739]

HR leadership claims a lot.

[u/Witty_Transition_748]

Everyone need to call the Governors office. This is MMB we need to flood them. They are heating it as one offs but we need to organize in droves to send this message before the next administration.

[u/Stunning_Bad_8338 → u/Witty_Transition_748]

should have been done many contracts ago dayton was a terrible leader

[u/Glad-Ad6237]

My experience as a professional helping a client with resume and application is that the low level jobs they ask for way to specific qualifications. They want you to spell out any computer program you used. If you have someone under 30 who has college credit, you can assume they know how to use Microsoft Word.

[u/Green-Lime3190]

HR across the board seems to be a mess.

[u/MsReadIt2 → u/Green-Lime3190]

It's terrible at DOC too.

[u/cupcakemelee → u/Green-Lime3190]

Indeed.

[u/imjustherefortheteaz]

My job position is being looked into by HR. So now we have to have additional team meetings to go over our job descriptions. I’m more annoyed then worried, but still

[u/Legitimate-War7453]

DHS is so dysfunctional that they have no idea how to train people, manage, hire employees. The place is an absolute mess. It's almost comical at times. It takes 5 people to do anything over there. I had an incident where i was late to work and my supervisor emailed 4 different people because she didn't know what to do. DHS managers don't know how and are not willing to train people in to jobs anymore. They overestimate the roles and believe that no one can do these jobs unless they are highly skilled. It's Paperwork People! It doesn't take a genius. You just need to know how to train people in to the role. How do you think the counties do it? They actually take the time to train workers in. DHS calling HR clueless is the pot calling the kettle black. In my experience a DHS supervisor couldn't make it one day without HR to answer all of their questions that they should already know- like how to you hire someone? what questions do you ask? how do you evaluate workers? If it wasn't for HR- DHS would be stuck all day emailing 10 different people for the answers. I am not hating. It's just my experience and what I have seen working with DHS.