Needs an ethical change in hiring practices - Anonymous employee Solano County, California Employee Review

It isn't easy to get a promotion for select tenured employees. The recent trend shows promotions are reserved for those with a relationship with Staff Development or new county employees. Those in charge of hiring for Employment & Eligibility need ethics training. Several tenured employees meeting the qualifications and achieving high test scores are declined for unknown reasons where they appear very well qualified for the position. Instead, a trend seems to be evolving where job offers go to certain employees who have a relationship with the staff development bureau, or promotional candidates would enter at a lower step range by design. Furthermore, internal promotions seem skewed based on whether a person would be a good 'personality fit' for the unit rather than their significant and applicable experience. There is a dark cloud hanging over the staff development bureau. Cronyism? Favoritism? Likely. Administrators should take a long hard look at making management role changes and analyzing the results. The Staff Development unit is the iceberg, sinking bureau ships. E&E division is over-managed without commensurate success. Stringent barriers to background/reference checks are in place. Prospective candidates from outside the county are lost when former private employers refuse to give more information than 'title, time, and willingness to rehire.' Internal hires are more likely, but it poaches from other classifications and leaves them thin. There are a lot of opportunities here because there is a lot of employee turnover. As a wave of younger employees has recently been hired into senior positions, there is no doubt they will stay in those positions for years or decades. But this is just a season.