Streamlining the hiring process has taken out frustrating additional steps to onboarding the right candidate.

For human resources professionals, there is nothing more frustrating than overseeing an extensive recruitment process, only to lose your top candidate thanks to unnecessary delays in the hiring approval process.

That’s what was happening to King County recruiters when they sought to hire successful candidates above step one of a position’s pay scale. The process often took weeks, with the County code requiring an approval process that often involved 15 to 19 handoffs before it could be completed.

It was time-consuming and by the end of it, hiring personnel found that they were losing candidates.

“Many people told us it was going to be impossible to change HR policy,” HR Service Delivery Manager Steve Namkung said. “They thought it would never happen, that it would take too long to change anything.”

The team working on this project began with mapping the current process and steps to revise it.

An improvement team made up of HR professionals was put together to find a way to streamline the “above step 1” approval process.

Once the group began to look into the process, they found that they couldn’t change the code itself, but that they could rework it. Rather than have multiple signoffs, they found that it could be cut down to just one or two instead.

Soon the improvement team was able to present the results of its analysis and, using Lean methodology, began piloting a streamlined process within a few agencies.

“We hoped to be able to reduce handoffs, cut down the processing time from several weeks to just a few days, and do so without losing job candidates,” Vicki Oyadomari, Human Resources Deputy Division Director and team leader, said.

The group managed to do that and more. Processing time shrunk to just two days and they eliminated the need for multiple signatures.

Beyond streamlining the process and increasing productivity, it also increased staff morale and HR professionals are pleased with this simpler process. “To be able to make a difference across the county feels really good,” Namkung said.

Diana Eberly-Shepard, a Senior Human Resources Analyst with Wastewater Treatment Division and a member of the improvement team, recalled how she used to ferry papers in person across the county just to get them signed by the right people.

“I’d be walking across the parking lot and the wind would grab my papers. When I took them to be signed there would be a footprint on them from where I had to step on them to keep them from escaping,” Eberly-Shepard said.

She said it was time-consuming to go from building to building in order to find the right person to sign off. Often, they didn’t even know why they had to sign, she said.

Now, the improvement team – which also include Rick Hayes, Kristy Hampton, Tina Abbott, James Fournier and Meg Safranek – plans to continue checking and adjusting the process. With the success of the pilot, the team is now rolling out the new approval process to the rest of the County, and continuing to look for other ways to improve HR processes that deliver better outcomes for employees, candidates and King County residents.