Setting the Gold Standard in California HR Since 1988
Agency of The Year
The CalGovHR Agency Award for Excellence was established to recognize the overall quality, accomplishments, and contributions of member agency human resource programs that exceed expectations and go beyond the normal standards of a good government human resources program. The award is limited to program initiatives, accomplishments, and contributions within a three-year period immediately preceding the nomination, and focuses on specific initiatives, accomplishments, and contributions and their results that are exceptional or innovative that have benefited the management and employees of the agency.
Start planning for next year’s award. Each year we send out to our membership a call for nominations. Agencies submit their information to the CalGovHR Board for consideration and one agency is chose as the Agency of the Year and asked to speak at the conference on their program.
Watch for nominations in late 2024/early 2025. Who knows, your agency just may be the winner! Compete to be among California's top HR organizations!
A. Program Characteristics
Describe the environment in which the human resources program operates. Address specifically:
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Size (i.e., number of employees served)
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Types of employees (i.e., clerical, administrative, professional)
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Union relations
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Budget and human resource constrictions
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Relationship to Chief Executive Officer
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Whether the program is for an operating or central human resources agency
B. Human Resources Program
Describe the specific initiatives, accomplishments, and contributions and their results over the past three years. Specifically, please identify accomplishments that are exceptional or innovative. If the nomination is for a central human resources agency, describe how the accomplishments have benefited the agencies served. If the nomination is for an operating agency, describe how the accomplishments have benefited the management and employees of the agency.
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C. Eligibility
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At least one representative of the agency must be an active member of CalGovHR in good standing for the past three (3) years.
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2024 Winner
City of Modesto
The City of Modesto’s program featured three (3) components including a Diversity, Equity Inclusion Program, Organizational Development Programs, and Employee Relations Training & Development. Any one of these programs would have been an accomplishment in and of itself, but over a period of three plus years there were able to implement and measure these programs.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Program
In 2022 the City launched their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program that include both internal and external components. Multiple plans were identified under the umbrella of DEI. Each of those plans focused on a specific area of the DEI program to further their efforts. The City laid out a roadmap and outlined the roles and responsibilities across the organization so that the program could be accomplished.
Organization Development Programs
In 2020 the HR team launched a series or organizational training to help broaden the knowledge, skills, and abilities of City employees. These included, Emerging Leaders Professional/Personal Development classes, Cred Lead Supervisor Leadership Academy (CLSA), UMass Global Leadership Academy, Leadership/Employee Mentor Program, and College Tuition Discount Scholarship Program.
Employee Relations Training & Development
In 2021 the HR Team launched three professional development programs that included Supervisor 101 training, Just In Time (JIT) and New Hire Core Training. There programs helped to train employees in the various competencies to ensure success in their roles.
You can read more about the City of Modesto’s by clicking the View Submission link below.
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On behalf of CalGovHR, we are proud to award the City of Modesto with the 2024 Agency of the Year award!
2023 Winner
Nevada County
In 2023 Nevada County Human Resources was selected as Agency of the Year for excellence in Transforming HR Operations Into A Strategic Business Unit for the agency.
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The Nevada County HR staff saw the need to transform the way they approached everything they provided to County Staff and the public. They learned they needed a more collaborative and innovative HR department to better anticipate the needs of the organization, and offer proactive solutions to emerging issues.
They set out to accomplish this by:
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Be the HR Leaders in California—be the one that all other HR departments look to emulate;
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Leverage technology and CPI (Continuous Process Improvement) for more efficient operations; and
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Empower HR staff and continue promoting staff engagement and development.
In addition to those three initiatives the County HR department identified 42 items they wanted to tackle as a department. Some examples are:
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Reduce time-to-hire to 60 days or less.
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Develop intern program & VA internships.
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Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives and much, much more.
As a result of the above initiatives, HR staff created a hiring model with less than 60 days to issue an offer letter. They exceeded their goal, averaging 48 days during the pilot period which resulted in saving over 23.3 years of cumulative time over 104 recruitments.
As so eloquently stated in the County’s nomination, “Best of all, we became a family, a team in the true sense of the word. We are a cohesive group dedicated to providing the best HR support to the County and Community."
They were also recognized for this singular achievement by ICMA, and CalPELRA.
You can read more about Nevada County’s initiatives by clicking the View Submission link below.
On behalf of CalGovHR, we are proud to award the County of Nevada with the 2023 Agency of the Year award!
Pictured left to right - Alisa Gordon - CalGovHR Vice President, Steve Rose, Human Resources Director for Nevada County, & Irene Barragan, CalGovHR Secretary/Treasurer
Steve Rose, Human Resources Director for Nevada County accepting the 2023 Agency of The Year Award