Amory Dujardin testifies on speeding up hiring

Good morning, Chair Alibol and staff.

My name is Amory Duchardin, and I'm the Public Policy Manager at Citizens Union.

A report by the Five Borough Institute at Citizens Union solving the staffing crisis took a deep dive into what City Hall can do to retain and recruit talent, including creative solutions like the programs mentioned here today.

We applaud the city for such efforts, but we can go further.

Taking an exam, applying for that job, going through interviews, receiving an offer, and onboarding often takes over a year.

This is not a sustainable recruitment strategy for a modern city.

We must speed up the hiring timeline and make it easier to apply.

First, adopt band scoring to replace the rule of three.

When the city hires, it must find three candidates willing to be hired from a ranked list of those who pass the civil service exam, and hiring managers must call through that list in ranked order.

Calling through can take ages.

Instead, band scoring ranks candidates into tiers such as outstanding, well-qualified, and qualified, and allows managers to choose candidates from the top tier based on fit rather than ranked order.

Another option is for the city to ask the state civil service commission to remove exam requirements for licensed roles, as Catherine mentioned, where state licensing processes already exist, like for engineers, commercial drivers, or nurses.

Such a change would only require approval from the commission.

Additionally, the city should also start being transparent with candidates.

Publish expected timelines for exam results and from hire to start date.

Find ways to provide other updates.

The city's silence or current silence deters candidates from engaging.

We also need to simplify the application process by establishing plain language standards across all communications and redesigning the civil service and jobs website, an idea that Rebecca mentioned.

Current language is confusing.

It would also help if the city built a tool that lets job seekers search for jobs they are eligible for.

Right now, candidates have the easiest time of applying if they have close friends or family who are civil servants, which creates a problem where only those with insider knowledge apply.

These are all ideas the city can take now, and we have more if anyone wants to discuss them further.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

I'm happy to try to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

I do look forward to working with you all.

I know, Catherine.

You know, it's...

I've been against the one in three rule for a while.