Human Resource Policy Development & Administration in the Commonwealth

Human Resource Policy

Human Resource Policy Development & Administration in the Commonwealth

In November 2006 the Office of Agency Human Resource Services assessed the Commonwealth’s approach to human resource policy development and administration. While our goal to provide policies that help agencies manage the workforce and to offer consultation that ensures consistency in application would not change, it was time to explore untapped resources and strategies that could improve the policy function.

For years we have relied on a small group of agency human resource representatives to assist in the critical review of draft policies prior to publication. This collaborative approach has been significantly expanded to include fifty-three human resource experts from thirty-two agencies, colleges, and universities who are actively involved in the development of policies from start to finish.

The primary goal of the Agency Policy Committee is to produce policies with front-line value by providing the flexibility and decentralized authority agencies need to meet individual workforce and business needs. A project management approach is applied so that multiple policies and related handbooks and guides can be developed or revised simultaneously.

The committee is comprised of two work groups:

Development: This group, which is comprised of multiple teams, actively assists in the development of new policies and improvement of existing ones. Team members apply their practical experience in human resources, conduct research on model policies and best practices, and consider ways to make sure that the Commonwealth’s policies are, to the extent possible, on par with other employers of choice with whom we must compete for talent. Objectives include developing an improved and simplified format, with less emphasis on lengthy procedures that try to address the organizational characteristics of dissimilar agencies; streamlining administrative processes; and developing policies that clearly communicate intent, accompanied by agency guidelines and any “absolute rules”.
Publication: This group provides expertise in critiquing and testing the soundness of policies prior to publication.

For more information please refer to the Agency Policy Committee Charter.