Report 2015-608 Recommendation 11 Responses

Report 2015-608: High Risk: State Departments Need to Improve Their Workforce and Succession Planning Efforts to Mitigate the Risks of Increasing Retirements (Release Date: May 2015)

Recommendation #11 To: Social Services, Department of

Social Services should develop a process by December 2015 to measure and evaluate its workforce and succession planning activities at least annually, and update its plans as necessary, to ensure that its activities are effective. This process should include evaluating the trends in retirements for leadership and technical positions.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2016

CDSS has completed the requested actions. As with any process, the Department will continually analyze vacancies and retirements for mission critical priorities. The Department will view trends and evaluate strategies of its workforce and succession planning activities annually, with updates as necessary to ensure that the activities are effective.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

CDSS received a completed succession plan from Cooperative Personnel Services (CPS) Human Resources (HR) Consulting, a public sector consulting firm, in December 2015. This document will undergo revision to reflect current data. The Department will be partnering with the State Controller's Office and its own internal Human Resources office to generate current data on retirement trends for key positions in the Department. The development and training activities which support succession plan findings will be updated as necessary. The estimated completion date for the revised succession plan is June 2016.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

Although CDSS indicates that it is in the process of revising its succession plan, its response does not indicate if it has developed a process to measure and evaluate the workforce and succession planning activities it is has been conducting.

6-Month Agency Response

By December 2015, CDSS plans to develop measurement and evaluation strategies for inclusion in a comprehensive master plan for workforce and succession planning.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

The California Department of Social Services is on track to develop measurement and evaluation strategies of its workforce and succession planning activities annually, with updates as necessary to ensure that its activities are effective. The estimated completion date remains December 2015.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2015-608

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.