Looking to Reward Employee Excellence

There has been turnover in department leadership over the past year including one termination, but Garry Brumback said there are a few town staff members who have excelled behind the scenes – and now he is looking to reward them for it.

Brumback last week discussed the possibility of adding an employee appreciation program, one which would be selective but look to reward those who go above and beyond their job description. The program proposed, if approved for the 2012-13 budget, will serve separate from any longevity pay the town provides.

“I believe very strongly that a motivated set of employees is a high-performing set of employees. We don’t have an employee appreciation program right now, which I think is valuable and necessary to keep morale high and encourage advancement,” Brumback said.

The program was brought into public eye during last week’s Board of Finance meeting, but is not shown in the current year’s budget. It’s a concept that Brumback would like to see included but is leaving it up to the discretion of elected officials.

With certain longevity pay already in place, Board of Finance members expressed some skepticism regarding the idea.

Finance member Wayne Stanforth said he likes the concept, but would want to see some strict guidelines in place and make sure the money isn’t guaranteed. He said his concerns are that if they money is “handed out” then it will be hard to take it away.

“You want to reward employees and in theory is a great thing, but that’s how this longevity thing started. It might have been 20-30 years ago but once we got there, now it has to stay,” Stanforth said.

The town currently has $200 budgeted within the Town Manager’s line items for longevity, but the line item now exists in each department and is included as part of contract negotiations. Longevity is given to both union and non-union employees – a point that Finance member Sandra Feld said she is bothered by.

“People in the private sector are not only not being paid for staying, but many are looking over their shoulder every Friday worrying it might be the day they get a pink slip,” Feld said. “I believe this alone is something we need to address.”

Brumback said although he understands the concern, the longevity pay is not comparable to that given in private businesses over the years. He added that “it’s typically a small amount.”

“That phenomenon (of public receiving more than private) is new one. For a long time, public employees have been paid significantly less than their counterparts,” Brumback said. “We are now able to compete for best and brightest because the economy is so bad and if we don’t pay fairly and pay well, they will leave when the environment turns around.”

That said, Brumback promised that any money given to his office for “employee appreciation” would be kept separate from longevity pay. He said the money would be given “only when the employee has truly gone beyond job expectations.”

The amount of money that would be included in such a program will be left up to elected officials, he said, and would be kept only within the town manager’s budget both this year and in any subsequent years.

“We need to focus on treating people fairly and paying appropriately,” he said. “I’m not seeking, nor do I want any outrageous amount.”

Have an opinion on this? Be sure to tell us below or express it during the Board of Finance Budget Hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at .