The Homewood-Flossmoor Park Board agreed to hire a human resources specialist in a reorganization plan presented by Executive Director Debbie Kopas.
The park district, with more than 50 full-time employees and an estimated 600 part-time employees, should have an HR position because “the laws are changing frequently,” board president Bob Haderlein said at Tuesday’s park board committee meeting.
The upcoming retirement of long-time staff member Pam Melnyk gave Kopas an opportunity to consider how the many jobs Melnyk has done can be handled by other staff. What she found was human resources (HR) work is split between her and four staff members.
Hiring a new staff member who is qualified in all phases of HR work will allow for job responsibilities to be moved around among current staff.
“I’ve been looking at this for over a year,” Kopas said. She expects to advertise the HR position in March or April.
Melnyk, who will retire in May after 24 years with the park district, said she has been included in staff discussions on the reorganization. She sees it as “a vision for the future. It will be a great new organization for the district.”
Melnyk’s administrative position, a job she describes as “very diverse” likely will not be filled. The job “let me connect with the full-time employees. The park district has been a great employer,” she said.
By assigning one person as human resources manager, Kopas will be able to change the job done by Janet Drew in the business office who has handled a segment of HR work. Drew will be taking on responsibilities for grants. Kopas said Drew is excited about the new work and will be attending training sessions in 2016 to get up-to-speed on the many phases of grant writing.
