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Columns::October 28, 2002
Spreading the wealth: University announces plans to buy, sell properties
Open-enrollment period under way for health insurance
Hollowell to receive honorary degree at Commencement
Four named Fellows by American Academy of Advancement of Science
Dedication is held at new Center for Applied Genetic Technologies
Dunning announces leadership changes at Georgia Center
Special delivery: Professor works to improve efficacy of cancer drugs
Administrative Changes
Kudos
Trying times
Into an artist’s world
Campus News
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| An adjunct faculty member of the School of Public and International Affairs, Stephen Condrey regularly teaches a graduate seminar on human resource management. His outreach activities and instruction also have taken him overseas in recent years. (Photo by Peter Frey) |
Senior public service associate makes workplaces work better
By Ann Allen
allen@cviog.uga.edu
Ask Steve Condrey to explain what he continues to enjoy about his work and the answer sounds more like that of a private investigator than director of human resources management technical assistance at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
“It’s always fascinating to see how breaking an organization down into all of its individual job functions gives you a much clearer view of how it really works as a whole,” he says.
Condrey came to the Vinson Institute in 1986 from UGA’s human resources department, where he was working while pursuing his doctoral degree in public administration. His public sector experience prior to that included work for the state of Tennessee and the Jefferson County, Alabama, personnel board.
“In the mid 1980s, the Institute of Government was starting to receive an increasing number of requests for technical assistance in public personnel management,” he says. “I was fortunate to come in and have the opportunity to build the human resource management systems program.”
The number of requests for assistance now averages about 300 per year, compared to two or three in the beginning years, according to Condrey.
“Georgia’s strong economy in recent years has been an impetus for local governments to become more competitive in their salary systems,” he says. “There has also been a growing awareness and concern to be in compliance with current labor laws and regulations.”
State government agencies and local governments often do not have the time or staff expertise to review and revise their classification and compensation systems. Enter the Vinson Institute.
“The goal of our human resource management systems technical assistance is to develop for our local or state government client a job classification and compensation system that is fair and equitable and one that is able to be implemented by the organization,” Condrey says. “Another important benefit is the reduction in costs to the client from employee turnover, recruitment and retraining.”
To build a system, Condrey and his colleagues must first take the organization apart. After meeting with local government leaders or state agency officials, they conduct interviews with department heads and supervisors as well as individual employees.
Then they create a job classification and compensation system that is in line with current human resource management practice
Once the system is approved and put into place, they work closely with the client to make sure that the new personnel system is implemented properly. Condrey also conducts executive searches for city and county manager vacancies.
Condrey is equally engaged in his academic work. He is an adjunct faculty member of the university’s School of Public and International Affairs, where he regularly teaches a graduate seminar on human resource management. His outreach activities and instruction also have taken him overseas in recent years. For example, he was a member of one of the first American human resource management delegations to visit the former Soviet Union.
Whether he is helping a local government develop its first job classification system, studying public sector labor reform, teaching at UGA or in Shanghai, Condrey stays focused on the value of the human resource.
“I’m very fortunate to be in a position to offer both outreach assistance and academic instruction to help make today’s workplaces better,” he says. |
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