Compensation Reform

Impending State Personnel Crisis Threatens Public Health, Safety and Other Critical Colorado State Services

Study Calls for Reform of State’s Flawed Compensation System to Ensure Qualified Workforce in Coming Years

The state of Colorado is heading toward a personnel crisis that will increasingly undermine its ability to provide for public health, public safety, and other critical services – a problem that can be headed off by reforming Colorado’s flawed compensation system, according to a study released by CAPE-SEIU.

According to the study, The Quiet Crisis in Colorado State Government: A Looming Loss of Skilled and Experienced State Employees Threatens to Undermine Services and Increase Costs.

The shortage already is being felt among the ranks of state auditors, attorneys, and computer programmers.

"In effect, the state is becoming a training center for young employees who then take their skills and experience elsewhere – something Colorado can ill-afford given the coming wave of retirements," said Miller Hudson, executive director of the CAPE-SEIU. "This not only harms critical services, it forces the state to spend too many precious resources on constant recruiting and training of new employees."

The state’s compensation system is to blame for the failure to retain younger workers, the study says, because it has not allowed state employee salaries to keep pace with the private sector and includes a health insurance plan that is considered among the worst in the nation.

In particular, the state’s pay-for-performance system has not accomplished its goal of rewarding high-performing employees and keeping employee pay in line with the general market in Colorado.

"We want to work with the legislature and the governor over the next few years to fix the flaws in the state’s compensation system before the shortage of experienced workers cripples Colorado’s ability to maintain public health and public safety, protect children and seniors, build good roads, and preserve a clean and healthy environment," Hudson said.

Among the report’s findings, Colorado has:

Significant turnover.
An older-than-average workforce.
A growing retirement rate.
Difficulty retaining younger employees.
High turnover costs.

To remedy these problems, the report recommends:

• Over the next several years, moving toward fully funding annual pay-for-performance increases so employees are rewarded when they perform well.
• Clear guidelines so employees understand what’s expected of them.
• Real incentives for high-performing employees to stay with the state.
• A clear path for advancement so good employees know they have a real opportunity to get ahead.
• Quality health insurance that’s affordable and comparable to surrounding states.

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