At the City of Victoria, we understand that providing great service starts with great people.
Our 600-plus employees provide a wide range of services to the public—from collecting trash to keeping the community safe, from fixing potholes to helping young children read. Their commitment and great work are not something that we take for granted.
Our residents have a right to expect excellent service from their local government. We strive to hold ourselves to a high standard, and part of that means taking care of our employees so that they can take care of our residents. This includes not just offering competitive salary and benefits but also making sure that our employees know they and their contributions are valued.
PHOTO: City of Victoria employees pose for a photo at the Crossroads Heart & Stroke Walk on Feb. 5 at the University of Houston-Victoria/Victoria College campus. A total of 43 employees walked in memory of former Mayor Rawley McCoy, raising more than $1,200 for the American Heart Association.
Making the effort to be an employer of choice is especially important in today’s market. Even before the pandemic and the so-called Great Resignation, our organization was looking closely at our compensation, benefits and employee-friendly policies to make sure we stay competitive when trying to attract and retain employees.
As a result of a compensation study that was conducted several years ago, we updated our pay structures and moved employees into the new salary ranges. We recognize it was an important first step to conduct a comprehensive salary study; however, in addition to staying competitive with entry-level rates, we are also working to provide appropriate pay increases to our longer-serving employees in recognition of their experience and commitment to our organization.
Attracting and retaining employees can be difficult, but we strive daily to focus on providing value to our employees. Value comes in the form of compensation; benefits; work culture; investing in key resources, such as the upcoming public safety headquarters; and cultivating quality employee programs.
In addition to lowering our health care premiums and offering an attractive retirement plan through the Texas Municipal Retirement System, we continue to identify resources that can help our employees’ well-being. We implemented our BeWELL@Work initiative to focus on the importance of employee mental and physical health. We also started an Employees Helping Employees volunteer committee to plan activities and outreach where employees support other employees.
Not only do we strive to attract great employees, but we also want to work hard to keep the great employees we have. During his recent State of the City address, the mayor shared that 28% of our employees have been with the organization for more than 10 years, including 55 who have been with us more than 20 years!
A nice benefits package may help to attract employees, but a healthy and supportive work environment encourages them to stay. Our culture starts with a leadership team that takes care of employees, makes them feel valued and allows them to thrive. When we support our employees, they can put their best foot forward to support our community.
If you’d like to be part of a team working together for our community and for each other, we hope you’ll consider joining the City of Victoria. To view current job openings, visit www.victoriatx.gov/apply.
Cheryl Marthiljohni is the director of Human Resources for the City of Victoria.