Becoming an Employer of Choice: Lessons from Cook County

[00:00:00] Mo Fathelbab: Welcome to today's episode of People and Strategy. I'm your host, Mo Fathelbab, president of International Facilitators Organization, People and Strategy is a podcast from the SHRM Executive Network, the premier network of executives in the field of human resources. Each week we bring you in depth conversations with the country's top HR executives and thought leaders.

For today's conversation, I'm excited to be joined by Velisha Haddock, CHRO for the Cook County Government in Illinois, the second largest county in the United States. Welcome Velisha. 

[00:00:42] Velisha Haddox: Thank you, Mo. It's great to be here. Thank you for having me. 

[00:00:45] Mo Fathelbab: Well, great to have you with us and let's dive in. I wanna start with, tell us a bit about yourself, your hobbies, maybe.

so we get to know who you are a little bit. Of course. 

[00:00:56] Velisha Haddox: So I have been married for about 20 years. I have three children. we love to have family time, especially summertime in Chicago. So we love boating in the summer, we love reading together, and then I spend most of my time following up behind them in all of their activities.

[00:01:15] Mo Fathelbab: Well, that sounds lovely. I know that water in Chicago is blue and I'm always surprised when I see it. Let's talk about your journey as CHRO. What, what was the journey like and how did you become the CHRO of the Cook County of Illinois? 

[00:01:30] Velisha Haddox: So, very interesting story. I started as a litigator commercial litigation for many, many years until I had a family and transitioned over to litigation in government.

Specifically, I worked on labor and employment matters in the governor's office here in Illinois. then I transitioned over to the county because I loved management, and of course I loved labor and employment. They had an opportunity and asked me to come over and help turn around the HR organization here at Cook County.

[00:02:00] Mo Fathelbab: So let's talk about this turnaround because I understand it was remarkable. maybe first give us the landscape of what was going on. And then what it was, that you had to do to turn it around. 

[00:02:13] Velisha Haddox: Of course. So in 2016 when I started at the county, we had to really build a foundation, an HR foundation, because we'd been transactional primarily, and we needed to instill confidence in the departments that we could handle all of their needs.

So we started by building a foundation of policies and rules and getting buy-in, of course, and support from all of the departments that we were an HR team to be trusted. and if I could back up for a minute, HR at Cook County is interesting because the Bureau of HR actually houses two departments, the Department of HR and the Department of Labor.

So we manage labor negotiations across the county for over 18,000 union employees as well. So as we built the foundation and established the trust across employees and across leaders. Of course shortly we found ourselves in the, during the pandemic, of course, everyone's world changed. And then shortly after that, at the tail end, we found ourselves in the great resignation and I knew we needed to light a fire under the team to shift quickly.

We lost our entire recruiting team at that time. Attrition rates increased and everyone was afraid that we would not be able to get the work done and really serve the people of Cook County. So we pivoted very quickly, working with a consultant and analyzing what we needed to do to be more competitive in the market.

So salary and benefits, of course, everyone was looking for higher salaries at that time, bonuses, and we didn't have the infrastructure to support that. Our rules were not flexible enough at all, and we've always had great benefits. As a county pension system is great. You know, we pay a very low percentage of salary for healthcare, and the healthcare benefits are fantastic.

But that doesn't outweigh salary and bonuses, so of course we had to shift quickly. I have a laundry list of things that we did. 

[00:04:17] Mo Fathelbab: All right, well, let's talk about those, but first, just to give us some context, how big is Cook County in terms of the employees that you serve? 

[00:04:26] Velisha Haddox: So Cook County in terms of residents, 5.2 million residents.

We have over 23,000 employees across Cook County, and our budget is about $9.9 billion. 

[00:04:41] Mo Fathelbab: Okay, so that is quite significant and a lot of people that you have to, to build trust with. How did you build trust with all these folks? 

[00:04:51] Velisha Haddox: Being consistent, having a plan and a strategy. Communicating that very clearly.

And of course through some trial and error, I think a lot of people needed to see the results before they fully trusted, right? So they had to see those outcomes. So most of my conversation was, here's the plan, here's the strategy, trust that we're gonna get this done, these are the outcomes. And then fast forward, of course, we baby steps.

We built trust over time with great results. 

[00:05:25] Mo Fathelbab: So often, what I'm hearing is there are promises that aren't kept maybe historically, and that leads to a lack of trust and you really ensured to follow through. 

[00:05:36] Velisha Haddox: I think that's right. And there, there had been a lot of turnover in the leadership seat in HR.

before I started we were also in litigation, because of hiring practices and so we had to. Reach substantial compliance with the federal consent decree in that litigation. And then of course, rebuild the trust a across, across the leadership team within Cook County. So the team just needed stability and we were able to provide that stability and then regain that trust.

So we were working as strategic partners as opposed to the reactive, reactive team that we had been historically. 

[00:06:18] Mo Fathelbab: And to me, you seem to have that sense of stability and I don't see you getting, easily stressed, but it must have been a stressful time. 

[00:06:28] Velisha Haddox: Absolutely. I think I, I carry my stress differently.

You won't see it on the outside. It's all inside, but yes, very stressful time. But I had a fantastic team, of course, and the support of our leadership at Cook County. Tony Preckwinkle is our Cook County Board president. She's been in that office since 2010. Is the first African American woman elected to that position, and I'll tell you that she is quite progressive and quite, supportive and I knew if I had her support, then I could move forward with all of the plans and, meet the, the, needs of the county.

[00:07:08] Mo Fathelbab: Yeah, and I understand you, you had to think, about competing with the private sector, and really making sure that your, benefit suite is, up to snuff in that regard as well. so perhaps walk us through, How you went about that and, what is that laundry list of things that you did? Maybe not all of it, but the important ones.

[00:07:31] Velisha Haddox: Thank you for the question. So I realized, at the end of 21 that we were competing with all sectors during the Great resignation and shortly thereafter, that was a time where we were seeing a, an uptick in the salary negotiation. 70 plus percent of. Candidates were negotiating salaries. We knew that, employees or candidates in the market had three to five job offers per applicant.

And so we needed to compete with all sectors. So first we did a comp study for executive comp. We also did a non-executive comp survey. We made our, infrastructure a little bit more flexible, and with the support of the Board of Commissioners, we, were allowed to negotiate salaries because that was not, the case for us.

We were on a salary scale and salary schedule that we could not change. And so we gave ourselves the ability to negotiate salaries. We also got their support in allowing for recruitment and retention bonuses, which is unprecedented in government. So with the support of the board, we made those slight changes and quickly, quickly leveraged, that so that we could be more competitive.

And slowly but surely we started, moving toward becoming an employer of choice. But that was the beginning. 

[00:08:56] Mo Fathelbab: And was it hard to get the board to, to adjust its philosophy and to see the importance of, changing how you're going about doing your business? 

[00:09:07] Velisha Haddox: I thought it would be Mo, but when they saw employees leaving at the rates, they did, they knew they had to support the change.

We, we would not have survived had they not supported that change at the time. 

[00:09:21] Mo Fathelbab: So that's, I mean, that's really interesting to me. I, think often in life, we don't make a change unless we have the gun pointed to us, so to speak. why do you think that is? 

[00:09:31] Velisha Haddox: I think a lot of people are, more change averse than we like to admit.

And especially when you look at government, it takes a lot to make change in government and it's a slow moving ship. I have a, a deputy of mine used to say, turning this around is like turning around a cruise ship in a bathtub, so. So we needed that impetus. We needed that catalyst, to move people forward in the direction that we knew was right and that we knew would be successful in helping us continue to serve the residents of Cook County and help us push out the programs, that, we are known for.

[00:10:10] Mo Fathelbab: So Velisha, what are the results of your incredible turnaround of your HR department? 

[00:10:17] Velisha Haddox: So from a compensation perspective, after we engaged in our market studies to align salaries with market, we were able to increase salaries over a year to 18 months by about seven and a half percent. So our average salary increased by, by that amount.

And then of course we have, modified our salary schedule so that our. Employees receive anniversary increases that are consistent every year on top of cost of living adjustments. I'll tell you that our attrition rate at the time was between eight and 10%, and over that period we got it down to about five and a half percent, and it slowly has continued to fall since then.

[00:11:00] Mo Fathelbab: And I'm curious, have you run the numbers as it relates to the attrition rate going down and did that pay for the increased salaries in and of itself, or, not? 

[00:11:12] Velisha Haddox: Good question. It didn't pay for it entirely, but we're all almost there. 'cause I think we still see a number of vacancies. We still see, lower attrition rates.

Rates, which is fantastic. so we've closed the gap quite a bit, but it hasn't paid for it entirely. 

[00:11:29] Mo Fathelbab: What's it been like to become an employer of choice? 

[00:11:33] Velisha Haddox: It's been amazing, especially for our recruiting team, especially for the departments who are now filling positions. I'll tell you that before this change departments complained all the time.

Our IT department, for example, had, a vacancy rate at one point of about 40%. 

They've told us now almost all of their positions are filled, and not necessarily just through promotions and internal transfers. We're getting the external candidates that all the departments need to do the good work of Cook County.

So in addition to that being a result of salaries, we also updated our job descriptions and aligned those with the market. we started focusing on. Future of work. the, through the job architecture project, we did some org design work for some of the departments. So they were structured appropriately.

So they're now seeing the benefits of, all this work. 

[00:12:31] Mo Fathelbab: Well, that is a, certainly a lot. And how long did it take you to complete this process? 

[00:12:37] Velisha Haddox: The process took a total of about two and a half years. One project at a time. Building confidence. One, one project at a time. 

[00:12:48] Mo Fathelbab: So Velisha, something else that I found interesting is, I understand HR took on a task of writing job descriptions.

I wonder how that went and why, that was important and what was the impact of that. 

[00:13:01] Velisha Haddox: So we embarked on a job architecture project. So in addition to, taking ownership of all job descriptions and aligning those with the market, we also established a framework for titling and job leveling. We had very archaic titles that no one would have recognized in the market.

So in terms of being an employer of choice and being more competitive, we knew we had to, ensure additional market alignment so that piece was important. And now we have role clarity. We certainly have, a leveling guide for employees so that they see the trajectory, the career trajectory, they see what skills are necessary to, reach different levels of the organization.

So they are, excited that they have a clear and very transparent pathway to success at Cook County. 

[00:13:54] Mo Fathelbab: And you also added advanced vacation time, is that right? 

[00:13:58] Velisha Haddox: Absolutely. Again, in trying to become a competitor, and with all sectors and of course an employer of choice, we had to update our vacation leave policy.

So we increased the rate of accrual for all employees, but we did something special for salaried employees and for the executive team. So for salaried employees. What's really unheard of is in the government sector is having advanced vacation. So we allow a small, bank of vacation time for FLSA exempt employees and then they have to accrue to their maximum.

But for executive level employees, we advance the entire allotment. So now at Cook County executive level employees our advanced 25 days of vacation time, so that made us extremely attractive. In addition to the salary work. and then of course the, benefits package that we offer. 

[00:14:56] Mo Fathelbab: All right, well, I know who to call for a job 

[00:14:58] Velisha Haddox: Hey, we're hiring.

[00:15:00] Mo Fathelbab: Okay, lovely. what did you learn in the process of revamping, cook County's HR practices and what advice do you have for fellow HR leaders who, might embark upon the same path? 

[00:15:13] Velisha Haddox: I learned to know your worth. Know your value proposition. Know your team's value proposition beyond your organization's value proposition, so that you can, like I talked about earlier, instill confidence in the leaders, across your organization and truly become that strategic partner that they need.

[00:15:34] Mo Fathelbab: You also mentioned that, a big part of your success, was executive alignment. just curious from your perspective, what role that plays in the process of revamping, HR as you did. 

[00:15:47] Velisha Haddox: It plays an extremely critical role. If I did not have the support of our chief executive of the county board president, we would not have been able to move forward.

But I also had the support of our CFO, our CIO, our chief of staff. And so that leadership was extremely important. We all had to be on the same page because they are critical on the path to change management. And so had we not had their support, we would not have been able to, gain the confidence of employees because change is very difficult.

Change is very difficult, and change management and communication are extremely important. And if your leaders are supportive of the changes, then I think employees are more, apt to be adaptable and adjust to those changes. 

[00:16:35] Mo Fathelbab: Yeah. Makes sense to me. So Velisha, what is it like to have the support of the CIO.

[00:16:42] Velisha Haddox: It is fantastic. It's fantastic. We have, become great friends, but of course, as, professional leaders, we know that, it and HR serve as the, backbone for the organization. And so that partnership I think, is necessary to advance many of our initiatives. Certainly the technology, helps us. Move our work forward, and be more efficient.

And I think that, if the CIO and the CHRO are not in lockstep in terms of the plan of how to move an organization forward, you meet a lot more roadblocks than you should. Then you need to. And I think that's the same with the finance team as well, with the CFO. 

[00:17:28] Mo Fathelbab: And how did you get in lockstep with the CIO?

[00:17:32] Velisha Haddox: Being transparent, telling him our plans, helping him understand the direction and understand the people lens right, versus the it lens. I also take time to listen to him and understand his perspective, so we know that we're, we want to move in the same direction even though our approaches are a little bit different because our, our sectors are different of course, but we have a, good understanding, of each other. 

[00:18:02] Mo Fathelbab: Yeah. and then what about the CFO? I'm curious as to, if there's a difference there as it relates to the workflow and, and, certainly revamping salaries and, all of, all of that you did with compensation. 

[00:18:19] Velisha Haddox: That was tough. But I think our CFO also saw the impact of employees leaving Cook County, the impact of not being able to hire.

And so again, that, that team had no choice but to, to get on board. Everyone recognized we needed to solve a problem. The question was how, and we provided a solution that we convinced them would, work. 

[00:18:47] Mo Fathelbab: So as CHROs, one of the biggest, challenges is helping your organization stay competitive. what do leaders need to think about, in the coming year or two to have the competitive advantage?

[00:19:01] Velisha Haddox: I think at this point leaders need to think about ai. How AI can support your organization and support the, future of work. And it is a critical part of the future of work. So I think we also need to be mindful of, any other storms that might be on the horizon, related to civility in the workplace and get ahead of that 

[00:19:26] Mo Fathelbab: Stability at work right there from, 

[00:19:27] Velisha Haddox: Oh, look at that.

We're on the same page. 

[00:19:32] Mo Fathelbab: Yes. Yes, indeed. what is next for you, Velisha? I'm curious if you're at the second largest county now, do you go to the largest county? what's next for you? 

[00:19:45] Velisha Haddox: I have no plans to move to la. So I, enjoy this role, and looking at my career trajectory. I love working in, turnaround organizations, and solving problems.

And so I will, continue to support our Cook County Board president in, Cook County, as long as she, she needs me to continue, leading Cook County in this role. 

[00:20:12] Mo Fathelbab: Yeah. Well, I think that's important. And so, from this amazing journey that you've had, what lessons, would you share? What advice would you share with other HR practitioners who are considering this path of transforming their HR departments?

[00:20:30] Velisha Haddox: I would say make sure that you have a good team around you. Make sure that you have a great strategy in place before you embark on this path. I'll tell you Mo, we were, Moving and sometimes planning as we moved, because we didn't have a lot of time for the pre-planning, we found ourselves in a crisis situation and we had to respond quickly.

And so we pivoted. but I think if you have time to plan, make sure that the strategy is in place, make sure you have all of the support pieces you need. Get the buy-in upfront from your leadership team, and then start to move forward. 

[00:21:09] Mo Fathelbab: I'm curious, how do you know if you have the right team? I'm not sure.

We're always certain of that. 

[00:21:15] Velisha Haddox: I agree. And I don't know that I'm always certain of that. A lot of it has been trial and error. but I'll tell you that we are very transparent. I am very transparent with my team. I expect them to be transparent with me so I'm clear about our needs. I'm clear about my expectations, and I watch their work very closely to make sure that they're meeting the standard.

and you're able to assess. Who's, with you, who's not, who has the capacity, who doesn't, who you may need to invest more in, and who can just hit the ground running. And I think as a CHRO, you always have to step back and look at that broader landscape and be able to adjust as needed. 

[00:22:03] Mo Fathelbab: Yeah. And your HR, department's transformation really focused on employee benefits. is there anything you can change about, employee benefits? If there's anything you could change, what would it be? 

[00:22:17] Velisha Haddox: Interesting question. So, our, benefits package, I think, has always been. Top notch. and we also don't pay a lot for benefits, which is amazing.

the only thing I would continue to change and, track are the salaries. People don't know they need the healthcare benefits until they really need them, but salary. Bonuses, those things they look up, look at upfront, and they make decisions, based on that more than those long-term benefits. and I'll tell you, if I can go on for just a second more.

We have five generations in the Cook County workforce, five generations. 

[00:22:56] Mo Fathelbab: That is amazing. 

[00:22:56] Velisha Haddox: And the needs of those generations. Differ greatly. so I think the, younger generations aren't looking at that pension plan anymore. They're not looking at those healthcare benefits as being primary. So that's why salaries and bonuses, continue to be, top of mind for employees and, candidates in the market now.

[00:23:19] Mo Fathelbab: And how often do you rebalance, your benefits and how often do you assess, the utilization of those benefits? 

[00:23:29] Velisha Haddox: So our benefits team assesses utilization, certainly annually, if not more often than that. But I'll tell you that our benefits are negotiated, when we're in negotiations for success or bargaining.

So those negotiations usually happen about every four years. So we're looking at the landscape, we're looking at the landscape in, terms of, those longer term contracts. 

[00:23:54] Mo Fathelbab: Yeah. And how do you, approach aligning benefits with the needs of an inclusive workforce? 

[00:24:01] Velisha Haddox: We're always looking at the trends in the workforce.

and so we anticipate the need and we try to follow the trends and make sure that we're negotiating the right benefits package when we, bargain every four years. 

[00:24:15] Mo Fathelbab: And, what advice would you give other HR leaders who are rethinking their benefit strategy this year? 

[00:24:23] Velisha Haddox: Very good question. So what I'm hearing a lot is people want pet insurance, Mo.

[00:24:28] Mo Fathelbab: Pet insurance, all right. 

[00:24:31] Velisha Haddox: Pet insurance. But as we think about benefits and think about, inclusivity, we're always looking at the market. And so I think that would be my advice. Pay attention to those trends. I don't think we can follow everyone, but I think we have to make sure that as an organization you're getting the.

Most that you can for your employees, especially, and, I think as an employer of course, we're always looking at that cost benefit analysis. So do what makes sense for your population. I think you have to compare your population to the broader market and do what makes sense and we'll give you the best, the most benefit for your organization.

Cook County is self-insured and so the self-insurance fund is run by the risk management team, so those. Healthcare benefits are primarily managed in the Bureau of Finance. Interestingly enough, they manage those benefits. We negotiate them, but they manage them. 

[00:25:32] Mo Fathelbab: And was it under your purview that you've become self-insured or was that in place before you stepped into this role. 

[00:25:39] Velisha Haddox: That was in place before I stepped into this role?

So as HR we would manage the EAP benefits and any other supplemental benefits that we want to introduce to the workforce. And we usually introduce those through negotiations. But then of course, the benefit is for all employees, union and non-union. 

[00:25:59] Mo Fathelbab: And so what is one piece of advice, last question for you that has shaped your work or personal life?

[00:26:07] Velisha Haddox: It's actually a piece of advice that my mom gave me. All my life, lift your head and straighten your shoulders, lift your head and straighten your shoulders. And for my mom, who does, by the way, have perfect posture, it was not just about perfect posture. She was telling me to stay confident. Know what's inside of you, and know the resources around you, and know that you have everything you need.

To get the job done and to make the change you need to make. So that has affected my personal life and of course my, my professional life. I don't always have all the answers, but certainly I know that the right resources are around me so that we can solve, the problems that, that face us. 

[00:26:58] Mo Fathelbab: Lift your head and straighten your shoulders is absolutely wonderful advice.

And that's where we'll end it for this episode of People and Strategy. A huge thanks to Velisha for your valuable insights. 

[00:27:11] Velisha Haddox: Thank you, Mo. 

[00:27:13] Mo Fathelbab: Thanks for tuning in. You could follow the People and Strategy podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Also, podcast reviews have a real impact on podcast visibility.

So if you enjoyed today's episode, leave a review to help others find the show. Finally, you could find all our episodes on our website at SHRM dot org slash podcast. And while you're there, sign up for our weekly newsletter. Thanks for joining us, and have a great day.