Surprise!! MPS' HR Operation Is Useless

Borsuk's article doesn't use the word "useless." But what other conclusion can you draw?

"The Department of Human Resources' management strategy appeared to be risk aversive and was marked by a weak sense of urgency to improve and little functional concern for customers and stakeholders."

• "The Strategic Support Team saw no evidence that the department is involved in developing strategies that would improve the performance and retention of district employees, support evaluation practices that hold employees accountable for results or help employees develop the skills and knowledge needed for promotion to key leadership positions within schools and departments."

• The department has "over-specialized staff resulting in operational silos, information hoarding and a prevalent 'us' vs. 'them' mentality that is averse to change, discourages teamwork and generates conflicting expectations, ineffective operations, poor customer services and potentially higher costs."

• "There seems to be a pervasive avoidance of responsibility and an aversion to risk among department management."

• "Department processes and practices tend to be slow and cumbersome and contribute to duplicative work, excessive time losses, extensive use of redundant and parallel paper and electronic systems, and risky and inefficient 'work around' methods."

In fairness, these are all the "check-box" results of a confused and ineffective superintendent.

That fish is rotten, from the head.