Hiring Process

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Why we did this audit

Leaders from the city’s police and fire departments expressed concern, through our annual risk assessment, with the timeliness and accuracy of the Civil Service Commission’s candidate testing process.

Key facts

  • The Civil Service Commission oversees the merit-based testing of entry-level police and fire applicants to identify the best qualified candidates to hire.
  • The commission oversees several stages of testing to determine a candidate’s suitability for the position.
  • The Civil Service Commission relies on Workday, the city’s employee management portal, to manually process candidates.
  • Some work related to hiring, like recruitment and final candidate selection, are overseen by the Department of Public Safety and the police and fire departments.

 

Why this matters

The Denver Police and Denver Fire departments rely on the Civil Service Commission to identify qualified candidates for emergency services positions. Efficient testing and effective collaboration between the commission and departments ensures the city recruits and retains necessary personnel. When our fire and police departments are understaffed, the city may experience longer emergency response times and an increase in risk to the safety and security of residents and visitors. 

Findings

FINDING 1 Unreliable and inaccurate data impacts hiring process improvements

Candidates were processed inconsistently. Incorrect and unreliable data affects decision making. When the commission cannot identify problem areas and adjust the hiring process, it may mean fewer eligible recruits entering the police and fire academies.

FINDING 2  There are no formalized policies and procedures to ensure effective oversight of the hiring process

Without structure and formalized processes, background investigations risk being inaccurate and not conducted in a timely manner. Lack of oversight led to violations of the city’s ethics requirements and incorrect time and attendance reporting.

The Civil Service Commission paid vendor invoices late and overspent on agreements. This could harm the city’s reputation.

Unclear communication strategies. Incorrect, vague, and delayed information being sent to candidates and the police and fire departments can cause candidates to become frustrated or drop out of the hiring process altogether and harms the city’s reputation.

Recommendations

1.1 Conduct an evaluation of the Workday process – The Civil Service Commission should conduct a Workday process evaluation to document and detail the Workday process flow. This evaluation should include:

  • Defining and connecting each hiring step to its associated Workday step.
  • Identifying necessary Workday steps and removing or discontinuing excess Workday steps.
  • Determining which steps of the hiring process must occur consecutively and which steps may occur nonconsecutively.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 31, 2025

1.2 Improve Workday integration with hiring process – While conducting an evaluation of the hiring process, the Civil Service Commission should also work with Workday analysts from the Office of Human Resources to improve Workday’s integration with its hiring process and stop using external spreadsheets.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 31, 2025

1.3 Create a detailed process guide – Once the evaluation and integration improvements are complete, the Civil Service Commission should create a detailed process guide for processing candidates in Workday and ensure staff are trained on using this information. This guide should have unit-specific information, detailing:

  • Each position’s roles and responsibilities within the hiring process.
  • How staff should process candidates within Workday, including explanations on Workday steps and when and how they should be used.
  • How staff should communicate details on unique candidate cases, adjusting the process as needed.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 31, 2025

2.1 Develop and implement background investigation policies and procedures – The Civil Service Commission should conduct a review of the background investigation process. The review should result in the commission developing, documenting, and implementing comprehensive policies and procedures for background investigators. These policies should include uniform guidance for:

  • Investigation procedures such as steps, resources, frameworks, and deadlines.
  • Quality assurance procedures.
  • Investigation assignment and time spent tracking procedures.
  • Use of a central, standardized management system, such as Workday, to document all investigation data.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 31, 2025

2.2 Develop and document a security and privacy policy – The Civil Service Commission should ensure the policies and procedures for background investigators include uniform processes for using city-issued devices to handle and store candidate documentation in a central, secure file repository that adheres to the city’s record retention rules and can be monitored by managers.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 31, 2025

2.3 Issue city approved devices to background investigators – The Civil Service Commission should issue devices, such as laptops, to background investigators and ensure that all work, in accordance with city policy, is conducted on city-issued devices.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – June 30, 2025

2.4 Develop a time and attendance policy – The Civil Service Commission should ensure the policies and procedures for background investigators include time and attendance policies that provide reasonable assurance that employee-reported time is accurate, reflects work performed, and is sufficiently detailed for supervisory review. In accordance with city Fiscal Accountability Rules, the policies should detail which supervisor is responsible for review of background investigator time and attendance and how often the review should occur.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – May 28, 2025

2.5 Develop a conflict-of-interest and outside employment policy – The Civil Service Commission should ensure the policies and procedures for background investigators include, in accordance with city requirements, processes for:

  • Identifying and documenting conflicts of interest in the hiring process.
  • Documenting and approving all outside employment.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – May 14, 2025

2.6 Develop formal written guidance to ensure oversight and monitoring – The Civil Service Commission should develop and document written guidance for oversight and monitoring of work completed by commission staff processing candidates in the hiring process. This guidance should include information about who should be conducting these reviews and how frequently.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 31, 2025

2.7 Contract monitoring and oversight – The Civil Service Commission should develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure third-party agreements are appropriately established and monitored for compliance. These policies and procedures should include identifying and outlining responsibilities related to contract management.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 31, 2025

2.8 Develop and implement formal procedures for communication with other departments – The Civil Service Commission should work with the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and the Department of Public Safety to develop, document, and implement policies and procedures outlining a plan for regular quality communication and data sharing.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 31, 2025

2.9 Review communication processes – The Civil Service Commission should review its communication processes. This review should include:

  • Collaborating with Workday analysts from the Office of Human Resources to identify whether and where automation is appropriate.
  • Formalizing deadlines for completion.
  • Determining whether other methods of communication, like text messages, could be effective.
  • Examining the templates used to determine whether the information provided when an applicant is disqualified is sufficient.

Once this review is complete, the commission should document and implement a formal policy outlining applicant communication.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 31, 2025

2.10 Develop and implement policies and procedures to obtain applicant feedback – The Civil Service Commission should develop and implement policies and procedures related to obtaining, reviewing, and using applicant feedback to improve the hiring process.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 31, 2025

2.11 Review and update communication processes – In conjunction with recommendations 2.8 and 2.9, the Civil Service Commission should develop and implement policies and procedures to establish how often it should evaluate and update all communication processes.

Civil Service Commission – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 31, 2025

Auditor's Letter

June 26, 2025

We audited the entry-level hiring process overseen by the Civil Service Commission to determine whether the commission’s oversight, processes, and data use is effective. I now present the results of this audit.

The audit found the Civil Service Commission has not appropriately monitored or assessed systems, internal processes, and communication strategies to best understand where inefficiencies exist. Additionally, the commission did not obtain or use available resources or feedback to best identify areas for process improvements.

By implementing recommendations for stronger processes, and enhanced contract, process, and system monitoring, the Civil Service Commission will be better able to ensure an efficient and standardized hiring process experience for both candidates and commission staff. Implementation of our recommendations will ultimately help ensure the commission is best able to identify and provide the qualified candidates needed for Denver’s police and fire departments, who provide the city with critical emergency response services.

We are pleased the Civil Service Commission agreed to implement all 14 recommendations. Some of the implementation dates noted indicate commission staff completed work on the recommendations before this audit report’s publishing date. This information will be reviewed during the follow-up process along with the implementation status of all other recommendations.

This performance audit is authorized pursuant to the City and County of Denver Charter, Article V, Part 2, Section 1, “General Powers and Duties of Auditor.” We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

We appreciate the leaders and team members at the Civil Service Commission who shared their time and knowledge with us during the audit. Please contact me at 720-913-5000 with any questions.

Denver Auditor's Office

Auditor's Signature
Timothy O'Brien, CPA


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AUDITOR TIMOTHY O'BRIEN, CPA
Denver Auditor


Denver Auditor's Office

201 W. Colfax Ave. #705 Denver, CO 80202
Emailauditor@denvergov.org
Call: 720-913-5000
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