COVINGTON, Ga. — Trudy Henry, who is director of the Covington-Newton County 911 Center, said her department is facing a “substantial recruitment and retention crisis.”
During a meeting held Monday, June 6, Henry told the Covington City Council there were 12 vacancies at the time. The good news was she had two candidates accept job offers and expected to start next week. But she didn’t have much confidence in continuing to grow her staff.
Henry said she was losing dispatcher trainees to surrounding areas almost as quickly as they get hired. From Jan. 1, 2020, to May 2, 2022, Henry reported 20 employees had been hired, but on the flip side, 29 employees had departed.
The reason for employees leaving varied, Henry said. Many left during the height of the pandemic when schools had closed and childcare services were hard to find. Others left because they didn’t want to work full-time anymore. And some left for similar positions outside Newton County that paid more.
“Many 911 centers around us have raised their salaries,” Henry said. “Cobb County 911 provided a ‘stay’ incentive for their employees, and I think that is what would best suit us right now.”
To keep employees working in Newton County, Henry requested a “stay” incentive — a non-cumulative, one-time payment of $2,500 — to be paid to Covington-Newton County 911 employees.
“Covington-Newton County 911 is in a critical staffing crisis,” Henry stated in her request. “Under normal conditions, the employees are subjected to an extreme amount of stress from the sheer critical nature of the work performed, and high standards we require. Recognizing their resiliency and commitment is a profound declaration that we can provide asa token of gratitude, while also serving a significant retention statement.”
Being short-staffed has only added to employees’ load, Henry said.
“Being short handed a long time, they’re working a lot of overtime,” she said. “They’re away from their families and in that center a lot more than they are at home. So just to show a little appreciation and try to keep them here with us — that’s my motivation for this.”
The total cost of the “stay” incentive was expected to be $57,500. Henry said it would be paid through the FY2022 E911 Budget – Salary Surplus fund. She said the 911 center had been short-staffed for so long that there would not be an issue in funding the incentive.
The incentive would only be paid to employees who have been on staff for an extended period of time. A recruitment bonus for new hires was in the works as part of the FY2023 budget, Henry said.
When a new employee is hired without communications officer experience, Henry said they work with a Communications Training Officer to complete approximately five months of training before attending the Basic Communications Officer Course at Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Once that training is complete, Henry said they can go to work for any other 911 Center in the state of Georgia.
Henry said many 911 centers in surrounding areas have raised their wages, which is why so many are leaving Newton County. However, it isn’t much, she said. Most are only offering between 75 cents to $1 higher.
Before the incentive was approved unanimously, Councilman Don Floyd said he would like to see work done to see 911 Center employees’ salary or hourly wage increased. Henry said it was her understanding the city was going to conduct a salary study and that the “stay” incentive was “something to get us through” until the study was completed.
