Turnover in Richmond city government is down

Turnover in Richmond city government is dropping, a trend that a top human resources official attributed to ongoing efforts to increase wages and benefits and “make this a more human place that folks will want to come.” 

“We’ve had some good increases in wages for our folks. We’ve done some market studies. We went through employee engagement sessions to hear from employees what you want, what bothers you, what can we do better? We’ve added the clinic,” said Senior Deputy Director of Human Resources Robin Redmond at a Governmental Operations Committee meeting last week. “I think all these things are paying off.” 

Since 2022, turnover at the city of Richmond has fallen from 15.7% to 9.2%. The decline is significant, although Redmond acknowledged that the Great Resignation that occurred during and after the COVID-19 pandemic likely helped drive up the 2022 rate. 

Still, she said, “this is quite an accomplishment.” 

Pay has risen significantly over the past decade: While in 2014, more than three-quarters of city employees made less than $60,000, today only a third do. Collective bargaining is also contributing to increases, with three of five agreements going into effect last July. 

Data from halfway through the current fiscal year shows that although turnover is down, it remains high in some departments — with the 100-person Finance Department on track to see a roughly 36% turnover rate by year’s end. 

Some of the churn in that department was due to employees not being “a good fit,” said Redmond. “Either the employee had resigned or the city helped them along to realize they were not a good fit.” 

Councilor Kenya Gibson (3rd District) pointed out that some of the high-turnover departments, including Finance, have repeatedly made headlines in recent months “because of significant issues in the delivery of services.” 

“I would encourage this body to work in partnership with these departments to figure out what’s driving these issues, because it’s costing the city quite a bit,” she said. 

Other large departments posting higher churn rates include Emergency Communications, which handles dispatch, and Justice Services, which works with both adults and children who are involved in the criminal justice system. 

“I think part of it is when you pull in a new person to a job like that, sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re getting into until you’re in there,” said Redmond.

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Redmond's name.