$85K in workforce grants to help Greenfield study salaries, diversity

By MARY BYRNE

Staff Writer

Published: 04-23-2023 1:39 PM

GREENFIELD — The city recently received two Community Compact Connector grants that will “enhance human resources” work in the city, according to officials.

One of the two grants provides $50,000 toward a study, led by the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston, to develop a formal wage and classification plan that will detail job descriptions, employee grades and salary ranges.

“This will allow us to make better pay decisions that are reasonable in comparison to similar work being carried out in all areas of our city,” Mayor Roxann Wedegartner told City Council Wednesday night. “We’re looking for a way to achieve some parity and equity, understanding that many of the jobs we do in the city don’t align, task for task. They require different education, different types of licenses, things like that.”

Wedegartner said the study will focus primarily on department heads and some of the supervisory positions.

“I think it will help us align either with other communities or within our city,” she said.

Additionally, a $35,000 grant will fund a study to develop a “data-informed plan” to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce.

“[The study] will include recommendations for policies and procedures to be adopted in our efforts to help increase diversity among our employees,” Wedegartner said. “Again, I think that’s a worthwhile thing that we have been thinking about since I became mayor, and now we have an opportunity to get the data about how we go about better recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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