Human Resources - Hiring and Recruitment Practices

C i t y  o f  M e s a  A u d i t o r  |  D a t e  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hiring and Recruitment Practices 
Human Resources

H i r i n g  a n d  R e c r u i t m e n t  P r a c t i c e s  
OBJECTIVES 
The objective of the audit is to determine whether Human Resources’ hiring and recruiting practices are 
consistent with industry standards and are sufficient to comply with applicable policies, statutes, and other 
requirements.  
 
BACKGROUND 
Human Resources (HR) is responsible for ensuring all City departments are supported and provided 
guidance in recruiting, hiring, and selecting the most qualified candidates. The recruitment life cycle begins 
when the hiring department creates a personnel requisition in HR’s online recruitment system, NEOGOV. 
Once the requisition has been approved and the job opening has been posted, HR manages the intake of 
applications and screens the candidates to ensure they meet the required minimum qualifications. Eligible 
candidates are referred to the hiring department. Hiring departments are responsible for developing job-
related interview questions, conducting the interviews, and selecting the most qualified candidate for the 
position. HR helps facilitate these activities to ensure an easy and successful recruitment process.  
Each stage of the recruitment process, from the approval of the personnel requisition to the job offer, can 
be used to measure the efficiency of filling vacant positions. For example, HR uses time-to-hire metrics to 
measure how long it takes to fill a vacant position from the date a personnel requisition was approved to 
the candidate’s start date. This metric can also be used to evaluate how HR’s hiring and recruiting process 
aligns with industry benchmarks. According to a 2020 NEOGOV Time to Hire Report, the average public 
sector time-to-hire was 119 days. This analysis covered 999 organizations across the public sector, including 
government agencies and higher education institutions. In 2024 and 2025, the City’s average time-to-hire 
was 98 and 78 days, respectively.  
SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS 
1. Human Resources did not always follow its hiring and recruiting policies and procedures. 
 
CONCLUSION 
In our opinion, Human Resources’ hiring and recruiting practices are consistent with industry standards. 
However, controls could be further improved to ensure its hiring and recruiting practices comply with 
policies and procedures.

H i r i n g  a n d  R e c r u i t m e n t  P r a c t i c e s  
ISSUE AND ACTION PLAN #1  
Human 
Resources 
did 
not 
always 
follow 
policies 
and 
procedures for its hiring and recruiting process 
What We Found 
HR has developed the Step-by-Step Guide to an Easy Recruitment, which is a document that 
provides guidance to City departments on the recruitment process. However, HR does not have 
adequate internal controls in place to ensure these policies and procedures are being followed. 
Specifically, during the audit, the following issues were identified:  
 
o For four recruitments tested, interview rating scores were not properly recorded in HR’s 
online recruitment system.  
o For one recruitment tested, an oral board member was not at a position that was 
equivalent or higher than the position being recruited for.  
o For one recruitment tested, one candidate did not have the same number of oral board 
members conducting the interview as the other remaining candidates.   
o For one recruitment tested, interview testing documentation was not retained in HR’s 
online recruitment system.   
o For one recruitment tested, a criminal conviction questionnaire for a candidate was not 
completed and retained in HR’s online recruitment system.   
 
In addition, HR does not require hiring departments to provide documentation that they verified 
all job requirements, including education and certifications as well as previous and current 
employment, prior to extending a conditional offer of employment with the City.  
 
What It Should Be 
According to HR’s Step-by-Step Guide to an Easy Recruitment, the hiring department should:  
 
o Send all interview and testing documentation directly to HR for retention.   
o Select at least three individuals who will comprise the board, ensuring that the individuals 
are at the equivalent level or higher than the position being recruited for.   
o Verify and document all job requirements, including education and certifications, prior to 
extending a conditional offer of employment.   
o Verify previous and current employment for at least five years when available, prior to 
extending a conditional offer of employment.   
 
Why Does It Matter 
Noncompliance with policies and procedures increases the risk of errors that can lead to 
inconsistencies or delays in the recruitment process. In addition, without effective controls in place 
to ensure that hiring departments are verifying all job requirements and performing reference

H i r i n g  a n d  R e c r u i t m e n t  P r a c t i c e s  
checks, there is an increased risk of hiring unqualified candidates. Obtaining evidence of these 
verifications and reference checks demonstrates that the hiring departments performed their due 
diligence when evaluating a candidate’s past performance and suitability for the position. 
 
What We Recommend and Management’s Action Plans 
Recommendation #1-1: To help ensure compliance with policies and procedures, HR should 
perform the following:  
 
o Provide training to City departments of the requirements for selecting board members for 
interviews, including the number and position level of individuals that should comprise the 
board.   
o Retain all interview and testing documentation in their online recruitment system, 
including following up with City departments who have not provided the documents in a 
timely manner.    
o Require City departments to provide documentation demonstrating that they verified all 
job requirements, such as education and certifications, as well as previous and current 
employment for at least five years, when available.   
Action Plan #1-1: Before interviews begin, the analyst will remind departments that all oral board 
members must review the Guideline for Interview Raters. If a department requests it, or if an oral 
board without prior training will be conducting interviews, customized rater training can be 
provided in advance. This has been done in areas such as MPSS when the unit was newly 
established or when recruitment process changes were implemented. 
Additionally, the Supervisors Toolkit has been updated to allow limited exceptions to the oral board 
composition requirements, specifically regarding qualifications. The standard expectation is that 
board members be at the equivalent level or higher than the position being recruited for and serve 
as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Any exceptions to this requirement must be approved by the HR 
Director or designee. Exceptions may be granted when a department uses an external rater or 
provides job-related justification for including a rater who does not meet the standard criteria. 
These exceptions are intended to be rare and will be approved only under limited circumstances. 
Analysts will use the Close Out Recruitment Checklist at the end of each recruitment. The 
completed checklist will be uploaded into the NeoGov exam plan for documentation. Human 
Resources Front Desk staff will then conduct a final audit of the recruitment file. Before the audit 
occurs, the analyst responsible for the recruitment will follow up with departments to obtain any 
missing materials, ensuring all required items are in place prior to closing the recruitment. 
The notes field in the NeoGov exam plan will be utilized to document any exceptions to the process 
including criminal history verification and exceptions to the Oral Board Composition.

H i r i n g  a n d  R e c r u i t m e n t  P r a c t i c e s  
As outlined in the Step-by-Step Guide to an Easy Recruitment (page 25), departments or hiring 
managers are responsible for verifying and documenting all job requirements, including education 
and certifications. The guide also states that supervisors must retain this documentation. Per the 
City Manager’s Office, Human Resources does not maintain or monitor this process; responsibility 
remains with the department. During the hiring process, the assigned analyst will remind the hiring 
manager of these obligations.  An attestation statement has been added to the New Hire form 
which attests that reference checking has been successfully completed and by whom.    
Individual or Position Responsible: Senior/HR Analyst assigned to Department 
 
Estimated Completion Date: Effective Immediately 
 
Recommendation #1-2: To help ensure the accuracy of the data entered into the online 
recruitment system, HR should develop and implement procedures to address the process for 
reviewing and properly entering interview rating scores for candidates.  
 
Action Plan #1-2: Following the completion of the interview process, oral board raters are 
responsible for confirming the accuracy of their scores prior to submitting to Human Resources. 
After reviewing all documentation and scoring, the Human Resources analyst will enter the 
finalized interview ratings into NeoGov. Human Resources Front Desk staff will then perform a final 
quality assurance check to confirm the scores were entered correctly—this is a new step in the 
process—and will notify the analyst of any discrepancies before making corrections to the system. 
If the discrepancy does not impact the applicant’s overall rating or the recruitment process, the 
score will be corrected within the exam plan. If a discrepancy results in an applicant not passing 
after they have already been notified of a passing score, the analyst must immediately inform their 
HR Administrator for guidance. 
Individual or Position Responsible: Senior/HR Analyst assigned to Department and HR Front Desk 
Staff 
 
Estimated Completion Date: Effective Immediately

H i r i n g  a n d  R e c r u i t m e n t  P r a c t i c e s  
SCOPE 
The scope of the audit is the period between July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.  
 
METHODOLOGY 
To accomplish our objective, we performed the following: 
 
o Interviewed department personnel, including HR Administrators, HR Management Assistant, HR 
Information Systems Coordinator, as well as a Performance Advisor within the Office of Innovation 
and Efficiency. 
o Performed a walk-through of the department’s online recruitment system.  
o Reviewed policies and procedures to gain an understanding of HR’s hiring and recruiting process.  
o Selected a sample of 40 job recruitments to determine whether HR complied with its policies and 
procedures.  
o Evaluated recruitment documentation, such as resumes and interview materials, to determine 
whether HR’s hiring practices led to the selection of qualified candidates.  
o Analyzed job requisition data to calculate time-to-hire metrics and compared the results to industry 
standards.  
 
AUDIT STANDARDS 
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.

The City Auditor’s office provides audit, consulting, and investigative 
services to identify and minimize risk, maximize efficiencies, improve 
internal controls, and strengthen accountability to Mesa’s citizens. We 
serve as an independent resource to City Management and the City 
Council, to provide them with timely, accurate, and objective information, 
assurances, and recommendations pertaining to City of Mesa programs 
and activities. 
Audit Team 
Michelle Hute, Senior Internal Auditor 
City Auditor 
Joseph Lisitano, CPA, CIA 
Mesa City Auditor’s Office 
Phone: 480-644-5059 
Email: auditor.info@mesaaz.gov 
Website: https://www.mesaaz.gov/government/city-auditor 
Copies of our audit reports are available at: 
https://www.mesaaz.gov/government/city-auditor/audits