Broken hiring process reveals deeper issues in SF government

Earlier this month, San Francisco city officials took a small victory lap.

According to the mayor’s office, who worked alongside the City Administrator, City Controller, and Department of Human Resources, San Francisco’s average time required to hire a new worker has decreased to about 150 days — a reduction from the shocking 255 days cited in a 2023 Civil Grand Jury Report.

Apparently, we used to be really, really slow at hiring workers.

Now we’re just pretty slow. 

To explore the root causes of San Francisco’s bureaucratic mess, I decided to ask someone who is an expert on fixing it: Jennifer Pahlka, former U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the Obama administration and author of the book, “Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better.”

According to Pahlka, who previously founded the non-profit Code for America, our city’s hiring problem is symptomatic of a deeper issue: following decades-old processes instead of looking at the bigger picture and driving outcomes.

“One of the reasons something like getting a building permit takes so long is that every different department has tacked on their little need. And it adds up to something far bigger than what anybody intended,” Pahlka says.  “Because everyone got to throw their stuff in, the public servants responsible for the process often have not seen it from start to finish. They see their little slice.”

Consider the menu of charter amendments on the March ballot, including Proposition F, which would mandate illegal substance dependence screening and treatment for those receiving cash assistance from The City.

If this measure becomes law, we’ll need the law to be implemented by at least six types of frontline workers in the Department of Public Health and beyond — including those who perform initial evaluations for substance abuse and those who process those evaluations and route addicts to available treatment programs.

Then, because San Francisco doesn’t have enough treatment facilities, we’ll need others to locate available facilities quickly and prioritize who gets access first.

And since cash assistance will be revoked for those who don’t comply, we will likely need different workers to handle that process — which isn’t likely to be very popular with those receiving assistance.

If we don’t want those removed from the cash assistance program to be left to fend for themselves — not a good outcome for them or a city trying to decrease crime and civic disorder — we’ll need other workers to connect them to non-profit, charitable, and religious groups who might provide replacement support.

Finally, suppose our ultimate goal is to get these individuals and families into treatment. In that case, we’ll need workers to continually re-engage those who opted out to see if circumstances change and they are willing to participate.

Did we solicit input from all of these frontline folks before proposing this legislation?

Probably not.

That’s because many city political insiders consider this measure mostly to be a political ploy to bolster Mayor Breed’s chances of reelection in November — with the opposition, too, watching closely to see if any weakness in support is a sign the mayor is vulnerable.

But after political games are over, real lives are impacted.

Paying attention to the little process details often makes the difference between success and failure.

“There are a bunch of people who are not our fancy elected officials who are responsible for implementation,” Pahlka emphasizes.  “Certainly, policy is important. But if we don't give at least equal attention to the implementation of that, and now so much implementation is digital, then we don't get the outcomes we want.”

Pahlka also says that while city governments have many project managers, they have very few product managers — and there’s a big difference.

“While project management is the art of getting things done, product management is choosing what to do in the first place,” Pahlka clarifies. “What is this product going to have? What is it not going to have?  We can't do everything. We can't fulfill every requirement or burden every project with every single thing that every human wants out of it.  We have to use our product management mindset to make choices… and execute on products that actually work.”

Can you imagine a world where we elect San Francisco leaders — from the mayor on down — based on their commitment to fixing the civil service and city government process?

“Good luck,” Pahlka says with a chuckle.

Sure, it’s not sexy.

But would you rather look good or do good?

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