Fort Thomas City Council asked staff to prepare and circulate a targeted request for qualifications to secure a part-time HR consultant or consulting firm to support the city’s human-resources needs and to strengthen HR operations.

Interim Finance Director Linda Chapman — who the city identified at the meeting as having prior HR leadership experience — told council she would help define the scope, evaluate vendor qualifications and recommend firms that specialize in municipal HR services. Chapman told council that many HR vendors hold corporate credentials such as SHRM certification but that municipal HR work often requires knowledge of public-sector policies and state employment law.

Council members discussed vendor options, including national payroll/HR providers the city already uses for payroll services (ADP) and other regional firms (Paychex/Paycor, Employer Resources/Clark Schaefer). Council directed staff to assemble a shortlist of firms (the administrator said he had about eight names to start), send the RFQ to those firms directly, and give responders a short window to reply so the city could narrow proposals to three to five finalists for interviews. The staff proposal called this an RFQ/RFQQ process (soliciting qualifications and pricing) rather than a state-level procurement and recommended a two-week response deadline.

Council members asked that the RFQ specify whether the consultant would provide day-to-day HR support, on-call consulting for complicated matters, or both. Linda recommended one vendor provide both so that consultants and in-house staff would be aligned. "I would have one company do both, so everybody's on the same page," she said.

Council also asked staff to include, as part of the scope, an initial assessment of employee morale and HR processes (employee surveys and interviews) after the consultant is contracted. Council suggested that the finance director continue to handle benefits in the near term and that HR consulting be structured to complement in-house finance benefits work. Staff agreed to circulate a draft RFQ to council for comment before issuing it, to target a two-week response window, and to bring finalists in for interviews.

The council did not commit to a particular vendor or contract during the meeting; the action recorded was direction to prepare and circulate the RFQ and return with proposals and a recommended finalist list for interviews.