Addendum No 3. Questions HR-26-702.pdf

Department of Financial Management 411 West Ocean Boulevard, 6th Floor

Long Beach, CA 90802

(562) 570-6425

May 06, 2026

NOTICE TO PROPOSERS

ADDENDUM NO. 3: Q & A

No. RFP HR-26-702

Classification & Compensation Program Development Consulting Services

This addendum changes and supersedes the language in the original RFP.

Please acknowledge receipt of this addendum by signing and submitting with your proposals. Any proposer who fails to submit this addendum may be disqualified.

The City would like to remind Proposers that pursuant to Section 5.2.27 of the RFP, the City will not be responsible for or bound by any oral communication or any other information or contact that occurs outside the official communication process specified herein, unless confirmed in writing by the City Contact.

The questions and answers are as follows:

1. Q: Regarding the scope of work in general, can the City please clarify which stakeholders/groups will be involved in each of the 6 SOW components? We are accustomed to working with Human Resources, leadership, management, governing bodies, and labor organizations. Clarity around the City’s expectations will help us determine the best approach for each SOW component.

A: The City’s Classification and Compensation Division within the Department of Human Resources will be the primary stakeholder for each of the six scopes of work components. Additional City of Long Beach stakeholders are anticipated to be involved in the discussion and review for subcomponents within each of the scope of work sections when the subject matter involves their operations. Stakeholder involvement is expected to be more pronounced for the sections pertaining to the development of a modernized compensation philosophy and the identification of a revised list of comparator agencies. City of Long Beach stakeholders may include representatives from the following operations: City Manager, City Attorney, Financial Management, Labor Relations, Occupational Health, Return to Work, Safety, and Systems Management and Compliance, and various department leadership teams. Direct involvement with the City of Long

Beach’s various employee associations is not currently anticipated, although indirect involvement in the form of routed questions and discussion items through Labor Relations is expected.

2. Q: Regarding the development of a modernized compensation philosophy;

which stakeholders/groups, does the City anticipate will be involved in this process? Human Resources, City leadership, management, the City Council? Will labor organizations be a part of this process?

A: Outside of key members from the Human Resources Department’s leadership team, representatives from the City Manager and Financial Management Departments are expected to be involved in this process. Direct involvement with the City of Long Beach’s various employee associations is not currently anticipated, although indirect involvement in the form of routed questions and discussion items through Labor Relations is expected.

3. Q: Regarding the alignment of classification and compensation policies, practices, and procedures with industry standards; does the City expect the consultant to simply identify inconsistencies with industry standards or would the consultant also update the City’s policies and procedures? If so, how many policies and procedures does the City currently have?

A: The City expects the consultant to gather information and analyze our policies, practices, and procedures relative to industry standards to identify inconsistencies and provide guidance on how to best address them to align with best practices. This is likely to include guidance on how to revise existing policies and procedures and drafting new policies and procedures where needed. The consultant is not expected to oversee or directly engage with implementation activities. We have limited written policies and procedures with respect to classification and compensation, including Article XI of the Long Beach City Charter (Sec. 1100, Sec. 1101, and Sec. 1102), our Civil Service Rules and Regulations (127 sections across 51 pages), and a variety of sections embedded in our Memoranda of Understanding across our various employee associations.

4. Q: How many templates, forms, process guides, and other documents does the City currently have in place that the consultant would be expected to update?

A: We currently have two templates for job descriptions (classification specifications and management position descriptions), a process outline for the current classification and compensation workflow, memoranda guiding our departments on how to submit classification and compensation requests and engage in revisions to salary resolutions, a position description questionnaire for position audits, and a new position request form for proposed budget enhancements and reductions that we would like the consultant to review.

5. Q: Regarding delivery of classification and compensation training; will virtual training sessions be sufficient or does the City prefer onsite in-person training? How many participants does the City anticipate?

A: Recorded virtual trainings would be ideal for future training purposes. We anticipate the City’s Classification and Compensation Division (comprised of 4-5 staff) for all trainings, and select members of different teams within Human Resources for trainings that intersect with their operations, including Labor Relations for compensation studies, Occupational Health, Return to Work, and Safety for essential functions job analysis, Personnel Services for position audits, and Talent Management for developing minimum requirements. Participant numbers are likely to range from 5 to 15 for most sessions.

6. Q: For FLSA assessments, do you have an estimate of how many positions/classifications the consultant would need to assess?

A: We do not anticipate the need for the consultant to formally assess positions or classifications for FLSA status designation. Rather, we would like to work with the consultant to ensure our Classification and Compensation Division team is trained on how to conduct proper FLSA analysis and our classification specifications and processes are sufficiently structured to facilitate that analysis.

7. Q: In terms of identifying essential functions for occupational health and workplace accommodation assessments; this is typically done on a position basis, not necessarily on a classification basis, and requires a slightly different skill set that requires occupational health expertise, rather than classification expertise. Is this an aspect that the City is open to addressing separately from this scope of work with a different consultant and based on the consultant’s recommendations for this scope of work?

A: Yes, the City of Long Beach is open to addressing position-specific essential functions job analysis with different consultants based on the consultant’s recommendations within the scope of work for this RFP. The goal of its inclusion in this RFP’s current scope of work is to understand industry best practice with respect to classifying work within a classification or series, ensuring appropriate assessment of minimum qualifications relative to essential functions, and assessing the types of knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform work assigned to a given classification and the standards for their inclusion within classification specifications.

8. Q: Will the consultant mostly work with Human Resources and Classification and Compensation group within the City? Will your Labor partners be involved in the process? What does the stakeholder involvement look like, or what are your sort of expectations on that?

A: The consultant will mostly work with the Classification and Compensation Division within the City of Long Beach, Human Resources Department, with the Human Resources Officer overseeing the division as the primary point of contact. Additional City of Long Beach stakeholders are anticipated to be involved in the discussion and review for subcomponents within each of the scope of work sections when the subject matter involves their operations.

Stakeholder involvement is expected to be more pronounced for the sections pertaining to the development of a modernized compensation philosophy and the identification of a revised list of comparator agencies. City of Long Beach stakeholders may include representatives from the following operations: City Manager, City Attorney, Financial Management, Labor Relations, Occupational Health, Return to Work, Safety, and Systems Management and Compliance, and various department leadership teams.

Direct involvement with the City of Long Beach’s various employee associations is not currently anticipated, although indirect involvement in the form of routed questions and discussion items through Labor Relations is expected. Stakeholder involvement is anticipated to entail contributing to discussions on City perspective and preferences relative to industry standards (especially as it relates to compensation philosophy) and review and feedback on recommendations, depending on the subject matter.

9. Q: Can you provide a general sense of how many policies, forms, and logistical things you expect the consultant to update?

A: Approximately 10-15 different documents, in addition to specific sections from our various employee association Memoranda of Understanding (MOU’s), are expected to be reviewed by the consultant for analysis relative to industry standards to identify inconsistencies and provide guidance on how to best address them to align with best practices. This is likely to include guidance on how to revise existing policies and procedures and drafting new policies and procedures where needed. The consultant is not expected to oversee or directly engage with implementation activities.

We have limited written policies and procedures with respect to classification and compensation, including Article XI of the Long Beach City Charter (Sec.

1100, Sec. 1101, and Sec. 1102), our Civil Service Rules and Regulations (127 sections across 51 pages), and a variety of sections embedded in our Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) across our various employee associations. We also currently have two templates for job descriptions (classification specifications and management position descriptions), a process outline for the current classification and compensation workflow, memoranda guiding our departments on how to submit classification and compensation requests and engage in revisions to salary resolutions, a position description questionnaire for position audits, and a new position request form for proposed budget enhancements and reductions that we would like the consultant to review.

10. Q: Are you looking for in-person classroom training, webinar style training or a combination of both with options for staff to choose from? Is there a preference?

A: A webinar style training that is recorded for future training purposes would be ideal.

11. Q: Can you provide a copy of the PowerPoint presentation of this Virtual Pre-

Proposal meeting?

A: Yes, the link is available on Addendum No.1 under the file attachments in Long Beach Buys.

12. Q: Is the City currently using any systems to manage your positions like position control through an HRIS system and if so, will there be any involvement in helping to transition information into the City’s repositories and update them?

A: We utilize Tyler Munis to manage our position control system, BlueZone HRMS for our occupation codes maintenance, and Simpler Systems for integrated reporting. Classification Specifications are maintained on our City website, as well as in NeoGov. The contractor is not anticipated to be involved in transitioning information systems into repositories to update them, as implementation activities will be managed outside of this contract in partnership with our Labor Relations, Systems and Compliance, and Technology and Innovation teams.

13. Q: Can you provide the total number of job classifications that currently exist citywide?

A: There are approximately 639 classifications, including 294 management classifications. Many of these classifications have multiple grade levels.

14. Q: Are you looking for consultants to go in depth as developing a formal job evaluation method, point factor systems, leveling guidance or just more of your standard classification and pay structure guidance?

A: The City would like to work with the consultant to understand job evaluation standard best practices across comparable agencies, provide guidance for the articulation of our preferred job evaluation methodology, and assist in the development of job families and benchmark classification.

15. Q: What kind of timeline are you envisioning for this project?

A: We envision completing each of our goals within the contract term, inclusive of prospective extensions. We understand that it will take a significant amount of time to work through each section outlined in our scope of work and coordinate with the various stakeholders in corresponding areas of our operation. That said, our preference would be to achieve our goals within the initial two years of the contract, if possible.

16. Q: Are you looking for a fixed fee proposal or a more flexible approach such as time and materials, to give more flexibility with the budget?

A: The City is open to reviewing various approaches and does not have a set preference. We will evaluate what works best through the interview and selection process relative to the approach that makes the most sense for your operations.

17. Q: What is the City’s anticipated budget for this project?

A: The City of Long Beach has not engaged in a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes before. As a result, we do not have a point of reference for an anticipated budget for this project and are open to receiving a variety of proposals to evaluate what works best through the interview and selection process relative to the proposal that makes the most sense for your operations.

18. Q: How many distinct job classifications and job titles are included in the scope of work?

A: There are approximately 639 classifications, including 294 management classifications that the City of Long Beach would ideally like to organize into formal job families, but this work does not necessarily need to be incorporated into this contract. Rather, our focus would be on developing our overarching philosophy for job evaluation and building our team’s in-house capacity to engage in the work of organizing these classifications into job families.

19. Q: Do you have current and complete job descriptions for the titles included in the scope of work?

A: Most of our non-management classifications have corresponding classification specifications, but as of our last count these classifications have an average age of 20 years since they were last updated. Most of our management position descriptions do not currently have an updated management position description, but a sizeable portion of them have a job bulletin on file that we have used for reference. Similar to our response to #18, we do not anticipate updates or developments to individual classification specifications or descriptions within this scope of work. Rather, our focus would be on defining our overarching classification philosophy with respect to how we categorize work, how we distinguish between classifications and grades, how we define our minimum requirements, and what information we include in our classification specifications.

20. Q: How many unions represent the titles included in the scope of work?

A: There are 11 employee associations that represent classifications impacted by this scope of work.

21. Q: What is the expected level of involvement of union representatives in the project?

A: Direct involvement with the City of Long Beach’s various employee associations is not currently anticipated, although indirect involvement in the form of routed questions and discussion items through Labor Relations is expected. Although the contractor will not be directly involved in the implementation elements, many of the updates made through this scope of work have labor notice obligations and we will likely need to coordinate with the contractor to respond to specific questions that emerge throughout the meet and confer process for proposed implementation.

22. Q: What was the date of the last study completed?

A: To the best of our knowledge, the City of Long Beach has not engaged in a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes before. We have engaged in other classification and compensation-related contracts for the development of individual or group classifications and for city-wide compensation studies, but none of those projects assessed our policies, procedures, or practices.

23. Q: Was the last study completed of the same scope as the current request?

Did it include updated job descriptions?

A: Identical to response to Question #22, to the best of our knowledge, the City of Long Beach has not engaged in a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes before. We have engaged in other classification and compensation-related contracts for the development of individual or group classifications and for city-wide compensation studies, but none of those projects assessed our policies, procedures, or practices.

24. Q: Was the study completed internally or with the assistance of an outside firm? Who was the outside firm if one was used?

A: Identical to response to Question #22, to the best of our knowledge, the City of Long Beach has not engaged in a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes before. We have engaged in other classification and compensation-related contracts for the development of individual or group classifications and for city-wide compensation studies, but none of those projects assessed our policies, procedures, or practices.

25. Q: How many unique job titles are covered in the study?

A: Identical to our response to Question #18, there are approximately 639 classifications, including 294 management classifications that the City of Long Beach would ideally like to organize into formal job families, but this work does not necessarily need to be incorporated into this contract. Rather, our focus would be on developing our overarching philosophy for job evaluation and building our team’s in-house capacity to engage in the work of organizing these classifications into job families.

26. Q: What is the anticipated start date of the project?

A: As soon as the contractor is available to start following final execution of the contract from the City of Long Beach and uploading of information in our systems for payments to be issued.

27. Q: When do you need to have your results for the study?

A: Identical to our response to Question #15, we envision completing each of our goals within the contract term, inclusive of prospective extensions. We understand that it will take a significant amount of time to work through each section outlined in our scope of work and coordinate with the various stakeholders in corresponding areas of our operation. That said, our preference would be to achieve our goals within the initial two years of the contract, if possible.

28. Q: How many HR staff members are expected to participate in training, and what are their current experience levels with classification and compensation work?

A: Participant numbers are likely to range from 5 to 15 for most training sessions, depending on subject matter being covered. The Classification and Compensation Division team has had classification and compensation fundamentals and basic job analysis training. Each participant has tangential experience relative to classification and compensation operations, ranging from regular involvement in position audit analysis, assessment of personnel requisitions and proposed budget items, and assessing classifications relative to labor relations activities. It is worth noting that the Classification and Compensation Division started as a single position allocation in January 2024 and shifted into a formal division several months later, so our formal classification and compensation operation and staff exposure to it is still relatively new.

29. Q: Are there specific classification series or employee groups (e.g., public safety) that should be prioritized in the engagement?

A: The priority for engagement is likely to involve the identification of standard and alternate comparator agencies and the establishment of formal classification and compensation philosophies. However, some of this work may require the articulation of job evaluation methodology and the creation of classification families to occur first, so we are flexible with respect to the best place for our contractor assessments to start.

30. Q: Are prior classification and compensation study materials available to the selected consultant as a baseline for this engagement?

A: We have prior individual and group classification assessment studies that the City has conducted and coordinated, but none of these projects involved a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes, so they would not offer a baseline for this contract.

31. Q: Beyond the Classification and Compensation Division, which City departments or stakeholders will the consultant be expected to engage with, and to what degree?

A: City of Long Beach stakeholders may include representatives from the following operations: City Manager, City Attorney, Financial Management, Labor Relations, Occupational Health, Return to Work, Safety, and Systems Management and Compliance, and various department leadership teams.

Their involvement is anticipated to be for general discussions on project components where their input would be beneficial and review of subcomponent deliverables when necessary. Primary coordination will always be with the Classification and Compensation Division.

32. Q: Does the City have a preferred sequence or priority order for the six service areas listed in the Scope of Work?

A: Project planning and communication is anticipated to precede the other defined elements of the scope of work, and comprehensive training of staff that participate in classification and compensation work is anticipated to follow progress in the others. Of the remaining items, we would like to prioritize the identification of standard and alternate comparator agencies and the establishment of formal classification and compensation philosophies. However, some of this work may require the articulation of job evaluation methodology and the creation of classification families to occur first, so we are flexible with respect to the best place for our contractor assessments to start.

33. Q: Is there a budget range or not-exceed amount?

A: The City of Long Beach has not engaged in a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes before. As a result, we do not have a point of reference for an anticipated budget for this project and are open to receiving a variety of proposals to evaluate what works best through the interview and selection process relative to the proposal that makes the most sense for your operations.

34. Q: Does the City envision the consultant studying any classifications/positions to inform classification architecture/templates?

A: Only to the extent that such activity is necessary to inform the assessment and design of classification specification structure, content, and templates, or any other essential aspects of the outlined scope of work. Individual review and development of classification specifications is not a core component or deliverable for this contract.

35. Q: Please confirm that the scope of the study includes all 6,000 City employees across the City’s 24 departments.

A: While the scope of work involves the study and redesign of our city-wide classification and compensation structure and philosophies, and has impacts across all employee associations and represented employees, this study will not directly involve all City of Long Beach employees.

36. Q: How many job classifications are included in the study?

A: Identical to our response to Question #18, there are approximately 639 classifications, including 294 management classifications that the City of Long Beach would ideally like to organize into formal job families, but this work does not necessarily need to be incorporated into this contract. Rather, our focus would be on developing our overarching philosophy for job evaluation and building our team’s in-house capacity to engage in the work of organizing these classifications into job families.

37. Q: For the compensation philosophy, what involvement is the selected consulting partner expected to have? Are they simply drafting the philosophy for City leadership’s review and approval, or will the consultant be expected to present the draft philosophy to the Council and, if so, how many meetings should be anticipated?

A: Involvement would entail communicating and discussing industry best practices with representatives from the City Manager’s Office, Financial Management, and Human Resources to inform and facilitate our decisions on where to position ourselves relative to market median, our standard differentials between grades in a classification and classifications in a job family (as well as supervisory and management differentials), distribution of minimum and maximum salaries within ranges relative to classification category, identification and use of benchmark classifications and salary differentials for use city-wide salary studies and contract negotiations, and other key areas of compensation philosophies to organize our overall classification and compensation structure. We do not anticipate any presentations before City Council, as that would be an implementation activity that we would handle in-house and not included as a component of this contract. That said, we would also like to understand industry best practices for documenting and communicating compensation philosophies to other agencies, employee associations, and the public.

38. Q: How many comparator agencies would the City anticipate including in its final market definition?

A: The City of Long Beach currently has a list of 11 standard comparator agencies, but we are not set on a specific number for an updated list. Rather, we would like to gain insights on industry best practice for key areas of comparison to identify suitable comparator agencies and identifying a number that works best to support the gathering of sufficient market data across our various classifications.

39. Q: Can you please provide a copy of the existing compensation policies, practices, procedures, templates, forms, process guides, etc. or would the selected consulting partner be expected to provide the initial drafts of these documents?

A: We will be able to provide copies of existing documents that guide and inform our classification and compensation operations. The contractor will be expected to assist in the redevelopment of existing documents, as well as the creation of new documents, but the City of Long Beach Classification and Compensation Division will always be a partner in these activities.

40. Q: What involvement does HR expect from stakeholders outside the department?

A: Similar to our response to Question #1, additional City of Long Beach stakeholders are anticipated to be involved in the discussion and review for subcomponents within each of the scope of work sections when the subject matter involves their operations. Stakeholder involvement is expected to be more pronounced for the sections pertaining to the development of a modernized compensation philosophy and the identification of a revised list of comparator agencies. City of Long Beach stakeholders outside of Human Resources may include representatives from the following operations: City Manager, City Attorney, Financial Management, and various department leadership teams.

41. Q: The minimum qualifications indicate that the “Contractor must have proven expertise in data analysis and the use of advanced analytical tools and software relevant to classification and compensation studies.” Can you identify what software the City uses or plans to use for classification and compensation analysis?

A: The City has primarily used Microsoft Office Suite and NeoGov, although we are open to exploring various technology solutions identified by the consultant as contributing to best practice.

42. Q: What is the approved budget for consulting services to be provided under this agreement?

A: Identical to our response to Question #33, the City of Long Beach has not engaged in a study of our city-wide classification and compensation processes before. As a result, we do not have a point of reference for an anticipated budget for this project and are open to receiving a variety of proposals to evaluate what works best through the interview and selection process relative to the proposal that makes the most sense for your operations.

PREPARED BY:

Keisha Sanker, Procurement Analyst, I

ACKNOWLEDGED BY:

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