Georgia Merit System of Personnel Administration

The Georgia Merit System of Personnel Administration (GMS) was established in February 1943 (SB 17) as the central personnel agency of the state of Georgia, providing human resource (HR) and benefit programs, products and services to all state entities and employees. The core responsibility of the GMS is to establish a system of personnel administration that will attract, select and retain the best employees based on merit with incentives in the form of equal opportunities for all. Source: OCGA 45-20-1 (a). It is also the state's central recordkeeping agency for state employee data and the central means of monitoring state personnel practices.

Although the role and structure of the Merit System have changed since Merit System Reform in 1996 (SB 635), its leadership and responsibility to provide services that enable a productive state workforce have not. Reform ushered in a new role for the Merit System, from regulation driven to customer driven, serving more as an expert human resource consultant and a facilitator of workforce planning and policies that cross agency lines. The Merit System works with state agencies to hire, train, develop and retain their workforce, enhance organizational performance, and provide employee benefits and financial security services through the administration of the State's flexible benefits program.

State agencies work with the Merit System as enthusiastic partners in planning, designing and implementing strategic HR initiatives in the areas of absence management, leadership development, human capital management systems, performance management, recruiting, policies and procedures, succession planning, workforce planning, and employee engagement.

In striving to provide a seamless point of service for both job applicants and state agencies, the Merit System administers an Internet-based job vacancy posting and application site www.thejobsite.org. The Jobsite allows applicants to apply on-line 24 hours a day and gives agency hiring officials immediate access to applicant resumes.

The Merit System has 113 employees and nine divisions and offices under the leadership of Commissioner Steve Stevenson.

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