The Boyle County Fiscal Court hired Steve Griffin as the new human resources director on Jan. 3.

Griffin will oversee and provide services to the county’s 188 full-time and part-time employees, including benefits, pay, and classification management. While the county has an HR department, it has never had an HR director.

Boyle County Judge-Executive Howard Hunt said, “While we have had someone who served as an ‘employee assistance director’ to process payroll and manage our benefits program, we have never had someone to lead the department and bring innovation to how we manage our staff.”

The county had been looking to hire a trained HR director for well over a year, according to Boyle County Magistrate John Caywood, who chaired the interview and hiring process.

“Steve brings 38 plus years of HR and personnel management experience, along with experience working with HR in state government,” said Caywood. “He is skilled in all facets of human resources, which elevated him above any other candidate.”

Griffin had worked in HR at American Greetings in Danville before retiring. After spending three years in retirement, Griffin decided he wanted to work again. But nothing had clicked for him until he found the Boyle County position on Indeed.com.

“This came about and I thought this would be perfect,” Griffin said. “It’s in my community, I know many of the people involved, and it was a good fit.”

Griffin has lived in Danville for over 30 years. He and his wife have been married for almost 50 years; they have three sons and six grandchildren.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master’s in personnel services from Western Kentucky University. He developed a passion for HR as a senior in high school when he worked at Vermont American, a power tool manufacturer. The personnel manager there sparked an interest in the field for him.

In the new position, Griffin is looking forward to developing the HR department and getting it more in line with modern policies and procedures.

“We have to make sure we’re competitive for employees and that we offer competitive wages and benefits, working conditions, and offer the training required,” Griffin said. “I just want to make sure we can do all of those things.”

According to the official job description, Griffin will help develop an annual county-wide evaluation program, including a bi-annual salary review. He will create a drug-testing program that complies with state and federal laws for all departments who require testing.

Griffin will also overhaul and direct a new employee orientation, which will include leaves of absence, resignations, retirements, terminations, etc. He’ll help boost morale with employee recognition, and make work environments better by offering more training.

Places that do not have an HR director usually use a county attorney or outside attorney to handle personnel matters, Griffin explained.

“I think that’s shortsighted in some sense because there’s more to HR than just the legal aspects,” Griffin said. “So I’m really excited about them offering this and making this available.”

Griffin started the position on Jan. 3. His salary is $70,000 per year.