Organizational Assessment

This Request for Proposal (“RFP”) is issued by the Board of Trustees (“Board”) of the Maryland‑National Capital Park and Planning Commission Employees’ Retirement System (“ERS”) for the purpose of obtaining a qualified consulting firm (“Firm”) to conduct a comprehensive organizational assessment of the current staffing levels, structure, roles and responsibilities, performance evaluation process, and Executive Director and staff compensation. The ERS has recently experienced a leadership transition and is seeking to conduct this needs assessment to ensure it is adequately prepared to serve its members and manage the complexity of its operations. The selected Firm will provide recommendations aligned to support the strategic goals and objectives of the ERS.

The ERS is governed by an eleven-member Board whose primary fiduciary responsibility is to prudently manage, protect, diversify, and administer the funds for the sole benefit of the members and beneficiaries to ensure sufficient assets are available to pay the promised benefits. As of June 30, 2025, the ERS held assets totaling approximately $1.2 billion. The ERS is staffed with thirteen employees responsible for the operations and administration of the pension plans. The FY26 budget includes an estimated $1.6 million for personnel services, which is 43% of the total operating budget.

The ERS is seeking proposals from qualified Firms to provide the following Scope of Services, at a minimum:

Comparative Analysis of Organizations

• Provide an overview of the organizational structure and positions/functional areas of comparable pension systems similar in size to the ERS.
• Identify key performance indicators for service level targets that can be used to monitor and measure organization and staff performance.

Structure, Staffing Levels, and Performance Management

• Assess current staff positions to determine if staffing levels are adequate to meet the strategic goals and objectives of the ERS.
• Review position descriptions to assess whether roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, if there are areas of redundancy, or gaps in job functions.
• Assess management structure and whether current hierarchal structure effectively supports staff and workflows; provide recommendations for enhancements to organizational structure.
• Recommend the creation of new staff positions designed to support member needs, administrative operations, and organizational priorities.

• Evaluate staff performance evaluation process. Identify key qualitative and quantitative metrics that can be incorporated to overhaul the performance evaluation process.

Executive Director Performance Evaluation Process

• Review the existing performance evaluation process for the Executive Director and provide recommendations for process improvements.
• Identify essential performance indicators that the Board may utilize to assess the Executive Director’s annual performance, as well as establish clear parameters for determining compensation and bonus structures.

Executive Director and Staff Compensation Review

• Identify comparable pension systems to the ERS or located within the same region that can be utilized for assessing the Executive Director compensation and bonus structures.
• Review staff compensation compared to other similar-sized public pension plans within the geographic region.