VP Statewide Visit Summary

VP Statewide Visits Summary

 

Orientation - We discussed the new and improved orientation process for all new employees. An email explaining all the details was distributed in January.  New employees receive a Welcome Email the day they accept our offer, they attend the UT orientation, they attend a short IPS overview and welcome in the central office on their first day of work, and each agency is updating its on-boarding process.

Handbooks - Each agency is either developing or updating its employee handbook. All will be finished by the end of February and posted on the Intranet.  Please review your agency handbook and offer suggestions for improvement.
 
APRs – We are in the midst of the review process for this year. All supervisors have received four hours of training and all staff had the opportunity to participate in a 1.5 hour overview of the process. All forms are due in the central office in March. We are starting with the assumption that all employees are scoring a three in each of the five categories of the PRS. Employees should demonstrate scores higher than three. Supervisors should demonstrate scores lower than three. We want to link individual performance to the strategic priorities of the agency, IPS and the University.

Intranet – We discussed the upcoming re-launch of our IPS Intranet. We want it to be useful for employees. The advocacy team has worked hard on the content. Please provide feedback for improvements.

 
Leadership Academy – We will launch a third IPS Leadership Academy this year. Applications will be available in the spring. Orientation will follow annual conference. The Academy will begin in late September or early October. Steve Thompson will lead session three.

Budget Outlook – the Governor’s State of the State address is February 3^rd. We’re expecting a modest budget this year, but no cuts. This is good news.

Telecommuting – we reviewed the status of the proposed IPS Telecommuting Policy. UT HR is developing a policy, so implementation of ours is delayed. In the meantime I am considering requests on a case-by-case basis.

Inclement weather – we reviewed the inclement weather policy. We will continue to review and modify it.

 
Knoxville office – no further plans are being made on the Knoxville move until the University purchases the building. That has been delayed for an indefinite period of time.

Strategic Priorities – I reviewed the three priorities the senior leadership team committed to during its winter retreat. They include (1) continuing our strategy implementation teams, (2) continuing to pursue the Baldrige process for accreditation as well as continuous improvement and (3) continuing our Employer of Choice efforts, primarily around the Employee Engagement Survey results.

There are two additional meetings scheduled February 24 and 25 in Jackson and Martin respectively. I enjoy meeting with the staff. About 40% of our staff attended one of the meetings. It's interesting to hear about all the various things going on around the state.

Organizational and Personal Change - Repost

In the past year, we’ve worked with several clients who are seeking to re-invent their organizations, transform their organizational culture, or successfully counter new threats in their competitive environment.  Each of these clients has grappled with the difficulty of implementing change.  As I reflected on their struggles, I began to wonder if there isn’t room for one more core value in the Baldrige Criteria – similar to one that already exists.  Is it time for a core value of “Organizational and Personal Change?” Executives who create sustainable organizations are those who can leverage change leadership skills to engage their workforce in the vision of “what could be” as well as executing the strategies and tactics necessary to achieve their new vision.  In addition to motivating their workforce to change, they role model the desired behavior by demonstrating their willingness to commit to personal change. We met with a CEO and company founder yesterday who has bold ideas for where his company can go and what they can achieve by 2020.  During our conversation, he also shared with us what he’s been reading, the networking he’s been doing, and the mentoring he’s been seeking.  He is eager to know what he needs to learn and the personal behaviors he needs to modify to successfully lead the change for his organization.  He exemplifies what we have seen in leaders of award-worthy organizations that embrace both organizational and personal change. If you’re trying to lead a large-scale organizational change, have you looked at your own attitude toward change?  Our experience has shown us that the most successful and sustained organizational changes include a healthy component of personal change on the part of the senior leaders. In closing, I’d like to share with you “The Ten Laws of Change.”* For insight into personal change, look at Laws 9 and 10. 1.     Change begins and ends with the business - not with change. 2.     Change is about people. People will surprise you. 3.     There is information in opposition. 4.     The informal network is as powerful as the formal chain of command. And you get to design your informal network. 5.     You can't draft people into change. They have to enroll. 6.     It's not a calling. It's a job. 7.     Forget balance. Create tension. 8.     No change agent ever succeeded by dying for his company. 9.     You can't change the company without changing yourself. 10.   Even if the company doesn't change, you will.  *  Fast Company; April/May 1997; pp. 64-74; "Change" {Ab No: AB3020} .    What are your lessons learned about change?

Glenn Bodinson | 826 Belt Line Plaza | Richardson, TX 75080 | (972) 489-5430 | Glenn@BaldrigeCoach.com

VP's Statewide Staff Visits

I will be visiting our offices in January and February, weather permitting. Please plan to join me during one of theses sessions to discuss the topics of your choice. Among the items I'll discuss is a proposed telecommuting policy and the APR process.

January 22 10:30 - 12:30 CTAS Conference Room, Nashville
January 23 8:30 - 10:30 Regional office, Chattanooga
January 24 8:30 - 10:30 MTAS Conference Room, Knoxville
January 24 1:30 - 3:30 LEIC Conference Room, Oak Ridge
January 28 1:30 - 3:30 VP Conference Room, Knoxville
January 30 TBD CIS Conference Room, Nashville
February 24 p.m. Regional Office, Jackson
February 25 a.m. TBD Regional Office, Martin

IPS Staff Visit UNC Chapel Hill

Guest Blog by IPS Assistant Vice President Steve Thompson:

 

December 19, 2013

 

IPS Colleagues:

 

Over the past few years Dr. Jinks has encouraged and we have discussed the need to visit and compare our operations with some of the other university-based public service organizations. On November 21 of this year we took a first step with a visit to the UNC School of Government at Chapel Hill. In this note I’ll summarize the highlights of this trip, and while I realize that this is summary is somewhat lengthy I believe that those making the trip found the results interesting and potentially useful for IPS. We will also be looking for additional ways to discuss this and future such comparisons.

 

I was joined in this visit by Macel Ely, Mike Garland, Terri Kinloch, Libby McCroskey, Robin Roberts, Jim Thomas, Jon Walden and Rick Whitehead. I hope that you will take the time to ask them about the trip and the information that we gained. The School of Government has a great operation, and is similar to and different from IPS in a number of ways. 

 

General Structure

The school is part of the UNC campus, and in addition to consulting and training it includes the MPA program. Our focus with this trip and in this summary is with the consulting and training programs. 

 

About half (49 percent) of the funding for the school is provided through a state appropriation for the campus, and the balance is raised through membership fees from cities and counties, fees from training programs, and fees from the sale of publications (a whopping $1.3 million). The school has its own foundation, and has three full-time and one part-time staff primarily dedicated to fundraising and development. The part-time staff person raises funds for the MPA program, two staff members focus on raising funds for general support as well as for special programs and initiatives, and one staff member serves as support. The school raises funds through individuals, local governments, city and county associations and private vendors for scholarships, technology and improvements to meeting and training rooms, and for specific programs.

 

Programs and Services

Programs are generally delivered by tenure-track faculty members, and the school offers the faculty model of training and assistance – there are annual programs offered, but otherwise new courses, classes and schedules are driven and developed by the faculty. The school has a staff of 150 full-time employees, about 30 part-time employees and another 30 adjunct instructors at any given time. Of the 53 faculty members 33 are attorneys. Faculty teaching in UNC-Chapel Hill’s academic programs are usually required to maintain a teaching load of four classes, but School of Government faculty teaching in the MPA program (the school’s only academic program) teach two courses, with the balance of their time spent on training, advising, and writing for public officials.

 

The blogs are extensive and provide a great supplement to the limited off-site training and consulting. I particularly recommend subscribing to Coates’ Canons, the blog of the local government legal staff. The blogs are tremendous resources for local governments in North Carolina, and are usually relevant to our work with local government in Tennessee. In addition, the school maintains a library of 136 publications, primarily books, on local government issues and topics.

 

The UNC staff is focused on training offered through the school. You see by the website (http://www.sog.unc.edu) that the school offers annual programs, including orientation for newly-elected local officials and for professional local government staff. It also assists local governments with facilitation and technical consulting. Consulting is focused on strategic and economic development planning and legal opinions, with legal opinions and advice provided primarily through e-mails and telephone calls. The school also offers training for court officials, who are considered state employees, but generally it views local government training as its primary focus.

 

The school is working to develop online training programs with cameras in each class and meeting room.

 

Marketing

Training is generally marketed both by a print postcard and one or more e-mail notifications, all with a similar template and format. They track and try not to contact the same customer more than once per week so that each note has some significance. They do require participants to register online using credit cards or purchase orders, but also offer an ability to register by telephone. They are finding that the demand for telephone registration is rapidly declining.

 

Performance Measures and Continuous Improvement

The school offers credits for continuing legal education, coordinated through the N.C. Bar Association, but does not require CEU review for training classes. Training participants are surveyed with an instrument similar to the surveys that we use, and Terri and Macel obtained a copy of the survey.  We also talked at length about performance measures and continuous improvement efforts, and the staff at the school was very interested in both, particularly performance measures in an environment of reductions in state funding. 

 

The UNC staff spent a great deal of time with us, and gave everyone ample opportunity to ask about the specifics of how the school addresses the same issues that we face. Based on the initial comments that I have heard, I believe that the consensus was that this was both interesting and provided great information for our work with IPS.

 

I appreciate your work as we serve and improve services in Tennessee.

 

 

Steve Thompson

Assistant Vice President

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe another year has nearly come and gone. 2013 was a very successful year for IPS. More to come on that right after the first of the year.

In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys the long break we have between December 20 and December 30. Many of us won't be back in the office until January 2 and even the 6th. 

Enjoy the time off. Rest, relax and refresh.

I look forward to seeing you in 2014!

Mary

tnAchieves

We are all very busy in our jobs, and we have many responsibilities both in our homes with our families and in our communities. I’m sharing this information for you to consider based on your own situation.

You may not know that I am a first generation college student. When I learned of this opportunity to mentor other first generation college bound students, I couldn’t say no. My success is due to many good mentors.

Please watch the youtu.be video. If you are interested, training in going on right now and through the next 30 days or so. Training is one hour. There is a one hour meeting in January and a one hour meeting in March. All other contact with your mentees is via telephone, text or email. If you have time and the inclination, please consider changing the life of students in your area.

You can find more information at www.tnachieves.org

 
http://youtu.be/8pkz7ioo1qk

Honoring our Veterans

Today is a day to honor all Veterans who have served our country and protected our freedom. A special thanks goes to those IPS employees who have served:

Doug Bodary (CTAS)
John Chlarson (MTAS)
Dana Deem (MTAS)
Thad Grace (CO)
Jim Hart (CTAS)
Al Major (MTAS)
Ronnie Neill (MTAS)
Jim Slizewski (CIS)
Karen Smith (LEIC)
Mike Stooksberry (CTAS)
Russell Toone (CIS)