IPS Annual Meeting

In a continuing effort to allocate our funds responsibly, rather than holding a separate IPS annual conference this year, all the agencies agreed to hold their summer staff meetings at the same time and place. This level of cooperation helps accomplish several objectives. First, it allows the agencies to conduct their business as ususal. Second, it allows all IPS employees to gather in a single place to continue getting to know each other and to share ideas.
And, finally, it provides an opportunity for us to hold our annual awards ceremony. It's always exciting to recognize individuals and give away money!




Last year President Simek joined us in Norris and in Nashville. He will also join us this year in Murfreesboro to share information on current issues at UT and in higher education. I look forward to hosting the president and seeing all of you in Murfreesboro.

Welcome Shelly Hayes

Welcome to Shelly who starts today in our Jackson office.

As you know, Brenda Moss has retired after more than 30 years of service, but continues to work for us part-time. Shelly will also be working part-time supporting our staff and customers in West Tennessee.

Please welcome Shelly to the IPS family!

Time to Vote!

Early voting has started across the state.

This year we are electing a new governor, congressional representatives, state senators and representatives and a whole slew of local government officials.

I hope you know all about voting in Tennessee, but in case you don't, here is a link to the state web site.

Please exercise the most basic freedom provided to you in this country - your right to vote!

Welcome Steve Thompson

Steve starts today as the new MTAS Executive Director. We are excited to welcome him to the IPS family.

You will have an opportunity to meet him at the summer staff meeting in Murfreesboro, if you don't see him before then.

Please welcome Steve to IPS and MTAS. You won't be surprised to learn that his email address is steve.thompson@tennessee.edu

Is Silence Golden?

During the last few years I have received a few anonymous letters and tons of feedback on supervisor surveys and other surveys about the danger of silence in our agencies and throughout IPS.

Silence is not appropriate when there is an issue that needs to be put on the table and discussed. Silence is not appropriate when there is conflict that needs to be addressed. Silence is not appropriate when someone is conducting themselves unbecoming of a UT employee.

What can we do about the silence?

(1) We are continuing to collect and act on data through surveys.

(2) We have an employee relations council that is the voice of our employees to bring up important issues that need to be discussed.

(3) I have an open door policy and I expect every member of the IPS Leadership Team to be open to suggestions and criticism. It's how we get better.

(4) Ultimately, we can only overcome silence if you are willing to speak up.

I want us to be the type of organization that doesn't have to conduct anonymous surveys out of fear or filter information through a third party. I want us to be the type of high performing organization that we are helping our customers' organizations become.

Are you willing to break the silence and speak up?

Guest Blog from Armintha Loveday

Armintha is one of the IPS representatives to the Employee Relations Council. I asked Armintha to blog about their last meeting.

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News from the Non-Exempt Staff Employee Relations Meeting – June 30, 2010

The representatives were welcomed by Butch Peccolo and Mike Herbstritt. I am only going to highlight two of the most important subjects that involved all employees in this month’s report and they were about insurance coverage and one-time bonus payment in October.

Regarding insurance, employees were interested in knowing which insurance companies have been decided on yet. The answer was that no word had been given yet from the state as to which insurance company it would be. There will still be the two options available that were discussed before—one regarding the wellness plan and one without the wellness plan. The new prescription plan starts July 1. Of great importance – EVERYONE (MEANING EXEMPT AND NON-EXEMPT) MUST ENROLL IN ONE OF THE NEW INSURANCE PLANS DURING OPEN ENROLLMENT SEPT. 15 – OCT. 15 OR YOU WILL HAVE A BREAK IN YOUR INSURANCE. For example, if you have BC/BS and the new insurance is BC/BS, you still have to fill out a new enrollment. No insurance will roll over this time like it has in the past. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THIS!!!! There will be several reminders of this coming out as the enrollment time gets closer.

It was reported that there are plans for UT employees to get a one-time longevity-type bonus in October. This will be a $50 per years of service maxing out at 25 years and it will be eligible for those working at UT at least 3 years.

There of course were other items discussed, but they had to do with various departments and subjects and those will be available for review when the minutes come out.

The Problem with Women Bosses

I'm always looking for interesting reading. Imagine my surprise recently when Tom Kohntopp sent a link to this article to me! He asked if I thought this issue was a problem in IPS. I don't know - what do you think?

Andrew R. McIlvaine says, "studies consistently confirm that women bosses are less popular than their male counterparts. But experts say that's due to a double standard in the way colleagues view female and male bosses. Increasing awareness of the bias may help, but some experts say leaders should just focus on being the best they can be."

Robert Sutton, professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University and author of the upcoming book, Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best and Learn from the Worst, says "The bar for women being in tune with people for how they're perceived is simply higher." ... "But keep in mind that, if you have to choose, it's better to be a bitch than a doormat. At least you'll be respected."

Read the entire article here.

Ever make an unpopular decision?

Being a manager or leader is tough work. One of the most challenging parts of the job is making decisions that are unpopular or, in some cases, down right hated!

The release of the "IPS Vehicle Task Force" report was one of those tough decisions. The IPS leadership team has struggled with the issue for years. Many employees felt the current practices were "unfair". Some employees were getting a "free ride", so to speak, and others were being "nickeled and dimed." There was to be no happy ending to this dilemma.

However, as a leadership team, it was time to step up and make a "final" decision. It is in the best long-term interest of the institute to have a fair and equitable policy for ALL employees, not just a select few. As I said in my email release of the report, it won't be an easy transition for some employees, but we are committed to making it as painless as possible.

Click here to read the full report.

I've received only one piece of feedback so far, but I expect more as we work through the transition. I hope that each employee will consider the policy in light of what recommendation you might make to one of your customers if they were in a similar situation.

Yes, leadership is in deed tough work.

Lee Iacocca said, "If I had to sum up in one word what makes a good manager, I'd say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act."