Exec drops by to congratulate new Department of Human Resources
King County Executive Dow Constantine dropped by the Human Resources Division All Hands meeting last week to congratulate employees on being members of the newest King County department: the Department of Human Resources (DHR).
The County Council recently approved the Executive’s proposal for the new department, and on October 8, confirmed Jay Osborne (pictured below with the Executive reviewing DHR’s “Garden of Hopes”) as the department’s first director. The Department of Human Resources brings together the Human Resources Division, The Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution, and selected staff from Benefits, Payroll, Retirement Operations (BPROS), to deliver on the Executive’s Investing in YOU strategy of building a workplace where every employee has the tools and support to innovate, achieve their career goals and do their best work.
King County Executive and newly confirmed Director Jay Osborne view the DHR “Garden of Hopes.”
“As we embark on building this department and bring together all of our employee-facing work into one place, we can and will make this a better employer and a place that is recognized outside of our walls as being the best place to work,” the Executive said to staff. “Having all of our employee-facing services working together means that we will be able to provide greater clarity and better service to our employees, to elevate problems and solve them. And it says that you are important, that we have an entire department that is devoted to you, the nearly 15,000 people who are delivering services for the people of King County.”
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Pet of the week: William
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
This is one cool cat – meet William, our Pet of the Week!
This affectionate lovebug can be a little shy at first, but he just needs some time to warm up. Once he gets used to you, William would love to cuddle with you.
Read more at Tails from RASKC
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Upcoming Lunch and Learn opportunities: Balanced You and your benefits
You’ve heard about Balanced You, you get emails from Balanced You, but you’d like to learn more. We’ve got you covered. Get to know Balanced You and become part of the movement!
In addition, with Open Enrollment just around the corner, the Benefits team will provide an overview of 2019 benefit changes and updates.
Choose the most convenient session and join us!
Read more at Balanced You
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Training Spotlight: Advanced PeopleSoft Query, Developing Your Leadership Style and PeopleSoft for Agency Human Resource Professionals
Advanced PeopleSoft Query, Oct. 17: It is open to experienced PeopleSoft Query users who have completed the Intermediate PeopleSoft Query training. Topics covered will include subqueries (Exist/Not Exist, In List/Not In List, other condition types), the Case statement (If-Then-Else logic), union queries and outer joins, case studies (the “movement” queries and more) and aggregates (create and Q/C aggregate queries). Learn more and register at Eventbrite.
Developing Your Leadership Style, Oct. 18: Learn how to capitalize on your personal leadership style to achieve workplace goals. In this course you will: Identify your leadership style through personal assessment; learn the difference between leadership and management; recognize the “being” and “doing” of leadership; and develop the innate motivating techniques that transform employee attitudes and enhance cooperation and teamwork. Learn more and register at Eventbrite.
PeopleSoft for Agency Human Resource Professionals Oct. 25 and ongoing: This course is designed for agency Human Resource professionals new to the PeopleSoft HR role. Human Resource professionals will learn the basics of creating a new position, position change requests, using action/reason codes, special duty effective dating and how to correct errors. Learn more and register on Eventbrite.
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Employee Giving Drive events
This year’s Annual Giving Drive is in full swing and there a plenty of events around the county that you can take part in to support, or discover, your favorite nonprofit.
Nonprofit Lunch and Learn, Oct. 16: Bring your lunch and get inspired! Join us Tuesday, October 16 at 12:30 p.m. in the Chinook Building, Room 121 to learn about two local nonprofits in our community doing great things to help children and families in need. NW Children’s Foundation and Pediatric Interim Care Center will be speaking about the work that they do in the community. For information about this Lunch and Learn contact Amanda Gudmunson by email or at 206-263-0186.
Festival of Frights Halloween Carnival, Oct. 31: The Executive Office presents the first Festival of Frights Halloween carnival, a carnival of spooky sensations, on Wednesday, October 31 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Lean Lab, on the third floor of the Admin Building. The event will benefit Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets and Project SeaWolf.
For information about other Employee Giving Program (EGP) Events, view the special events calendar. To add an EGP event to the calendar submit the information here.
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Disability Awareness Month two part Lunch and Learn, Oct. 18 and 24
The Department of Executive Services and Human Resources Division have cosponsored two interactive lunch and learn events that trace the rise of the Disability Rights Movement in the United States, Oct. 18 and 24. From the first stirrings after WWII, through the intersections of race, visibility of the disabled, and economics in activism, to the famous Capital Crawl, the classes will uncover the unexpected connections that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The event is first come first serve with seating available for up to 40 people. Please contact Christina Davidson with any questions at Christina.Davidson@KingCounty.gov. View a flyer for these events here.
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Invite the Exec to Walk in your Shoes
Dear King County employee,
If you are doing a job that you think I should experience as part of the Walk in the Shoes of a County Employee competition, please submit an invitation. I look forward to new opportunities to see more of our diverse lines of business and meet the people who serve the residents and customers of King County.
Your pride in your work and dedication to serve is inspiring. I look forward to your invitation to walk in your shoes. Again, here is the submission form.
Sincerely,
Dow Constantine
King County Executive
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New package of emergency housing strategies in time for winter
King County Executive Dow Constantine
Dear fellow King County employee,
Today I am announcing a series of innovative actions to provide housing and services for the most vulnerable people in our community, and help them get on a path to permanent, stable housing.
Throughout King County government, we are constantly asking: what resources can we leverage to help people off the streets? What innovations can we deploy? What new approach can we try? These questions become all the more urgent as the days become shorter and colder.
The actions I am announcing today will help bring more people inside for the winter, and provide more outreach to those living on sidewalks, and in doorways, and parks:
- King County will operate a temporary 24-hour enhanced emergency shelter in the West Wing of the King County Correctional Facility, which has not been used for detention purposes since 2012. It would be converted to house between 125 to 150 single adults, and be operated under the oversight of the Department of Community and Human Services.
- We will open a day center in the first floor of our Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street building to offer a safe, warm place for people staying at the three overnight shelters in the immediate area. Under my plan we will move the shelter operation, which currently offers 50 overnight shelter beds for adults on the ground floor, to the second floor, and use the ground floor as a day center so people have somewhere to come during the day and get connected to case management and housing navigation services.
- We will purchase modular housing units to create dormitory style bridge housing to help up to 160 people transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing in the community. The site for this facility is yet to be determined.
- We have also been working to convert Harborview Hall to overnight shelter space for 100 beds, and potentially expanding the shelter to 24/7 at a later date if feasible.
These actions would make a total of 285-310 new beds available by the end of the year, in addition to the 100 beds at Harborview Hall. They will have a positive impact on the areas surrounding our work locations in downtown Seattle by adding a new 24/7 shelter that people do not need to vacate in the morning, and giving people a day center to go to when the overnight shelters close at 7 a.m. They will also help more people get connected to services.
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a housing and homelessness crisis in our region, and that calls for emergency actions. While it is necessary that we take these actions right now to help more people off the streets and into shelter by winter, our focus remains on getting people into permanent housing and helping them rebuild their self-sufficiency. We are steadfastly investing upstream to address the root causes that lead to homelessness. That’s where our efforts must continue and, working collaboratively with our regional partners, that’s how we will solve this crisis.
We will be constantly evaluating the impacts of these actions and work to address any issues that are identified. Your safety at work and the safety of visitors to our facilities is paramount.
Thank you for all everything that you do for King County. It’s the innovative thinking of our employees that will enable us to solve the biggest challenges facing our region.
Sincerely,
Dow Constantine
King County Executive
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King County Council recognizes Water Taxi crew who rescued man near West Seattle over the summer
Crossposted from The Captain’s Blog
Fifteen minutes. That’s the amount of time that had elapsed from the moment the crew working King County Water Taxi’s West Seattle route on Aug. 30 spotted a man overboard in Elliott Bay to the time medics were giving him a clean bill of health.
During those 15 minutes, the three-person crew – relying on its extensive marine safety and emergency training – positioned the MV Doc Maynard near the man, fastened together a rope-and-pulley system, pulled him safely aboard and delivered him to waiting medics.
Read more at The Captain’s Blog or in the official press release. This recognition was also highlighted in the West Seattle Blog.
Pictured: From Left to right Jeff Bearden, Amanda Cook and Bob McDougall.
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Featured Job: 911 Communications Specialist
Salary: $22.53 – $33.28 Hourly
Location: Renton, WA
Job Type: Civil Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Department: King County Sheriff’s Office
Job Number: 2018MLB07659
Closing: 12/31/2018 12:00 AM Pacific
Excellent opportunity for a career in Law Enforcement, partnering with our men and women in the field! Make the difference in someone’s life, become a 911 Operator (Communications Specialist).
Communications Specialists serve as Call Receivers and Dispatchers. As a new Communications Specialist you will receive classroom and hands-on training to be able to take both emergency and non-emergency calls in a high volume call center. Some calls require call receivers offer resources or instructions to callers, make referrals to other organizations or persons and write routine police reports for less serious crimes. They also answer complex, emergency calls that require the call receiver to use appropriate de-escalation and interviewing skills to gather necessary information before routing the information to the appropriate Dispatcher.
Learn more about this position or all available positions.
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