Employee News

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Lilia Cabello Drain

Hands on Technology Day, April 4

Your King County Information Technology teams welcome you to our first 2017 Hands on Technology Day on Tuesday, April 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Chinook foyer, rooms 115, 120 and 124.

It’s a perfect way to spend your lunch! Among the highlights:

Bring any device (used to conduct King County business) to our mobile Customer Support Services group. Team members will be on hand to resolve any/all HelpTickets, answer questions, work with your hardware, software and help make your computer run just a little bit better. (Room 115)
Our Business Analysts will roam the halls looking for process problems to solve. (Foyer)
Sign up for SharePoint 101 and 102. We’re trained nearly 1000 people in the last year and they are now SharePoint fans! We’re not kidding! (Foyer)
We have something new – a pop-up IT Mobility Lab. Touch and try the new interactive smart conference room systems, shop the latest county laptops and headsets, and get 1:1 skype training. (Room 124 and 120)
All that and cybersecurity awareness, GIS and data, data, data. (Foyer)

What a great way to spend lunch! Here’s the information link. (SharePoint) You can also download our poster here.

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Lilia Cabello Drain

Public Health Week April 3-7, Open House April 7

King County employees are invited to a Public Health Open House on Friday, April 7 from noon to 2 p.m. in Chinook Rooms 121-123 to celebrate Public Health Week.

Meet with Public Health experts and learn more about how they help keep us safe and healthy. Check out the new food safety rating system, tour the mobile medical van and a Medic One truck, speak with a disease detective or public health veterinarian and much more! No RSVP is required, just stop by.

For anyone unable to make it, the Open House will be featured on a Public Health Facebook Live video with Director Patty Hayes at facebook.com/KCPubHealth. C lick here to download the Public Health Week Open House flyer.

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Lilia Cabello Drain

Boeing Field is a giant classroom for high school aviation students

Crossposted from The Centerline

A group of budding aviation students from the San Juan Islands recently turned King County International Airport/Boeing Field into a giant classroom.

On March 12, the seven grinning students from an introductory aviation class at Friday Harbor High visited the Airport in one of the coolest field trips ever.

The students were joined by their instructor Mari Peterson, an Assistant Chief Pilot for Westwind Aviation in Friday Harbor who regularly flies out of Boeing Field.

They toured the Airport, conducted an airfield inspection, ate lunch at the Museum of Flight and learned about our operations.

PeopleSoft Fluid Navigation coming April 3

The new Fluid Navigation will be a welcome addition to PeopleSoft functionality beginning Monday, April 3. This new technology offers a modern, intuitive navigation structure boasting a new tiled homepage design that can be individually customized. The look and feel of the homepage and navigation will change, but the functional pages and process flow remain the same. Users will experience the best of both worlds; technology and functionality.

Watch this brief video below providing a demonstration of PeopleSoft Fluid Navigation. For additional educational resources refer to the Fluid section of the PeopleSoft Knowledge Center in the BRC Website.

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Jason Argo

Listening to employees to build a learning organization

Access to learning and advancement opportunities was a major theme in the 2016 Employee Survey so King County Executive Dow Constantine invited some employees to his latest Listening Session to hear about the challenges and successes employees face in growing their knowledge and careers at King County.

“I want employees to be able to learn new skills so we can not only get better at what we do and serve our customers better, but you can also take advantage of opportunities to advance,” Executive Constantine told the group. “I want to hear from you about what’s working well and what we can do better.”

Executive Constantine began by asking participants, who are members of the County’s Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) Committee, about the barriers to advancement and development opportunities they see in their departments and what King County can do to make these opportunities accessible to all employees.

The experiences shared varied greatly across the County. Access to training opportunities was better in departments with more stable funding sources. Frontline customer service employees find it harder to attend classroom trainings because their work needs to be backfilled.

But resourcing is not the only barrier. The group spoke about the critical role that supervisors play in employee development – and how supporting employees is rewarding for both the employee and the supervisor.

Employees with supervisors who work with them on professional development plans and who prioritize employee development are more likely to get approval to attend classroom or online trainings, especially when those courses are needed for their advancement goals rather than just their current jobs. And supportive supervisors tend to look for stretch opportunities that can help their employees learn “on the job” skills that they need to take the next career step.

One participant said that he’s seen employees whose passion for their work was rekindled when their supervisor showed an interest in their development and career goals, and worked with them on a plan and pathway to achieve those goals. These are outcomes that supervisors should take great pride in.

The group made several recommendations to improve the access to development opportunities, including a policy that allows for a certain number of training hours per employee, coverage for front desk staff to attend trainings, clear guidelines about how E-learning classes are to be accessed and utilized by employees, ensuring that all training is culturally responsive, incentives for supervisors to encourage the development of their employees, provision for more stretch assignments as opposed to Special Duty Opportunities, clear career pathways across job classifications, and professional development plans for all employees.

Thank you to the employees who attended the March 22 Listening Session: Cynthia Chiu, DPD, Public Defense Investigator; Velma Valdez, DOT, Mechanical Designer V; Lorrie Alfonsi, DOT, Transportation Planner III; Breen Lorenz, DES, Nurse Case Manager; Elena Edwards, DOT, HR Associate (Special Duty); Dean Olson, DOT, Functional Analyst; and Jose Luis Reyna, DOT, Acting Facilities Chief.

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Lilia Cabello Drain

King County employees support West Point crews and operators

This article is featured courtesy of Monica Van der Vieren, Communications Specialist, Department of Natural Resources and Parks

The first question King County employees asked when they heard about the unprecedented West Point Treatment Plant flooding was, “What can I do to help?”

King County Wastewater Treatment Division has been all hands on deck working around the clock to restore high quality service to the treatment plant since unprecedented flooding damaged the plant Feb. 9. Operations and maintenance crews from other treatment plants, offsite facilities and downtown pitch in at West Point. Employees throughout the system manage a larger work load with some flows transferred to other plants.

But there isn’t much that untrained employees can do to help out at West Point.

King County’s emphasis on service and teamwork shows at times like these, and people found a universally-appreciated way to show support: food.

It started with a suggestion by Paige Myers , assistant to the DNRP Director, to cook up a big pot of chili for the hard-working crews. Another employee volunteered to make homemade cornbread. And the idea grew from there.

Since late February, employees throughout the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Human Resources Division, Office of Labor Relations, and the Executive Cabinet have signed up to serve West Point crews buffet style lunches once a week. They cook, bake, buy food and donate cash to set a welcome table in the Rainier conference room every Friday. Paige Myers coordinates the entire operation each week.

On April 14, as the expected date to restore secondary treatment approaches, crews and operators will be treated to a pizza lunch from cash donations.

On March 10, the kindergarten and first grade girls of Daisy Troop 40196 sent a special treat: boxes of Girl Scout cookies. The cookies were accompanied by hand-made cards from the troop saying “Thank you for the hard work and long hours you are putting in to get the West Point Treatment Plant fully restored. We appreciate the work you do to protect our water!”

WTD employees sent signed cards with praise: “You inspire me! Thank you for all the hard work you are doing to get our system back up and carry out our mission!”

West Point workers appreciate the support as much as the food. Operators who are used to working behind the scenes providing high quality wastewater service day after day are now on the front lines restoring the treatment plant. Everyone’s routines have changed. While most King County employees can’t step in to help, we can let our hard working, dedicated colleagues know that we’re standing by them throughout the restoration effort.

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Lilia Cabello Drain

Why King County is leading with racial justice

Yesterday King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that King County is prioritizing racial justice in our work and the implementation of our Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Strategic Plan.

We all benefit from having an equitable and just society where everyone has a fair shot at success and is able to contribute, where no one is held back because of the color of their skin.

The Office of Equity and Social Justice has put together a short Q&A to answer some questions that you may have.

Why is King County focusing on racial justice?

When we look at data across our communities, whether its people’s health, access to housing and good paying jobs, graduation rates, incomes or incarcerations, disparities are greatest when we look by race. The most persistent and detrimental disparities are starkest when we look at race. By leading with racial justice we are committing to taking on the root causes of our most challenging problems and to focus where we can have the biggest impact and needs are greatest.

Our ESJ approach is comprehensive, working to address all forms of inequities, discrimination and bias. By leading with racial justice, we will learn the tools and strategies that apply to all inequities and will be able to apply them to eliminate all forms of discrimination and disparities and their intersection with race.

Profiling amazing women working throughout King County: Diane Gimenez, Utility Laborer, King County Metro

Diane Gimenez, Utility Laborer, King County Metro

How did you get your start in utilities? I started with Metro back in June 1995. When I started I was a maintenance worker, and then I moved to become a utility laborer in 1998.

I took the job because it looked like it would be challenging. You were outdoors and I liked working outside. Then in 1998 I put in an application to get my CDL (Commercial Driver’s License). It was a good opportunity to move up and get another position within the County.

Do you bring a different perspective to your work? Yes. You can work together to eliminate problems, and if people don’t know how to do that, then you just have to show them. I’ve seen this with other women in the workforce who worked alongside me and led me in the right direction. This gave me a lot of incentive to do my job well.

Do people treat you differently because you are a woman? Actually, they will give you the respect you deserve if you have the endurance and you’re a hard worker. You have to overlook all of the negative things and know that hard work is going to pay off in the end.

I’ve had supervisors who say thank you for doing a great job. Getting that little pat on the back gives you more incentive to work hard.

I’ve also met people who say things about me being a woman, but that’s pretty much meant to be expected in any job or classification. I just have to keep pushing and show them I can do it, telling myself ‘Yes, I can do it.’

Do you have advice for young women considering a career in utilities? You have to work smart and don’t hurt yourself. You want to do your job and accomplish what you came out here to do, and if you have to ask for assistance, then yes do it. In our job description we have to be able to lift up to 50 pounds, but there are ways to work smart and break down the load.

You can get along with everybody out at Metro. We all try to work together since we’re ‘Metroids.’ That’s a little nickname we have for all of us here in Metro.

If you could go back in time, what do you wish you would have done? Actually I don’t know if I would have done anything different. I enjoy my job, I really like my job. I’ve had a few surgeries and I’ve always wanted to go back to my position. If I can go back then that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m proud of myself. I’m proud to be a ‘Metroid’ and to do this work. I’ve done it, I’m still doing it and I’ll keep doing it.

Diane with her coworkers from the Shelter Appearance day shift. Starting from left to right in consecutive order: Paul Jones, Jose Reyna, Andy Franco, Dan Thorn, Thomas Pickett, Micah Roberson, Mark Berry, Andre Boudy (in back), Oscar Freeman (in front), Mitch Carlson, Diane Gimenez, Scott Fuller, Ryan Abin and Ron MacMillan.

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Lilia Cabello Drain

Getting creative: Local 17 supervisor uses visual mapping to engage employees in the decision-making process

This article original appeared in the PTE Local 17 Insight Magazine. We have been given approval from L17 to use this article.

Keith Siebler stands next to one of the posters he envisioned for use in his trainings and discussion with King County employees.

When Local 17 member Keith Siebler started working at the Auburn Public Health in King County nearly five years ago, he encountered a few conflict situations between employees. And while it’s not unusual for supervisors to manage conflict, Siebler wanted to come up with a creative and productive way to address some longstanding issues.

As a Public Health Administrative Support Supervisor (PHASS), Siebler supervises Administrative Support staff and is in charge of day-to-day operations at the Auburn clinic. But prior to his work at King County, he worked in the private sector where he had seen visual mapping in action.

Visual mapping is the process of utilizing visual information, usually in the form of pictures or graphics, to help people absorb and synthesize a large amount of information quickly. In the corporate sector, it is often used by project managers who have to get all members of their team on the same page in order to successfully complete a project.

Or if you’ve ever watched a video by economist and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, you can see the power of using visuals. (His ‘Why Right-to-Work is Wrong for Workers’ video is highlighted on the Local 17 webpage: http://www.pte17.org).

Siebler’s first visual map allowed his employees the opportunity to examine their role in the client experience and productivity at the Auburn clinic. He noticed that because of the graphic, employees had better interactions with the information in the moment, and later revisited the graphic and the conversations that had emerged from the original discussion.

“Visual mapping is a great way for managers and supervisors to reach employees with clear and transparent communication as well as to increase employee participation in the process – it’s a win, win!” said Siebler.

Several Local 17 members – including Keith Siebler – played an active role in King County Executive Dow Constantine’s first employee listening session in December.

To create a visual map, Siebler first starts with the main topic in the center of a paper, and then adds all of the subtopics he can think of – a process called ‘mind mapping.’ He then works with a graphic facilitator to make the mind map more visually stimulating.

Science has shown that people absorb data better when it’s accompanied by visuals. In fact, eighty percent of the population learns through primarily visual means. And with a visual map, not only do people better absorb the learning material, but they feel a stronger sense of connection to the process and the solution.

“Because the visual map is often created with group input, by the time it is completed, the audience looking on already owns it,” said Siebler. “They own it because they helped create it.”

According to Siebler, every map is different, which is why they work so well.

“There’s only one visual map of any unique body of information in existence, so it’s unpredictable and engaging,” he said. “And because you’ve never seen anything like it, you stop to look it over.”

Recently, Siebler and several other Local 17 members – including Local 17 President Lois Watt, Vice-President Hossein Barahimi, Steve Ford, and Jennell Hicks – were invited to King County Executive Dow Constantine’s first “employee listening session” in December. These sessions were created to hear from employees about the issues they are facing in their workplaces, and to learn what the County can do to help its employees thrive.

When Siebler introduced his visual map on getting employees engaged in the LEAN process, Constantine was impressed by the power of visual information.

As a manager, Siebler talked about his passion for employee engagement, reducing absenteeism, reducing Human Resources complaints and grievances, and developing staff for career advancement.

“Keith understands how employee engagement benefits not only the County, but the individual employees,” said Local 17 Union Representative Ceci Mena.

She continued: “He is passionate about making King County a place where employees feel supported, safe and engaged. All the work he has done has not been at the request of management but because he recognizes the changes that need to be made and wants to be proactive.”

As his Local 17 Union Representative, Denise Cobden shares a similar sentiment.

“Not only has Keith shown that he is a leader in his job at Seattle-King County Public Health, he has also been involved as a leader representing members for Local 17,” said Cobden.

“From serving on bargaining committees, helping negotiate contracts, to attending grievance meetings on behalf of our members, Keith is a well-respected member of the King County community by management and our membership alike.”

For Siebler, working for King County has been a really good fit. He applauds the progressive efforts of the County in taking the lead on issues from preventative health care for children, to clean energy and new technology.

“I am excited to be part of organization that is focused on the future,” said Siebler. “It takes bold leadership to address all of the challenges we face as an organization and I enjoy being a part of it.”