Natural Resources and Parks’ Recruitment Standards Project receives Innovation Award for People
Like many organizations today, King County is facing challenges in filling vacant positions amid shortages in the labor market and fierce competition for talent.
In addition, the County’s commitment to Equity, Racial, and Social Justice means that embedding pro-equity practices into its processes is crucial in advancing these efforts.
The Human Resources team in the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) realized that it could be more effective in bringing much-needed talent on board if it could speed up the recruiting process and build equity practices into every step of the process.
These efforts have been recognized with the 2023 Best-Run Government Innovation Award for People. Read more.
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Hazardous Waste Management Program’s Annual Report
The Annual Report highlights the Hazardous Waste Management Program’s services, accomplishments, and financial status for 2023. Read about how the Program reduced toxic exposures, held product makers and sellers responsible, and put innovation into action.
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A cyclist’s haven: Take a ride on the Burke-Gilman trail
Cross-posted from Public Health Insider
As spring ends and summer begins, we’d like to bring to your attention a fantastic biking trail, the Burke-Gilman Trail, and a few bike safety tips along the way.
The Burke-Gilman Trail is a cyclist’s haven, providing commuters with a smooth, uninterrupted route. Its 20-mile stretch connects various neighborhoods, allowing riders to bypass traffic and avoid the stop-and-go of city streets. This seamless experience saves time and enhances safety, as cyclists are less exposed to the risks associated with urban traffic. The trail’s well-maintained path and excellent wayfinding ensure that cyclists can navigate with ease and confidence. Read more.
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Watch 2024 State of the County address on June 11
King County Executive Dow Constantine will deliver his 2024 State of the County address during the King County Council meeting on Tuesday, June 11, and employees are invited to watch the address live from their workspaces.
You can watch Executive Constantine’s address streaming live on this webpage and on KCTV Channels 22 and 322 (HD). The Executive’s remarks will begin around 2:30 p.m.
Every year, during the State of the County address, Executive Constantine discusses the condition of our County and outlines his priorities to the people of King County.
Video and the text of the Executive’s address will be available soon after the event.
The State of the County address is a County-sponsored event and King County directors, managers, and supervisors are encouraged to permit employees to join, if possible. Employees should speak with their manager about HR policies regarding employee attendance and County-sponsored events.
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Natural Resources and Parks’ Recruitment Standards Project receives Innovation Award for People
Like many organizations today, King County is facing challenges in filling vacant positions amid shortages in the labor market and fierce competition for talent. In addition, the County’s commitment to Equity, Racial, and Social Justice means that embedding pro-equity practices into its processes is crucial in advancing these efforts.
Delays in the hiring process can result in the loss of talented candidates to other organizations or opportunities, making it harder to fill critically important positions.
The Human Resources team in the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) realized that it could be more effective in bringing much-needed talent on board if it could speed up the recruiting process and build equity practices into every step of the process. These efforts have been recognized with the 2023 Best-Run Government Innovation Award for People.
King County Executive Dow Constantine launched the Best-Run Government awards to recognize individuals and project teams for their exceptional contributions in innovation, leadership, and continuous improvement at King County, and DNRP’s Recruitment Standards Project excelled in each of these areas.
Before developing a standardized recruitment process, DNRP’s recruiters ran more than 300 hiring processes every year. At the time they faced a very high vacancy rate–as high as 21 percent in some divisions.
The team developed a process to standardize the recruitment process, which not only helps to streamline the process and build in equity practices, but also provide greater clarity for HR professionals, hiring managers, and applicants throughout the hiring process.
“Treating the recruiting process as an organizational priority gives this essential employee experience the time and care it deserves,” said Chris Ynzunza, HR Manager III with DNRP. “We have created foundational skills for both HR and hiring managers that we will continue to build out over time, enhancing career opportunities and increasing performance.”
Engaging all perspectives in the process was central to the project, and a great example of our We Respect All People and We Are One Team values in action. Over the course of several months, the team held a series of division-level HR team meetings, focus groups with hiring managers, metrics gathering efforts, and an all-day process walk with recruiters and hiring managers.
This discovery process uncovered sticking points, catalogued inconsistencies, and identified what worked and what hampered recruiting activities. This information was then used to develop project activities.
The results of the almost two-year process speak for themselves, including a 16 percent improvement in the average time-to-recruit personnel and a three-percentage point reduction in the drop-off rate for BIPOC candidates from the time their application is first received to their interview.
By creating a standardized recruitment process, DNRP has made recruiting a clear and intentional process that can be measured, monitored, and easily followed via the new Hiring Manager Guide, and ensure that King County is continuing to recruit talented people who care about the County’s services and the customers who rely on them.
View all the Best Run Government Award recipients here.
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King County Executive proclaims June to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month
King County Executive Dow Constantine has proclaimed June 2024 to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month.
In the proclamation, Executive Constantine urges all King County residents to honor the fight against discrimination and to honor the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people to our County and our society. Read the full proclamation below.
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BRG Leadership Excellence Award for Individual Contributor
Alicia Martinez, from the Department of Community and Human Services/Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division, has been honored as the winner of the Best-Run Government Leadership Excellence Award for an Individual Contributor.
Executive Constantine launched the Best-Run Government Awards – formerly known as the Performance Excellence Awards – in 2018. Best-Run Government is our commitment to continuously improve the equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of how King County operates.
The awards recognize individuals and project teams in the Executive branch for their exceptional contributions in innovation, leadership, and continuous improvement at King County. The Leadership Excellence Award for an Individual Contributor honors someone who is not a manager of staff but has demonstrated leadership qualities.
Alicia was selected because of her creation of visionary and accessible opportunities to build Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health knowledge and skills for hundreds of providers and caregivers who work with young children and their families across King County. She did this by creating tailored and transformational learning opportunities using foundational principles and approaches that center racial justice.
Alicia’s approaches have included:
- Reducing barriers by making learning opportunities available in peoples’ first languages, creating weekend times more accessible to childcare providers, and offsetting some of the organizational costs of staff participation.
- Intentionally pairing community facilitators with varied backgrounds and cultures to build our local capacity of leaders across many topics.
- Rooting Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health theory in community-based and cultural approaches to childrearing while providing space for practical application discussions for everyday life.
For example, Alicia led a unique collaboration to create the Centering Relationships and Social Justice in Early Childhood certificate program. This one-of-a-kind program was developed to reduce barriers to access to high quality Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health education. Nearly 100 participants are enrolled in the first cohort currently underway.
Alicia has also grown and diversified one of the largest early childhood Reflective Consultation programs in the country, reaching hundreds of providers with over 60 monthly groups. Reflective Consultation gives early childhood program staff a chance to improve the ways they hold and support the families and children they serve.
“Alicia has helped us all to always ‘see the babies’ in their families, relationships, and communities,” said Wen Harris, Early Childhood Team Co-Lead. “When early childhood providers can hold and support families in strengths-based, culturally rooted ways, children’s social-emotional development and resilience can be well supported. All the reflective consultation and learning opportunities that Alicia has designed hold these core values in mind, while also honoring the unique needs of culturally diverse families and communities.”
Through her work, Alicia has impacted the lives of many early childhood providers from a wide variety of backgrounds in King County, which in turn has had a significant positive impact on the families we serve.
Congratulations Alicia, for modeling our values and making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive.
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King County program successfully creating jobs and long-term housing
In 2021, King County established the Jobs and Housing Program to combat the region’s homelessness crisis using funds from the American Rescue Plan. The program connects people experiencing homelessness to subsidized employment, housing, and career services to help them permanently exit the homelessness system.
The program is an excellent example of how multiple King County departments and community organizations come together to help some of the most vulnerable individuals and families in the County. It’s designed to provide temporary job opportunities and housing resources with the goal of eventually developing into more permanent employment and stable housing.
“One man living in his car was motivated to find steady employment,” said Sasha Gourevitch, a Program/Project Manager on the project. “He had two children not living with him, one with special needs. He got a temporary position at Parks, as well as housing through the program. His kids were then able to move in with him, and he also got a permanent position at Parks with all the benefits for his family.”
An end-to-end program
Finding stable housing without an income can be nearly impossible of course, and without stable housing it’s difficult to focus on finding a job. The Jobs and Housing program was originally planned to provide 400 jobs for individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as housing support such as rent, moving expenses, furniture, and other household items. By providing stable income and short-term housing program participants are able to rebuild their economic security that enables them to transition to more permanent housing.
The first program jobs made available were in the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP), as part of a Parks Beautification program to plant new trees, remove invasives, and maintain trails. Program positions were eventually made available through several other departments, including the Department of Human Resources, the Department of Elections, and Regional Animal Services (RASKC). All the program positions supplemented existing positions, which allowed the County to complete important work with minimal disruption to existing staff and positions.
“During the development of the program, we knew we couldn’t provide 400 positions through King County,” said County Executive Assistant Steve Stamper, “so we began working with various organizations to help implement the program to as many people as possible.”
Working with the Department of Community and Human Services for housing support, Metro for transportation services, as well as other organizations for clothing, food, and anything that might assist people in doing these jobs, the team put together a cooperative system that has successfully employed 783 people (60 at King County) and moved 341 into permanent housing.
The work for King County was made available by various departments. In Elections, participants were engaged in an effort to update voter signatures and also helped during election days. Animal services had participants work directly with the animals, taking care of them at the shelter and helping customers with pet adoptions. With the Roads division, program participants provided litter abatement services in our unincorporated areas.
A foundation for long-term success
“The model provides a comprehensive set of services for program participants, including one year of housing support with our Rapid Rehousing partners,” said County Executive Assistant Nancy Yamamoto. “Our goal is that participants gain more economic security as the year goes on that can lead to permanent employment and housing after they leave the program.”
According to Gourevitch, the departments and supervisors that took on participants put their hearts and souls into the program. “They were not all success stories, but participants felt they were really supported.”
Participants supported important work at the County while also being given a foundation in their housing search and career planning. “The priority was the good work experience for the people,” Yamamoto said, “and the departments also benefitted from the work being done.”
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BRG Leadership Excellence Award for People Leader
Congratulations to Mike Bacnis, Finance/Accounting Supervisor for DES/FBOD, for winning the 2023 Best-Run Government Leadership Excellence Award for a People Leader.
The Executive launched the Best-Run Government Awards – formerly known as the Performance Excellence Awards – in 2018 to recognize individuals and project teams In the Executive branch for their exceptional contributions in innovation, leadership, and continuous improvement at King County.
The Leadership Excellence Award for a People Leader honors someone who manages staff and has made significant and tangible leadership contributions to developing the Executive branch values in others, improving our workplace culture, and leading organizational change and inspiring others to lead change as well.
While Mike is currently the Accounts Receivable supervisor, he exemplified the ‘We Are One Team’ value and provided leadership coverage to both the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable teams for six months. During this time, he provided day-to-day management support for the 14 employees of the Accounts Payable team, ensuring that over 45,000 invoices, representing just over $2 billion, were paid in a timely manner during a critical transitionary period.
Despite covering two teams, he worked on multiple high-impact projects:
- Updating the Accounts Receivable Executive Policy,
- Improving the banking structures that support procurement card use at the County, and,
- Assisting the Department of Public Defense with a rate adjustment that reduced or eliminated the co-pays for legal services provided by the County.
Mike has established a culture in his teams where problems are opportunities, so when the team identified that payments made through a portal on KingCounty.gov, which should require minimal manual work, were landing in a queue for manual processing, Mike worked with KCIT and quickly reduced the number of invoices being misdirected.
The number of manual payments dropped by 2,000 payments or 12% from 2022. There were at least two factors that drove this improvement — making the portal user friendly (a collaboration with KCIT he empowered his team to contribute toward) and the quick fix Mike achieved that was causing payments to be sent to the manual processing queue in error, noted above.
Mike leverages his two decades of experience at King County, the relationships he has made during that time, and the reputation he has worked hard to earn and sustain as a person who gives wise counsel to affect change where it is needed. One of his Accounts Payable colleagues recently stated, “Mike is a true leader who is always there to provide support for his team in a very professional manner.”
As a leader, Mike builds teams that consistently exceed expectations for delivering results by promoting a culture of innovation and problem-solving, empowering team members to raise opportunities to make their own lives or the lives of their customers easier and better, and empowering team members to solve problems while removing barriers.
“Mike leads by example, showing his teams direct and effective ways to apply the values in their collective work,” said Ken Guy, Division Director, DES/FBOD. “He then challenges and empowers them to follow his lead.”
Thank you, Mike, for being a champion of innovation and continuous improvement.
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What’s on at City Hall Park this spring and summer?
City Hall Park, adjacent to the King County Courthouse, is offering movies, workshops, and more this spring and summer in addition to the daily buskers in the park.
There will be three free movie screenings this summer starting at noon:
- Wednesday, July 3 – Legally Blonde
- Wednesday, July 31 – The Pelican Brief
- Wednesday, August 14 – The Firm
The Bike Mobile truck is providing free to low-cost bike maintenance and bicycles at City Hall Park on select Tuesdays in 2024. Upcoming dates include: June 4, June 18, July 2, July 16, August 6, August 20, Sept. 3, Sept. 17, Oct. 1, Oct. 15 (all from 1 to 4 p.m.), Nov. 5 (1 to 3 p.m.), Dec. 3 (1 to 3 p.m.).
You can also enjoy lunchtime music in the park and relax on comfortable bistro furniture from Monday to Friday, noon to 4 p.m., subject to rain-out cancellations.
The park is open between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., seven days a week. Find out more.
King County’s City Hall Park Neighborhood Outreach Team continues to assist neighbors around City Hall Park. The team was created to connect unsheltered people around City Hall Park with access to services, shelter, and housing, as well as helping people in crisis. It provides supportive services in an area from Yesler Way to James Street and Second Avenue to Fourth Avenue. You can speak with a Neighborhood Outreach Team member directly, or if you see someone in crisis within the service area and don’t know what to do, call 206-537-3770.
King County continues to work with its government and community partners to ensure a safer, more welcoming environment in and around employee facilities. For more information on employee safety programs and resources, see this printable one-pager.
Employee News 