DPD interns: A summer of epic victories, hard-fought losses and many hours in the courtroom
Crossposted from For the Defense The Department of Public Defense is saying goodbye this week and next to its 20 interns, thoughtful and dedicated law students who experienced both epic trial victories and hard-fought losses during their 10 weeks at DPD. They worked in nearly every case area DPD handles; put forward excellent release arguments, writs, and motions; researched complex legal issues, and wrote thoughtful legal memos. They spent time together at trainings, shared lunches where they heard from others in the field of public defense, and were mentored by several excellent attorneys. … Read More
Using People Roundings to build a better workplace
By Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer Two years ago, Executive Constantine launched our Investing in YOU strategy to build a supportive and respectful workplace culture at King County where every employee can be at their best and do their best work for our community. One way that I track our progress on this strategy is through a process called People Roundings. Rounding is what doctors and nurses have traditionally done to check on patients in hospitals. We use People Roundings to check in with leaders and staff in departments on our People Measures, the key metrics we… Read More
Training Spotlight: Mindfulness and Emotional Resilience
Mindfulness and Emotional Resilience, Oct. 17: Emotional Resilience refers to a person’s capacity for meeting difficult emotional situations with greater equanimity and a person’s capacity for returning to a state of emotional balance more quickly. This 4-hour workshop introduces techniques specifically designed to enhance participants’ ability to be aware of and respond to difficult emotional situations with both mindfulness and compassion, a combination which cultivates emotional resilience. This course is sponsored by Balanced You. Register and learn more. View more training and development opportunities at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
Training Spotlight: La Cultura Cura Philosophy Overview
La Cultura Cura Philosophy Overview, Sept. 17: The National Compadres Network in partnership with King County’s Office of Equity and Social Justice presents La Cultura Cura Philisophy Overview: A Training on the National Compadres Network Healing Informed Philosophy and Framework with Jerry Tello. La Cultura Cura is a transformative health, learning, justice, and healing philosophy that recognizes that within individuals’, families’ and communities’ authentic cultural values, traditions and indigenous practices exist the path to healthy development, restoration and lifelong well-being. Register and learn more. View more training and development opportunities at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
Automated, online Employment and Income Verification services now available to all employees
In order to better serve you, King County has partnered with InVerify, an Income and Employment Verification service, to meet all of your verification of employment needs. By automating this process, we are ensuring speedy, secure, auditable, and legally compliant responses to assist you in obtaining: Loans, home mortgages, new jobs, rental qualifications, and Social Service benefits such as temporary assistance, housing assistance, child support, or nutrition assistance. It’s one more way we’re Investing in YOU by providing workplace processes and systems that support you. For more information, or to access employment verification self-service, visit our Verification… Read More
From the Hip: Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer
Why our True North and Values are important When King County employees talk about why they chose to work here, the answers tend to be pretty similar: “I want to help my community.” “I want to make a difference in people’s lives.” “I want to do the work I really care about.” It’s no surprise that these responses are closely aligned with our True North – Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive – because it’s a vision that succinctly captures the work that we do and why we do… Read More
Training Spotlight: Basic Data Visualization
Basic Data Visualization, Oct 9: Our ability to gather and collect data has steadily increased over the past decade. But data alone is not information and does not easily convey a compelling story. This half-day introductory course will allow participants to understand why data visualization is important, explore ways to tell a story with data, and mock up data visualizations in whiteboard exercises, using tips explored in class. Register and learn more. View more training and development opportunities at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
True North and values to guide our work
You may have heard me talk about what I call our True North: Making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. The True North is our “why,” what ties our work together, and what drives us do our best each and every day. Today I am launching our eight Executive Branch values that we will use to guide our actions and decision-making, and help us achieve our True North. They are the next step in our work of building a workplace culture of respect, innovation, and performance excellence. The eight values represent what is important to us as an organization – what we believe in, what we stand… Read More
King County named a “Best-in-State Employer” for 2019
Last month, King County was named to Forbes magazine’s list of “America’s Best-In-State Employers 2019.” King County was ranked number 16 on the list of best employers in Washington after a survey of more than 80,000 people nationwide. This recognition shows that we are making progress on our Investing in YOU strategy and our efforts to build a workplace culture of respect, innovation, and performance excellence. It also reinforces what we heard in our latest employee engagement survey, in which 79% of employees said they would recommend King County as a great place… Read More
Learn how to boost your retirement savings
You and your spouse or significant other are invited to learn more about saving for retirement with the King County Deferred Compensation Plan. Several in-person sessions are coming up July 30, July 31, and Aug. 1. See details and registration. Other education sessions are offered throughout the year. For more information about Deferred Compensation Plan education—including webinars—go to the Deferred Compensation web page. If you have any questions, please contact KC Deferred Comp.
Employee News 