SR 520 Grand Opening builds on Public Health, University of Washington and WSDOT partnership for youth
The upcoming 520 Bridge Replacement events presented an opportunity for approximately 160 underrepresented student populations from nine school districts to celebrate the grand opening of the world’s longest floating bridge. On March 24, their attendance kicked-off the 520 Bridge celebration with an integrated partnership established between Environmental Health Services, Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT), University of Washington – College of Engineering (UW), and various community partners to promote college and career readiness for youth to become involved in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The students were invited to participate in a… Read More
Featured Job: Transit Operator
Drive part time for Metro and release YOUR secret identity. Want more flexibility than a full-time job can offer? Going to work and school? Working part time and need more hours? Working part time as a Metro Transit bus driver is ideal for anyone who wants part-time work without weekend or late-night hours, such as students, artists, and people juggling family responsibilities. Part-time drivers enjoy flexible schedules and good pay and benefits. Plus, they know they are performing a valuable service for their community. Being a part-time bus driver for Metro is part-time… Read More
Colorful “Kudos Wall” motivates employees to connect with one another and County
Everyone loves to feel appreciated. Receiving praise is highly gratifying, and being praised in front of your peers or work group makes it that much more special. Facilities Management Division (FMD) has found an innovative way to do this and also engage employees in complimenting one another. It all started at the December 2015 holiday potluck. FMD Secretary Judy Hairston remembers how the idea came to life, and was instrumental in helping it take off. “Since it’s difficult for FMD as a large group to get together in one place, the holiday potluck… Read More
Employee Town Hall available on-demand and in segments
Our latest Employee Town Hall is now available to watch on-demand in its entirety or as individual segments. Hosted by Natasha Jones, Director of Customer Service, the Employee Town Hall featured King County Executive Dow Constantine, Budget Director Dwight Dively, and Matias Valenzuela, Director of the Office of Equity and Social Justice, in a discussion on the 2017/18 budget forecast and its implications for employees and our priorities. Employee Town Hall (complete with captions – 59’26”) Read more to see all the segments available to watch
King County Water Taxi recognized for innovation and efficiency
Denmark, Italy, Newfoundland, Spain, Washington – wait, what? While this could easily be an alphabetical list of random locations, it’s actually where a few of the Best Passenger Ships of 2015 are located. According to Marine Log, an international publication out of New York City, the MV Sally Fox, the first of two new water taxi ferries recently acquired by the King County’s Marine Division, is one of nine vessels worldwide to receive this honor. It does so because the ship and its crew are focused on providing passengers with an efficient… Read More
Curiosity and Gratitude
Jennifer Hills, Director of the Office of Risk Management in the Department of Executive Services, was “devastated” when she looked at the engagement scores for her division. Lower than she expected “I was surprised because we’d been doing a lot of strategic planning and our 2012 employee survey results were so good.” Hills resolved to approach the conversation with her 22 person division with “curiosity and gratitude”: curiosity about the underlying reasons for the scores and gratitude for the opportunity to be able to address concerns. This opened the door for honest communication… Read More
Dr. Gene Mueller: Lean supporter, employee advocate, animal lover
With the success of ensuring nearly 9 out 10 cats and dogs find a loving home and lowering the euthanasia rate to an all-time low of 12 percent, people are wondering what’s next for Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC). For this reason KC employees reached out to RASKC Manager Gene Mueller to learn what their secret is and the future direction of the agency. Originally from Illinois and a longtime licensed veterinary practitioner, since 2012 he has worked with King County to build on the work being done and further… Read More
Resurfacing project will have major impact on parking at Goat Hill Garage
Parking spots at Goat Hill Garage will be extremely limited in April. A resurfacing project will temporarily block off part of the 8th floor and the entire 9th floor. Approximately 80 parking stalls will be unavailable for the duration of the project. The work is scheduled to begin during the first week of April, and will take about four weeks, depending on weather. Goat Hill Garage users are strongly encouraged to use other transportation options such as carpools, vanpools, or public transportation. Please visit King County Employee Transportation Program for additional options…. Read More
Kudos! Route 4 bus driver
Just recently a bus rider noticed her route driver had a positive, courteous attitude and thought to share her praise for him with KC Employees. “I was riding on route 4 from downtown towards the Central District. The driver had the BEST attitude and GREAT customer service. There was a panicky rider who though he missed her stop and he handled it with such grace. She even ended up having a nice, relaxed conversation with him all the way until she got off. He greeted everyone and said good-bye to everyone. If you can… Read More
Skype for Business for Interviews
Recently, KCIT Leadership team members successfully used Skype for Business to conduct the first round of interviews for the Deputy Chief Information Officer position. Highly qualified resumes came in from across the U.S. “We scored the resumes but Chief Information Officer Bill Kehoe said the ability to communicate was really important and we didn’t exactly have budget to fly in folks from around the country,” said Alex Jacobson, KCIT Human Resources Associate. Enter Skype for Business. Each candidate had a 30 minute Skype interview with a presentation. “It took a lot of… Read More
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