JLMIT Meeting Summary
Meeting Date/Time: 1-21-09 10:00 am -11:30 am
Location: Chinook
Building, Room 120
Attendees: Steve Coffing (Transit), Patti Cole-Tindall (OIRM), Polly
Davis (ADR), Gary Hocking (DNRP), Behnaz Nelson (IFPTE Local 17), Beth Sohlberg
(PH), Betty Sorbo (Teamsters Local 117), Peg Taglianetti (OIRM), Christine
Ynzunza (OIRM)
Agenda
·
Meeting summary
·
New PDQ Form
·
Employee Survey
·
Sharepoint
·
DES Structure Transition Plan Followup
·
Unions’ Issues
Meeting Summary
Meeting notes from 1/7/09 were not yet
available. They will be done by next
time.
New PDQ Form
Chris stated that the new PDQ form is still
not done yet. They are considering
proceeding with IT reorg Class/Comp with the old one. It was commented that the new one would be
highly desirable if it is more efficient and well organized.
Employee Survey
Patti discussed the Employee
Survey. She said the first set of survey
results is the baseline and surveys will be done on average every 6 months. The survey had a response rate of 45%. 17 persons started the survey and then did
not finish it. This and some of the
responses indicated a need to clarify some questions and/or instructions in
later surveys.
The survey measured employees’ responses
along 4 major dimensions:
|
Selected Desired Result |
Concepts to Measure |
|
Deliver responsive service to internal customers,
the public, and other jurisdictions |
- Culture of responsiveness - Culture of clear, direct, timely, and respectful
communication - Extent to which teams are used |
|
Facilitate information sharing internally and
externally |
- Internal stakeholders are consulted about
decisions and know how their input is used - Technical and best practice information is shared
across the departments - There are good relationships between Central IT
and the decentralized services |
|
Support a culture of effective governance, clear
accountability, and communication |
- There is sense of share accountability - People know how decisions are made |
|
Recruit, deploy, and retain an appropriately
skilled workforce |
- Workplace culture of OIRM - Career paths - Sense of staff that they belong to a single IT
organization - Engagement of staff in problem solving, technical
changes, and defining processes - Access to training |
(Reproduced from KCIT Employee Survey
Table 1)
SLR (Strategic Learning Resources)
composed the survey and it was distributed to employees via email. There was a 5-point scale, with 3 being
neutral, 1 strongly disagreeing, and 5 strongly agreeing, with the exception
about 1 question referring to looking for another job outside the County. Demographic measures were collected for how
long a respondent had been at the County, whether they were management or
staff, and whether they were represented or non-represented.
Generally for the responsive service
results, Central IT responded lower than Decentralized IT. Central IT’s answers were between 2.6-2.8 for
these questions, whereas Decentralized IT’s answers were between 3.2-3.3.
For information sharing, the responses
were low and few (16%) agreed or strongly agreed that information is shared
openly and frequently across IT. 21%
felt employee input was considered before important decisions were made. Less than 1 out of 3 felt IT staff work cooperatively
with each other throughout King County IT to meet customer needs. People were more positive on these responses
if they had worked at the County for a shorter period of time.
On being held accountable and empowered,
the respondents were on average neutral, but there was a distinct difference
between Central and Decentralized IT.
Central IT ranged from 2.4-2.8 in their responses, while Decentralized
IT ranged from 3.1-3.5 in theirs.
Employees working longer for the County felt more accountable and
empowered, but were less clear about King County standards and goals.
Regarding overall job satisfaction,
feeling that one’s job makes a difference and that one’s talents and skills are
valued, the responses were on average more positive. The Decentralized IT tended to be more
positive in their responses, ranging from 3.7-4.2 compared to Central IT
ranging from 3.3-3.8, with the exception of the question “I feel I am a part of
the Office of King County Information Technology”, where Central IT answer
higher at an average of 3.3, contrasted to Decentralized IT’s average answer of
2.3.
There were differences between
represented and non-represented employees on job satisfaction. More (average 2.5) represented employees
described themselves as actively looking for a job outside the County than
non-represented employees (average 1.9).
Less represented employees (average 2.6) said they felt they are a part
of KCIT Office (non-represented answered on average 3.5). Represented employees responded with an average
of 2.4 that the County retains its most talented employees compared to non-represented
employees (responding on average 2.8).
Less (average 3.3) represented employees said they know what they need
to be successful in their job (compared to non-represented on average
3.8). Less represented employees said
they feel supported in their professional development (2.8) compared to
non-represented employees (3.4). All of
these measures were more positive the less time employees had worked at the
County in general.
Sharepoint
Chris said that Pam Ruhl and Sharon
Glein are working through the numbers to obtain some cost-benefit
comparisons. They have hired a TLT to
help with their efforts. They will come
and present their findings and describe the Sharepoint at the next JLMIT
meeting. JLMIT members will have an
opportunity to give input.
DES Structure Plan Followup
Caroline Whalen committed to meetings since
the last JLMIT to get the plan process moving along, including a budget finance
meeting, a meeting with OIRM finance.
They are working through what positions they need. So far, they have said they 4 Senior LAN
staff from DCS. Katie described that the
support staff needs to do a lot of offsite work and therefore should require
less mentoring. It was asked where they
would be located. They will be moved
down to the 6th Floor.
It was questioned that temporary
employees had apparently been hired for the HelpDesk? Chris said yes, there are 2 HelpDesk staff
going out on maternity leave and temporary employees are filling in for them. They are going to try to get TLT’s eventually.
Katie is moving forward with the DES
matrix relations planning. She met with
business managers and has outlined protocols for how they will interact. The funding is still up in the air.
Unions’ Issues
It was asked when the unions would have
their list of issues for potential bargaining to present. Behnaz responded that they would try to have
it by the next meeting.
The
meeting adjourned around 11:15 am.
Follow-up Items
Next Meetings
Feb.
18 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Chinook
Room 120
Tentative Agenda for
Next Meeting
·
DES Update
·
Sharepoint
·
Unions’ Issues