LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING NOTES – January 14, 2016
In Attendance: Lewis Boren, Linda Angel, Horace Dicks, Susan Kamas, Vivian Naramore, Jerry Haisler, Vickie Gideon, Sue Bailey, Kimberly Patterson, Tammy Hill, Gerry Fluharty, Terry Gearhart,Ben Lopez,and Roy Highsmith.
Last Meeting:
Evacuation Plan and Policy: several staff attended the webinar on gun violence in the workplace (school). Current violence in the workplace policy does not include shooters. Violence of this nature usually lasts 4-8 minutes; we can’t rely on first responders. We must understand police protocols and the concepts of run, hide, or fight. TWC has no training for this. Tom Elmore has a contact at Bell County who could look at our facilities and train us for a fee. Our plan needs to address reactions to a shooter or other similar violence incidents. Consider pagers, texting, or intercom systems to alert. Also consider how to assist persons with special-needs. ACTION: A matter of some urgency. Administrators continue to look at this and involve Wanda, Roy, Tom, and Wendy and others as appropriate. Report due at next meeting.
NOTE: email from Jerry: Vickie has agreed to be the lead on this work group. Ben can co-lead as needed and will work with any training related activities and issues. In addition to Vickie and Ben, we noted several staff that should or want to be involved: Lewis, Kim, Roy, Tom, Terry, Wanda …..and any others that are identified by the work group. As this unfolds, this will require specific plans and processes for each Center or office. That would be the responsibility of Vickie, Lewis, Kim and Wanda. Build on what we already have in place including policy, procedures, and designated “emergency” coordinators in each site.
- I want you to look at common terminology or processes across the system so that these are recognizable when staff are working in different sites.
- I feel there is urgency to address this so, update at the next LT meeting and set aggressive completion and implementation dates.
I look forward to actions to insure the safety and security of our staff and customers. We will be leaders in this effort it seems!!
Also, open carry may intersect with this somewhere along the line. Right now, we have no change in policy. We don’t have signage to limit “licensed concealed carrier” nor any directive on open carry. Staff cannot open carry. As in the past, if a visitor or customer causes a disruption with a “weapon” then we would handle through our emergency procedures i.e. ensure safety first, manage up the supervisory chain. We might get tested on open carry, so stay tuned.
ES Wage Records Policy pages 51-58: LThad no comments on revised PII policy of which this is a part. ACTION: Roy to send out new PII policy.
Workforce Updates:
Sandra received award as Ambassador of the Year, Belton Chamber. Congratulations!
Commissioner Congleton has retired. No news on a replacement.
Temple Business Center aka Temple WF Center. Next meeting to discuss plans, Jan. 20. Jerry will attend.
WIT Task Force, Pages 7-20:Susan was appointed to the group. First meeting was Jan 12. It involves private sector, TAWB, and ED’s.Discussed pros and cons of WIT and viewed graphs showing various data. The 2015 survey of Texas employers shows that employers are part of the problem when it comes to customers rejecting offers of employment through WIT.
Other issues:WIT resumes are poor hard to manipulate and revise; not user friendly. How can we market a company on the list? New options being considered: develop new system or buy off-the-shelf products or a combination. The state is looking at 4 different systems. Susan will attend another work session in 2 weeks.
Help Centers’ Management, Page 21:Bell County is placing management under Hill Country Community Action (HCCA). Current services have suffered as many staff have left.
Tech Assist Visit, Page 22: discussed ES postings. No findings with files. Sue stated that the current WSCT policy on attendance records and WIA needs to be updated i.e. can be accommodated in TWIST. Vivian and Linda noted with our systematic doc management will focus on process mapping so we should not change processes in the middle of this project. Sue clarified that we would be “removing” not adding things. That is acceptable! ACTION: Sue will work with Roy and WFA’s to revise policy on attendance records and use of TWIST (not Word) for case notes.
Monitors, page 23: Richard Rogers is scheduled Jan. 19 - 29. No firm date for TWC monitors. State scheduling is in limbo and we may see a change in our team.
ETPS Requirement, page 24: TWC has added a new requirement for schools applying for initial ETPS certification. It requires proof of employer input into training programs and allows 3 options. The WF Board must approve what the third option would be.ACTION: Linda will draft a WF Board resolution for this.
Military Spouse Eligibility for NEG, page 26: extension and more $ are approved for the Ft Hood NEG. Not yet approved for spouses but Linda is working on that. For now,we can place them into the “other” NEG/OJT grant.
New Grant Offering, Tech Hire Partnerships, page 28:related to HB1, funds partnership. Short-term training related to HB1 jobs for youth, 17-29, disabled, those with criminal records, etc., also incumbent workers. Must be fast training (certifications). Non-traditional training is OK, maybe 10-12 weeks duration. Offers great flexibility in training. Has the potential for innovation. Darnell, Metroplex, Seaton, and Scott and White consortium to address common issues we can attach to this. Also maybe job networking for professional spouses. Needs to be rolled out within the next 3 months. Paid internships are OK too. Business participation does not have to be non-profit. Issue: availability of short term training in the identified occupations. ACTION: Linda to send out HB1 jobs list and develop content for this new grant. NOTE: Linda found out on Jan 21 that TWC will be applying; we will develop our local data and support that grant. Susan also found at the Mayor’s Council for WF Development that “everybody” in nation is applying for this grant.
Meeting Dates: Finalized. Feb., Aug. and Nov. changed – see below.
TWC Survey: Horace reported that we have been queried as to whether we are collaborating with foster youth. We have a home that refers to us (Cherokee Home and possibly one in Belton).
Greg Newton, page 32: First session is for all staff. Career pathways for everyone but CCS. Include CHOICES, SNAP, WIOA, Vets, NCP, Tom and Wendy. LT will do snacks. $5 to Ben. TWC will send attendees as well (Lorraine, Kevin, Courtney, Adam, and possibly Sue Crowson).
Workforce 180, page 37: we won’t do this now.
Policy Letter 02-08, pages 45-46: LT reviewed the letter and approved as amended. This year is a transition year with 15 hours required;evaluate to increase it next year. ACTION: Roy to reissue this letter.
Staff Training Webinars: Ben is using Star 12 system for these. There are over 1000 on-demand webinars included in the system. It could be used as “brush up” skills training for staff. Large variety. 250 reference materials sent out monthly. Ben will look to see if any relate to our skill requirements and also for IT skills for staff.
DARS Transition Planning, Overview Training, Pages 47-48:This is info for LT; includes info about DARS eligibility for youth and adult education with community colleges. Lots of $ are available.TWC has scheduled DARS training -ours is in Waco, Feb 4. It appears for 2016-17 (starting Sept. 2016 that many DARS activities will remain centralized with TWC. DARS staff will continue as state agency employees. Susan’s questions: what are liabilities for the Board (huge number of individual contracts) and what is the amount of $$’slocal WF will receive to provide services? We can integrate the staff; we know how to do that– similar to what we did with ES and Vets.
Quality Texas, pages 49-50: Informational item. Leadership Development training by Mac McGuire in Cibolo TX on Feb 16-18, 2016 (see list and agenda). Mac McGuire is willing and able to provide Quality training for us. It will be affordable as he is located in Georgetown and “teaches” at MH-B.
Personal Information Policy, pages 51-58:LT reviewed the draft and approved it. ACTION: Roy to publish and send out.
Document Management, pages59-64:Vivian presented timelines for the team. Digital timesheets are currently being looked at and they are mapping staff leave process. Possibly use an e-mail template, end of month e-mail from COG with leave balances as part of the pay statement? Current process involves the Administrators. Lists in excel introduces errors in leave balances. To eliminate bookkeeping errors, staff include current leave info on the payroll statement to assist with bookkeeping and tracking of balances. LT discussed issues involved with amending timesheets such as taking sick leave after the timesheet is submitted. Form will be digital. It was pointed out that there must be some oversight from supervisors/administrators. Could cut down on the number of amendments. See David’s comments on Page 59. The way we do it now is detailed and time-consuming and it needs to be a better process. We should convene another meeting with the COG to settle some of the issues and how this can be made better. Lewis indicated that we can’t amend to leave without pay for persons with short balances; we can’t go back and show that they did not work. LT discussed short leave balances and going to leave without pay. Vivian will send out source document. Pages 60-65 cover what we agreed to previously. Vivian has started the mapping of processes in detail with meetings scheduled. Vivian will be contacting appropriate staff for support as it goes along.ACTION: Jerry will meet with the COG on the leave issue.
I-Messaging, page 65: used to broadcast necessary info on weather, closures, etc. to staff. Over 60 staff signed on. We need to use this to keep familiar with how it works. Not only “emergency” but other informational items.
NCP, page 66: Ben gave the total child support recovered through January 5 as $621,724.22, all in 3 years. Judge Nelson is very pleased. The research project/survey sends September 2016 but funding goes to April 2017 but for follow-up only, not new enrollments. The commitment when we started this project was that we would be funded as a “regular” NCP program like 21 other WF areas.ACTION:Susanand Jerry make sure TWC knows we want and need to continue and “advertise” our success to the appropriate people and organizations.
Performance, pages 68-71: CHOICES strong; now 55% - incentive based on actual performance. WIOA has lots of red on the chart but it’s early in the year. Reviewed a report comparing WFA’s based on budget and number of staff. Coastal Bend has 121 employees and we have 87, both with about the same budget. Capital Area has 179 employees. Difference could be pay differential or special grants that bring in more $$ and staff to support. Incentive report not yet released. CCS at the end of November is low but our projections show a higher number and on track. Ten week claimant report: Do we use it or do we want to track it? ACTION: WFA’s and Linda, check with Tom/Wendy to see how they use that report. Will review at PIT to see if we want to continue producing that report for LT mtg.
Improvement Teams:
Workshops, pages 72-73: Lewis reported that the next step is to market them with promotional material. One document showing all that we do. Killeen will start Feb 1 and Temple Mar 1. Descriptions will be placed on our website.
Customer Satisfaction:Working on employer surveys. We need to start sending e-mails to other customer groups now. We are receiving generally favorable comments. Next: customer service review.
Next LT Meeting:February 18, Killeen
Meeting Evaluation:
What was good?
Good discussion and staff input.
Good, quick flow to the meeting.
We didn’t get bogged down on any given topic, all good.
Good news, info, and updates.
All reports and discussions were on point and did not last forever.
What Could We Improve?
Feel better Kim!
Nothing-low quantity of food, but OK.
2016 Meeting Dates
Leadership Team:(all meeting start at 8:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted)
January 14 – Killeen
February 18 – Killeen
March 17 – Killeen
April 14 - Temple
May 19 – Killeen
June 16 – Temple
July 14 – Killeen
August 18 – Killeen
September 15 – Killeen
October 13 – Temple
November 16 – Killeen
December 16 (Joint mtg.) - CTCOG
2016 Best Companies to Work for in Texas
March 29, 2016 Austin
23nd Annual Quest for Excellence Conference (Texas Quality):
June 26-28, 2016, Holiday Inn Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX
CTWF Annual Awards Luncheon
October 28th, 11:00a.m. – 1:30pm, Killeen Convention Center
20th TWC Annual Conference
December 7-9th, Houston Hilton-Americus
All Staff Annual Meetings
August or September ?? (Improvement Day)
December 14
Leadership Team and Belton Admin Annual Meeting
December 16 – 8:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m., CTCOG (LT, Board staff, Supervisors)
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