Subject Matter Minute Blog – Page 3 – Covering Important Topics About State of Wyoming Employment

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #51 – Wyoming Workforce Report

The below post is taken from the Video Blog, the Subject Matter Minute. If it’s a little hard to read, it’s because it’s taken from the spoken word. You can view the episode on YouTube if you would like. Find it here: Episode #51 – Wyoming Workforce Report

If YouTube is blocked for you or your agency, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to view it from Google Drive. (I would prefer you view on YouTube, so I know how many people have watched)

You can also listen to an audio version.

Welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute. Before I get started I just need to say something from the heart. State of Wyoming employees are the best. I swear I was NOT fishing for compliments when I asked you all to email me and tell me how much you love the show. It was honestly kind of a joke. Well, I’m overwhelmed by your kindness and your humor! I don’t know what more to say, but thanks… So many emails and kind words in the show notes that really made me feel good. Specifically, I need to thank the officer, a highway patrolman, that caught me coming out of Subway in Laramie. He pulled up and rolled down his window, so naturally, I immediately got nervous. But, he just told me that he appreciates what I do. First of all, I’m sorry but I immediately forgot your name… like I said, I got a little nervous… but I also want to say that was extremely nice, and honestly, I should have been thanking you. What you do is so much more serious and dangerous. But again, another example of the folks that work at the state.

So… I did the swag drawings! If you didn’t hear from me, I’m sorry, but you didn’t win. I got my wife, Tanna, involved and if you are curious, I made a little video of the process that you can find in the show notes.

Ok, as I was saying… You guys work hard, and, as you are going to see illustrated quite well today, you do it for less money than most everyone else in the region. And that brings us to the topic of today. Today we are going to talk about the Wyoming workforce report. (music)

Before I dive into all the numbers, I want to say thanks to this episode’s subject matter expert, Meghan Connor of HRD. The report is huge and Meghan broke it down into the most important and interesting parts for me to talk about today. Thanks, Meghan!

So, first of all, what is this workforce report… At the end of each fiscal year, HRD puts together this report. It has 4 main sections: A compensation update, a section on employee counts, a service and retirement eligibility section, and a turnover and recruitment section. The report is created and given to the Governor and the other branches of our state government. It’s used to assist with decisions that relate to pay or other workforce issues. And we have a few of those right now, right? As does everybody. This is the data provided by Human Resources Division when recommending salary increases for employees.

Ok, let’s take a look at this report. The first section is the compensation update. Each year, HRD conducts an analysis of our current pay tables compared to the relevant labor market. To do this, they find jobs that are common throughout all industries and use these jobs as a reference point to make pay comparisons throughout our geographic region. The states compared to are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Salary information of these states is purchased through professional compensation survey providers. (you can see that here) The info is reported by the states and not individuals. We use these 5 companies to get this information. There are more details about this in the report if you are interested, ok? This part of the report shows how much our pay tables lag behind the market. As you can see, we are consistently behind the market. These are the numbers that HRD takes to the Governor and the legislature when recommending salary increases. (peruse the charts) You can see that we are consistently behind in nearly every chart.

The second main section of the report is employee counts and interesting statistics about who we are. It’s broken down by agency, occupational family, pay rate, gender, county, and more. (screenshots of these sections) Some interesting highlights in this section include the “Average Span of Control” page which details, on average, how many employees report to one supervisor by agency; the “Average Pay Rate by Agency” which details, on average, what classified employees are paid per hour, and the “Average Employees by County” which shows where everybody is throughout the state. Dig through this section, it’s pretty interesting.

The next section shows our ages, our length of service, how our pay relates to market, and our retirement eligibility. Here’s our average age and length of service. And, here it is again, but broken down by ethnicity. And then it also goes into pay as a percent of market by gender. Lot’s of stuff in here. The main emphasis in this section is retirement eligibility – and this is broken down by agency and class code, it looks at current retirement eligibility as well as eligibility in 3 years, and again in 5 years. This can help management in training and planning for the future gaps in their workforce.

The last section, turnover and recruitment, looks at where the State is losing employees and how long it takes to replace them. Last fiscal year’s turnover was 18.1%, for the classified workforce… that’s including in-state transfers. Individual agency turnover rates are detailed, as well as turnover by age, length of service, and classification code. One thing I notice is that the longer you are here, the less likely you are to leave.

The recruitment section looks at the average time it takes to fill a position as well as how many

applications were received, how many candidates were eligible for an interview, and how many

candidates were actually hired. An interesting stat in this section is the number of candidates eligible for an interview, which was down significantly from past years. This section also details how long each agency takes to fill a position as well as how long, on average, individual class codes take to fill.

Alright, I know that was incredibly quick and probably hard to follow, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what is in this report. Perhaps it’s more useful to managers and directors, but I still find it very interesting. I put a link to it in the show notes as well as to the page on HRD’s website that has past year’s reports if you want to compare or something. It’s cool to look through this and see who we are and what we do. Unfortunately, we also get to see how we are paid less than most, but… whaddya do?

Thanks for watching this episode, I’ll see ya next time.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #50 – 50th Episode Celebration!!

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to the 50th episode of your favorite YouTube show, the Subject Matter Minute! I’m Matt Nagy and I’m so grateful that you have been along for this entire ride!

First of all, I want to say that there is definitely no subject matter expert for this episode. In fact, you have already seen that there is no expert putting this stuff together! I know that it seems like I know what I’m talking about and that I just smoothly tell you about it, but behind the scenes, I do struggle. Besides messing up and swearing, I’m constantly interrupted when I’m doing this. Mostly because I never learn! Seems I almost always forget to silence my computer and my phone. So, just when I’m about to get through a tough part, I get a lovely “ding!” Many of those swearing bits were because of that. I also have a hard drive that backs up everything every day. It’s loud and inconvenient. Then there’s my forced air heater that is quite loud. And finally, my lights are battery-powered, and I don’t know how many times they have run out of juice in the middle of a sentence. As you saw previously, sometimes I can’t even get the show started.

Anyway, let’s talk about prizes. Here’s how the prizes are going to work. After viewing this episode, anybody who wants a chance to win will need to make a comment in the show comments, letting everyone know what their favorite part of the episode is. If you do this, you will be entered into the drawing for several gifts. If you get someone else to subscribe to my channel (that wasn’t subscribed before), and they respond to your comment telling me they did so, you will get another entry. The subscriber will also get an entry. Also, if you email me directly, and tell me how much you love the show, you will get another entry. Ok?

I thought that I would mention, just in case, someone out there is worried. These prizes were funded with personal money from me and several other wonderful people of human resources division. I want to thank Jenny and Jaye Wacker, Brenda Kelly-Mitchell, Russell Webb, Amanda Santee, Jared Hanson, Erin Williams, and Tricia Bach for their generosity and for making this fun. Both for me, and hopefully for you. Oh, and I was given some state swag from the Parks department from Stacy Sprengeler, and from Momen Elazizi of the Highway Department. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it!

Ok… no need for me to keep rambling on. I hope you enjoy the bloopers and comment below so I can give you some goodies.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #49 – ETS Customer Portal

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hey, hey, hey! Welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute. I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for joining me.

So, this is episode #49, and since we all love round numbers, we are going to count the next episode, number 50, as something special. I’m planning on an unusual episode that hopefully is entertaining, and I’m giving away prizes. Here’s how the prizes are going to work. After viewing episode #50, anybody who wants a chance to win will need to make a comment in the show comments, letting everyone know what their favorite part of the episode is. If you do this, you will be entered into the drawing for several gifts. If you get someone else to subscribe to my channel (that wasn’t subscribed before), and they respond to your comment telling me they did so, you will get another entry. The subscriber will also get an entry. Also, if you email me directly, and tell me how much you love the show, you will get another entry. Ok? I will remind everyone of the rules during episode #50 as well.

Today’s topic is about something that I hope you don’t have to use very often. A very large segment of our workforce at the state spends at least some time on a computer or dealing with technology in one way or another. We have an entire agency that is here to help us when things go wrong or if we need to figure out what type of technology we need. Obviously, that’s ETS. (Enterprise Technology Services)

Today I’m going to talk about the Customer Portal. (music)

If you’ve had problems before, you may know the 2 ways that we’ve contacted ETS in the past. Email, at Helpdesk@wyo.gov and via phone at 777-5000. Well, now there is a third way, and perhaps, a better way to contact them. Naturally, your first question is going to be, “Why? Why not just call or email them?” Well, I asked them that too. For one thing, the portal does more than just allow you to contact ETS for help with issues or requests for tech. You can search a knowledge base for answers to typical problems and/or questions. You can check for outages, and as a little bonus, they’ve added a section that has links to commonly used State websites.

Personally, I think it’s better than a call because I don’t like to talk on the phone. And it’s better than email because you are putting the issue or request directly into the system and not waiting for ETS to do it when they receive your email.

All right… whether you think it’s better or not, I’m going to show you where it is and how to use it.

To get to the portal, go to this address either on your computer or your device: https://service.wyo.gov/. I’m going to go through it here in a minute.

If you are logged into your computer with your Active Directory login, you will be automatically logged-into the Service Portal. If you are accessing the portal through a non-state computer,

you log in with your Active Directory login credentials. This is the info that you use to login to your State of Wyoming computer. If you do not have these credentials because you are not a State employee, contact the help desk and they will get you lined out.

To get to the portal you go to service.wyo.gov which actually reroutes you to this page. This is the page you’ll see, and then use your credentials to log in, or if you’re already logged in on your computer at the state you will automatically come to this page. This is the support portal.

Right away you can see the most important things right here: request something, the knowledge base, and get help. Get help is actually an incident. You can also see the navigation up here at the top where you can see my incidents, my requests, the knowledge base, and a nice little helpful thing right here I want to mention right away is the tours button. Each important page, which would be get help, knowledge base, request something, and this home page has a tour that you can start. That’ll take you through and show you how to use the system, so if you don’t use this for a long time after you watch this fabulous video you can always use that to reacquaint yourself.

First of all, let’s talk about the difference between requesting something and getting help or logging an incident. You use the request something when you need something new; a new service or something like that or if you need a new computer, new software program, or a new printer. Get help is an incident or something that was working before but is no longer working… something that is broken.

The knowledge base is a nice place to start because they’re adding helpful information in there about common problems or common incidents that perhaps you can fix yourself.

Other things to notice down here… if there are some announcements that ETS finds important they’ll put them down here. I’ve been told that if there’s an outage it’ll more than likely be up in the top area in bright letters letting you know what’s going on. Lesser announcements will be down here. Here are some top-rated articles from the knowledge base, basically the ones that people are looking at the most. And then you can see your open incidences and your open requests over here.

And finally down below all that they have some handy links for you; typical or important Wyoming links, your saba, your PMI, your retirement pension, your payroll ess… just a nice place to be able to go to all those from.

Let’s go into request something. So you can see these are the popular items, but you can also see all the things over here. So when you click on request something it’ll take you to this page but these are all the requests as well, so you could check out software and applications… and I can get software installation here, I can request a quote for something. Firewall patching… don’t know what that is, hotfix application, don’t know what that is, but perhaps you do. And then hardware. Hardware installation, another request to quote, and then other request is something if you don’t see anything that really fits your situation you use other requests. There’s also the communication and network area if you need a new desk phone, you need a network port activated or something like that. So most of these things are in here… most of the things you typically need are in here. But if not, you can do other requests.

However, before you do that, you can also search for categories. For instance, let’s search for printer here. This brings up the two possible printer results. And this does bring us to a broader point… you can search anywhere. So if you search on the home page that’ll bring up the two things we saw before as well as the knowledge base articles. Then if you go into the knowledge base that’ll bring up the knowledge base articles. So it brings up the appropriate thing for the area that you’re in. It’s probably better to do a little searching as opposed to just using the other category when you’re doing a request or an incident. So do a little searching first.

I’m going to go back to the home page. When you come in to get help or log an incident it actually goes to the same area but it starts off on can we help you. Create incident… anything that used to work and is now not working is an incident.

I’m going to say that I am going to request something and I’m going to request software installation. This is what shows up, not very many things to fill out which is nice. Obviously, some things are required… the red dots. They’re also showing the required things over here; as you do them they’ll disappear over here. You can read the instructions here on what to do so.

I’m going to say I want Microsoft office. I’m going to put in the key for the software if we’ve already purchased it or something like that… or the license number. I’m going to say yes I’ve already purchased it. Now typically this will auto-populate when your name shows up, however, my situation was a little different so I’ve got to find my agency which is right here. Install location… put in that information. Preferred install time of day… I’ll be there in the morning. In this situation, you probably don’t need to add any attachments but I’ll show you one that I’ve done before where I did add attachments for a request and you’ll see what that looks like. Once you fill all that out you see that all the required things are now gray and these are gone over here. I’m gonna go ahead and click request.

Now, this pops up… you can add additional information if you want to, or if you need to, you know special instructions like, you’ll have to talk to the front office person to get into my office if I’m not there, blah blah blah. So make sure that’s correct.

If you’re requesting for somebody else, which you can do, you would have done it here, but then you also need to put their name right here, because it auto-populates with your name. Then I’m going to hit request. That submits it and that brings it into the request. There’s a number right here in case you need to let them know what that is if you’re discussing it on the phone or by email. And it shows that it’s opened just now, and where it’s at in the process. So that is doing a request. Your information is going to be over here. The things you input and the things that they input are going to be on this side… it’s a conversation, it goes back and forth as you go through the process.

I mentioned that if you want to add attachments to perhaps show screenshots of the issue or any other attachments that you might need, that they show up in your request or incident. Let’s go into my requests. So my request is something for our online learning area… this is what I typed in and then I attached three different screenshots to show what I’m talking about. That’s how that works. Then at any time, you can type a message here to add more information, so if something comes up down the road before they’ve fixed the issue you can add more information by typing your message in that line and hitting send.

Now I’m going to do get help which is an incident. This is going to be exactly the same but I’m going to create an incident. It’s a little bit less information. This is kind of urgent and then you put in as good a detail as you can what the incident is… my computer’s restarting randomly… that’s not good! So that’s all there is to it here… I’m going to hit submit. My incident is now created, and here’s the incident. When you do this you will get an email telling you that you filled these things out. As you can see I got one here for my request, so you can always click on that to see it. You can see the open requests down here. I have a software installation. You can look at it that way or you can go up to my requests. So it shows Microsoft office, the license information, and all that. And now you can see I also have the email about the incident… it shows exactly what it is. It looks a little different than a request. You can also go to my incidences and click on it there and see it as well.

After you submit an incident or a request the first thing you’ll notice is that it gets assigned to somebody right up here and when it’s in progress the state will be in progress or open. These were pretty easy so they remoted into my pc, installed the software, and closed the ticket because it was as simple as that. That’s the Microsoft office. Then the incident where my computer was randomly restarting… same deal, it was assigned to somebody at ETS, that was the first thing I saw, and then they said we ran windows automatic troubleshooting, and the problem appears to be fixed. So that was all automatic… didn’t have to come to my office or anything. If, on the software installation or something that needed somebody in office they probably would have first commented and said okay let’s schedule this for next Wednesday at blah blah blah, but since they didn’t have to they simply fulfilled the request and closed the ticket. Now you can see it’s closed and complete.

I have all these emails… this was the software installation it was done, and then my computer randomly restarting… I got that one, it’s been resolved, and it appears to be fixed. So it’s all resolved.

Now when an ETS tech closes out a request or incident you will receive an email like I just showed you, and the request or incident will disappear from your list. So now if I go into my incidences that incident is gone. And then the requested items same deal. The one that I just made today is gone now.

If you go to your home page you’ll notice that your open incident is still there… my computer is restarting randomly. This will stay in this for seven days even though it’s closed and then it’ll disappear from here. If you need access to the information in the future you can always click on the link in the resolve email that you received to access the details. In the future you’ll be able to close out an incident or request yourself, so keep an eye out for that functionality, but for now, ETS needs to close the incident or request.

Ok, folks, that’s the ETS Customer Portal. Get in there and use it. They may already be tired of me using it by now.

Alright… remember that the next episode is the big #50 celebration. Watch it, comment, and you might get some swag! As always, thanks for watching the Subject Matter Minute, I’ll see ya next time.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #48 – Reasonable Accommodation

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to the Subject Matter Minute, I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for joining me!

Today’s show is going to be a bit long, so I’m going to get right into it.

Today we are going to talk about Accommodation. (music)

Before we get started, I’d like to thank Russell Webb of HRD for taking the time to help me understand the definitions and processes of accommodation at the state. Thanks, Russ.

There are two areas protected under the law that accommodation can be requested for… disability and religion. Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done during the hiring process. These modifications enable an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity to get a job and successfully perform their job tasks to the same extent as people without disabilities.

The law also requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment to allow an employee to practice his or her religion.

For both disability and religion, An employer does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation if it imposes an “undue hardship.” Undue hardship is defined as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as an employer’s size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation. So that will vary by agency…

An employer generally does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation unless an individual has asked for one. The employer can start the conversation if there is a safety issue. Also, if a supervisor believes that a medical condition is causing a performance or conduct problem, he or she may ask the employee how to solve the problem and if the employee needs reasonable accommodation. However, if the employee says that they do not need or want an accommodation, the discussion should stop there.

So the process generally begins with an employee requesting an accommodation. The supervisor then has 30 days to follow up with the employee. If management fails to follow up within this time, they are said to have “refused accommodation,” and this opens the state up to liability. After management follows up, the employee then has 30 days to follow up. If the employee fails to do so, they forfeit their right to accommodation. However, they can start the process over by again requesting accommodation.

The key is that the employee must be able to perform the “essential functions of the job,” as they are written in the job description. This means that if a “non-essential” function is an issue, those functions could be reassigned to another employee. This is a type of accommodation. However, essential functions cannot be reassigned. This is where other types of accommodation come into play.

The State doesn’t necessarily have to provide the preferred accommodation if there is something else that allows for the performance of the job’s essential functions and meets the needs. There are generally 4 things that need to be taken into consideration when determining accommodation. Cost, function, safety, and scheduling. How much might this cost? Are the essential functions being met? Are there any safety concerns? Does the schedule change work for everyone?

Also, bona fide seniority systems and collective bargaining agreements can supersede requests for schedule changes. Also, employers are not required to displace another employee to provide accommodation. For example, if there is no room on the other shift that doesn’t work Saturdays the employer is not required to force someone on that shift to trade shifts, nor is the employer required to create a job, there must be an existing opening. Again, employers don’t have to provide the requested accommodation, just something that meets the needs and enables the employee to complete essential functions of the job.

The agreed-upon accommodation is for the length of employment unless stated otherwise. For instance, a temporary one might be a short-term medical condition.

I mentioned in the beginning that there are 2 areas that accommodation can be requested for. Disability and religion. Many religious accommodations are about scheduling. Requesting to not work on a day of the week that conflicts with certain religious activities. Naturally, we think, ya know… Sunday. But it could be any day for different religions. And it could be temporary as well. A good example is Ramadan. This is a situation where scheduling changes could make it easier for someone to get their work done while fasting. Other reasons for religious accommodation would be for clothing or displaying religious items in the office.

As an example, an employee at the State said he should not have to wear a hard hat while at work because his religious beliefs required him to wear a head covering. The covering he chose to wear prevented him from wearing a hard hat. After some research and engaging in the interactive process it was discovered this was a preferred head covering by the employee and others were available to him. He eventually agreed to wear a different style of head covering while at work that permitted him to also wear a hard hat.

Remember… safety trumps all else. You will not get an accommodation if there is a safety issue involved.

I think it’s fairly standard for us to think that providing an accommodation is going to be cost-prohibitive. Turns out this is usually not true.

The typical cost of accommodation is $500

A 2020 survey report by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy showed that 56% of workplace accommodations for employees cost absolutely nothing to execute. The remaining ones typically cost just $500.

I’m going to finish this out with some examples.

Example 1

Situation: An office employee with limitations in using her hands found it difficult to operate the computer mouse.

Solution: The employer arranged for a foot-operated computer mouse, footpad, and speech-to-text software. The accommodation was successful.

Cost of Accommodation: $300

Example 2

Situation: An office worker with cold sensitivity was experiencing pain in the head and neck because of the office temperature.

Solution: The employer switched off an air conditioning vent in the employee’s work area (cubicle) and diffused another vent away from the cubicle. The employee was also provided with a heated scarf.

Cost of Accommodation: $115

Example 3

Situation: A professor with a mental health problem was finding it hard to concentrate at the workplace. The professor operated in a shared office space, and the cause of his problem was frequent interruptions.

Solution: A private office space was provided to the professor.

Cost of Accommodation: Zero

Example 4

Situation: A county government employee with a kidney disorder requested to work remotely because of the need to take frequent breaks and difficulty in commuting.

Solution: The employer permitted the employee to work from home and provided computer equipment to set up at home.

Cost of Accommodation: Zero (because the same equipment was provided to all employees)

Example 5

Situation: An employee working in a lab environment was finding it hard to communicate with colleagues because of a progressive hearing loss.

Solution: Co-workers were asked to first ensure he was looking at them before they began to speak. In addition, every verbal communication was followed by written email communication. Everyone benefited from this accommodation because they had a written record they could refer to at any time.

Cost of Accommodation: Zero

Alright… I’m outta here! I hope this is useful to those supervisors who need to deal with this situation and those employees who need accommodation. See ya next month on the Subject Matter Minute.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #47 – Weather Closure Policy

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to our little State of Wyoming variety show, the Subject Matter Minute. Where you come to get information and find yourself cringing at my humor. Speaking of, one of my favorite lines from a song is by the Gin Blossoms… “If you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down.” I tell my wife that all the time. She doesn’t think it’s very funny.

Alright… let’s get to the task at hand. Last month we covered the effects of Human Resources consolidation on all of us. And what was the one takeaway?

Today I’m going to cover Weather Closures.

We all love a good snow day, right? Everyone hopes that there is just enough snow to shut things down so you can stay cuddled up in bed, or have an extra cup of coffee, or cross country ski to lunch. And while it almost never happens, we always hope. I remember growing up in Lander and turning on the radio to find out if we had to go to school. Fingers crossed! This was before email, websites, etc… we had to find out via the radio. But it was the best day ever when we heard those words. “School cancelled!”

Well, every once in a while the State gets shut down due to snow. The recent “snowmageddon” event definitely shut things down. Especially in Cheyenne.

There was some confusion during that time. A ton of us were teleworking for the first time and people just weren’t sure what that meant for a snow day. Well, sadly, for those that telework full time or are scheduled to telework on a weather closure, the snow day is no longer. And worse yet… if you are unable to telework due to taking care of snowbound children or something similar, you MAY BE expected to use annual leave. This depends on the expectations provided by your management. Many of these situations are circumstantial so it would be best, if you can, to clarify as much as possible in the telework agreement beforehand.

One of the stated reasons that the state expanded the opportunity to telework is that the government can stay open on inclement weather days. Honestly, the reason for snow days was to keep employees safe and off the roads, and since you can safely work from home, this doesn’t come into play.

There’s more to say, but I’ve got to pause for a second and thank Jenny Wacker who helped me out with this information. She is the telework queen as she was tasked with running the show on creating the new policy. But please don’t blame Jenny for ruining the snow day. It was not her fault.

I think that for those that are teleworking full-time, it’s pretty straightforward. However, if you are teleworking part-time, intermittently, or temporarily, you need to be sure of your supervisors expectations. The setup should work for both the employee and the state. There are scenarios where this could become unfair, and this is not ok. This is one of the reasons why all teleworkers are required to have a signed telework agreement. Expectations can be set up in the agreement, so there are no surprises and no confusion. If you expect to get a snow day when it snows on a day that you would normally work in the office, then work that out with your supervisor and get it in the agreement.

The bottom line is that this should be common sense. If the state closes on a day that you are supposed to be in the office, then you should get a snow day. If you are scheduled to telework on that day, you should work. However, everyone’s supervisors are different, and, like usual, these things are at the discretion of the agency and/or director, so find out what his or her expectations are.

Since there are some shades of grey here, we have put together an FAQ to try to cover most questions. Go to the “Telework Wyoming” webpage and scroll to the bottom. I also included the link in the show notes.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u4h7izpftIAz0MCuvkU7JHwG15qM3Lhn/view

While it sucks to not get a snow day, I think the best way to think about it is as a bit of a trade-off. Right? Telework allows for flexibility. No commute, eating your own food, do a load of laundry, heck, wear pajama bottoms… and still get in a day of work. I think that because we “get” to do that, we also “get” to work on snow days. And whether you agree with me or not doesn’t matter, ’cause them’s the rules!

Ok… so what happens if there is a power outage? Good question! If a power outage or loss of internet occurs at your telework location and extends past two hours, then you/we MAY be required to return to our primary work location. If the primary work location or your onsite office is closed due to inclement weather, we MAY be expected to use annual leave. We have to coordinate with our supervisors for direction on how to proceed in these situations. … I say MAY because, as ALWAYS, these decisions are at the discretion of the agency and/or director.

For those of you who do not telework, and are NOT emergency personnel, you still get to sleep in on those rare snow days. Enjoy!

Alright, that’s it for today! Everyone have a fabulous week, and I’ll see you next month on the next Subject Matter Minute.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #46 – HR Consolidation

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to the Subject Matter Minute, I’m Matt Nagy, thanks a ton for tuning in.

I’m not sure how many of you are aware, but Human Resources was recently consolidated. Previous to this, agencies had their own HR folks that would coordinate with Human Resources Division. To me, that was a bit weird because the HR person was then working under the Director and maybe a supervisor of that agency… which means that if that director or supervisor were the issue that they were dealing with… well… that’s just complicated.

So, with the help of my subject matter experts, Jared Hanson and Jaye Wacker, today we are going to talk about HR Consolidation. (music)

On July 10th, the Governor signed an executive order that brought all human resources staff under one office and one set of rules, which should create greater efficiency and consistency for all of us. Human resource staff will remain in their individual buildings, making them available to us just as before.

Back in episode #23, I discussed the difference between Agency Human Resources and Human Resources Division. These differences have not changed. The only difference is that Agency Human Resources acts under the umbrella of the Human Resources Division, joining the Consultative Services Crew of HRD and Employees’ Group Insurance.

Agency HR remains the place to go for all day-to-day employee questions, including payroll, benefits, workplace issues, ESS password resets, retirement, PMI, discipline, FMLA, sick and annual leave, address changes, name changes, etc. OR even just a stick of gum. They will always have gum. Or not… that’s a “Friends” reference? Anyone? Bueller?

Ok, consultative services provides…. Well… consultations. … and answers to topics such as classification, compensation, recruitment, performance management, grievance and appeals (in case that HR person doesn’t have that gum) personnel rules, and more.

A few agencies are experiencing some change because they have not had a full-time employee dedicated to human resources or payroll. This mainly impacts smaller agencies and boards. If you work for one of these organizations, HRD has absorbed the HR duties so that you now have a full-time staff of HR pros dedicated to supporting your agency and you.

Most agencies experienced very little change. Agency HR is not changing locations. They are not changing contact information. And, each agency’s primary point of contact will not change.

Agency Human Resources now has roughly 70 people in 13 different locations, all tasked with providing the best direct human resource support to us. This number doesn’t include the professionals of Employee’s Group Insurance or Consultative Services. This means that Executive Order 2020-8 connected the entire HR community and created access for ALL state employees to more support and resources.

When you need HR assistance, you still have immediate access to your agency HR pro, AND you can access an HR professional via the “Find Help” button on HRD’s website. Some agencies will have multiple HR professionals available, and you may want to contact the one that specializes in the area of your question. And, even though agencies are assigned to particular HR professionals, you can contact any individual on this list. Please just note that sometimes, agencies have individual policies, processes, or procedures that may be relevant to your particular situation or question so you are always encouraged to contact your assigned HR person first.

HR Consolidation does more than provide additional resources for employees:

HR Consolidation also improves processes. Since they all work together, Agency HR can now share best practices with each other more easily, and those processes will be standardized. HRD and Agency HR will work together on complex human resource matters, getting input from all agencies when making rule and policy changes. This gives every agency a voice at HRD.

HR Consolidation should also improve customer service, and since providing excellent customer service is part of HRD’s mission, that just makes sense. Hopefully, many of you have become accustomed to excellent customer service from your individual agency’s HR. That service remains. AND, HR Centralization provides access to an HR professional no matter your location or employment. All state employees will now have equal access and equal treatment.

HR Consolidation also means greater support for Agency HR, providing the traditional training services as well as learning from other HR people across the state. This can help grow their individual skills and create future HR leaders.

Changes will be continuing in HR. Transitions like this of course take time. Everyone is committed to a smooth transition for all Wyoming employees. Because…we are, in theory, the state’s greatest resource.

…and you should always have access to…gum.

I truly hope someone out there appreciates the Friends reference!! If not, I’m sorry… Alright, that’s it for today! Have a great weekend. OH, and Happy mothers day to my mom and all you wonderful mothers out there.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #45 – Cigna Mental & Emotional Health Goodies

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute. I’m Matt Nagy, thanks for taking a bit of time out of your busy day to put up with my shenanigans. I appreciate you.

So, for spring break, my wife, my youngest, and I went to the Pacific Northwest for a bit of an active vacation. Awe man… I love it up there. To be able to Mountain bike one day on tight grippy trails and then snowboard the next day in deep deep snow, is an amazing experience. We visited some friends in Bellingham Washington, which if you don’t know, is practically in Canada. Mount Baker is a 10,000-foot mountain that basically starts at sea level. That’s very different from around here. But anyway, we got a powder day at Baker and then went south to Mount Hood in Oregon and got another powder day. My blessed boarding season continues. Considering COVID and the late start to the snow, I’ve hit practically nothing but powder days between there, Steamboat, and Snowy Range. But….. that’s neither here, nor there.

I realized recently that I’ve been a bit remiss about thanking some of my subject matter experts. And since this show is built on their expertise, that’s not good. The last episode was on the new telework policy and I got all my info from our very own Jenny Wacker, a Project Manager for A&I, with whom I regularly work.

I also did an episode on the new Ambulance Insurance being offered through EGI, which of course means the subject matter experts were my usuals down there… Karyn Williams and Pam Unruh. Finally, I did an episode on the employee assistance program and I want to thank Amanda Santee for helping me out with that information. Thanks to everyone who has helped me in all the episodes!

Ok… I should probably get to today’s subject, eh? Today we are going to talk about a slew of Cigna health goodies. (music)

What do I mean by a slew of health goodies? Well, it turns out that the State of Wyoming actually offers a ton of services for our mental and emotional health through Cigna. It seems we even have access to another Employee Assistance Program through them. The State has an interest in keeping us both physically and mentally healthy, as it costs the health plan less down the road, so hopefully, we have lower premium increases as well. I don’t think many people understand that Cigna runs the health plan and provides resources, but the State pays out the claims. So, any savings benefits the State. So, in essence, the healthier we are, the better the health plan does, which in turn, saves us money.

So, as far as these goodies go, some are free, and some behavioral visits with a professional, virtually or in person, would be run through your health plan just like a doctor visit.

Before I get too far, I do want to thank my subject matter expert, Alice Burron, who is the State’s go-between for all things Cigna. While you can read all about this in the below resources, if you really want to know more about this stuff, Alice is your person. Thanks, Alice.

Ok, so they’ve lumped the “slew” into 5 categories: Virtual Counseling, Emotional Health and Well-Being, Mental Health, Substance Use, and Coaching and Support. I have linked a “resource guide” in the show notes that goes over the highlights of these areas. So, basically, they are covering everything outside of physical problems. These are services geared toward your emotional and mental health. This is anything from software to help with happiness, to the ability to text with a mental health provider, to help with your finances, to autism coaching to help with your child. … and everything in-between.

I’ve linked resources to most of these areas in the show notes.

The resource guide basically goes over everything that is available. Let’s take a look at it real quick.

This is the guide. Cigna calls it their “behavioral programs.” As I said before, they group things into 5 areas, or 5 buckets, if you will. Virtual Counseling, Emotional Health & Wellbeing, Mental Health, Substance Use, and Coaching and Support. So then we go into more detail on these areas.

The first is Virtual Counseling. The idea here is you can receive behavioral health care without leaving the home. We have access to over 44,000 clinicians and can schedule virtual appointments with them to discuss a wide range of issues. They also have new options such as text therapy and Talkspace, which is a service they give us access to.

Next is Emotional Health and Well-Being. These items are at no additional cost to us. We can get up to 3 free sessions with a licensed clinician in the EAP network. View on-demand seminars, get access to loads of resources. Again, you can find support for a wide range of topics that you can see here. And then we have access to a couple of self-service tools. iPrevail will tailor a program to your needs and connect you with a peer coach, while happify can help you reduce anxiety, stress and boost overall health.

Next is Mental Health. Cigna can help you find support when you need it. From inpatient and outpatient services to online tools, behavioral coaches, and educational support. They provide coaching and support in areas such as autism, eating disorders, and support for parents and families. They also provide free monthly seminars on these topics and more.

The next area is Substance Use. Again, they can set us up with inpatient and outpatient services, online tools, behavioral coaches, and educational support.

The last bucket of services is Coaching and Support Services. As you’ve heard, you can get coaching across all of these areas. Any of the topics or issues mentioned and unmentioned can be helped with our access to behavioral expert coaching.

Ok, so that is the digital resource guide. You probably noticed that there is a lot of crossover with the services offered. The bottom line is that there are a bunch of different ways to get help with our behavioral issues.

Now let’s look at what’s available on the myCigna website. Please keep in mind that they update the website regularly, so the details may have changed by the time you watch this. Just keep looking around, you’ll find the stuff.

When you log into my.cigna.com you will see this page. The two areas of the site that we are talking about today are the coverage and wellness tabs. Under the coverage tab, we will look at the Employee Assistance Program section, and then we will look at the goods under the wellness tab.

So under coverage, let’s click on the EAP. This is where you will find all of the things that you can get assistance with. This is confidential and at no cost to us. Just like the other EAP we have access to, this will support us in the areas of Emotional Health and Family Support, Home Live Referrals, Financial and Legal Assistance, and Job and Career Support.

The site is a bit off right now. Wyoming employees actually don’t have access to the chat with us feature. So, you can click here to schedule a call with an EAP consultant. There are also links to resources on this page and you can start up Happify or iPrevail here at the bottom.

Ok, let’s check out the wellness section now. Hover over wellness and select wellness home. You will see that the wellness section is about more than just mental and emotional health. Although all the physical stuff will help with your mental well-being as well.

Ok, let’s click on stress, as that will take us to the mental health area. You can see here that you can once again sign up for Happify and iPrevail here. There’s a link to some apps and activities, keeping stress in check, measuring stress, and more.

There’s also an area where you can get some discounts on some fitness things, such as a Fitbit, yoga, and acupuncture. Then below that is a nice repository of resources. Work-Life, coping with stress, mindfulness and meditation, and stress relief.

Again, I would suggest that you look through all these areas as it all helps with our emotional and mental health.

Ok, there you go…. More resources out there for State employees. And while I feel fabulous since I’ve been vaccinated, and still have a job, I know that some of you are dealing with more than I am. So please… look through this stuff. When speaking with Alice I learned that one in four people pre-COVID and now almost half the population after the onset of COVID, are experiencing some challenge in their emotional well-being. So I hope some of these resources resonate with those of you in need. I think Wyoming is even more challenged with the current economic situation. Ya know? We need this stuff more than ever.

Alright, that’s it for today! See you next time on the Subject Matter Minute.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #44 – Telework Policy

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Hello and welcome to the Subject Matter Minute. I’m Matt Nagy… thank you so much for joining me!

So right now we are at the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in the US. That means that a ton of us at the State, that are able, are currently teleworking. Some, like me, were teleworking before COVID, but most of you are probably working under the current emergency telework policy that was put into place when the situation required it. Those that were doing it before the pandemic were working under the guidelines of the previous policy that was created way back in 1999.

Since we are unable to continue to work under an emergency policy forever, and since the previous policy was horribly out of date, A&I and HRD decided that it was time for a fresh, new policy that reflects the current work situations, the culture, and of course the budget realities at the state of Wyoming.

Before I go any further, there is something that I need to make very clear. If you are watching this video on the teleworking website then you have already seen the important note in large type, but if not, to put it simply: “Telework approval is at the sole discretion of the agency head, and is not subject to appeal or grievance. Telework is not an expressed or implied employee right or benefit, but a staffing and work arrangement at the sole discretion of management.” (disclaimer stamp)

This means that even if your position and your temperament are perfect for teleworking, it’s still up to management, and if they simply don’t like the idea of teleworking, you are out of luck. I mean, you can keep asking, but……..

Having said that, let’s briefly talk about the policy and highlight the changes that are in it. First of all, the new policy removes the 3 day limit on teleworking. A qualified state employee can now work 5 days a week remotely. (of course, only if that works for the agency and the manager) (disclaimer stamp) Secondly, the need for an MOU (or memorandum of understanding) with the AG’s office has been removed, as there is now an agreement in the PMI system. The policy used to only be for permanent employees, while now it also includes probationary employees. And finally, the old agreement expired every 2 years, while this one remains in effect indefinitely.

Ok, let’s get into the process as it’s laid out in the policy.

But first, let me show you where everything related to the policy can be found. Go to the A&I website, click on “For State Employees” and then on “Telework Wyoming.” Beneath our beautiful new telework logo you will find the approval process. These are the steps required to begin teleworking.

Step #1 is inquiring. If you are interested in teleworking in any fashion, talk to your manager. Don’t forget the disclaimer. (disclaimer stamp)

Step #2 is reviewing and understanding the actual policy. You can access the policy right here. You can ask questions of your manager, or your agency HR Representative.

Step #3 is on the manager. They (or you as a manager) have to evaluate and decide. We have created a couple of simple flowcharts to help the manager decide if both the position and the individual in the position are eligible for remote work. Of course…. No matter what the flowcharts “say,” the decision on eligibility is still entirely up to management. (disclaimer stamp)

The next step could be a denied request. While a manager does not have to explain the reasons for the denial, it would be best if a discussion occurs so the employee understands why the position or the employee doesn’t meet the selection criteria.

The next step could also be an approved request. If it’s approved then the manager contacts an HRD representative to sign up the employee for the required ETS training. At this point, there are 3 required courses. This is also a good time to explore the Telework toolkit that you can see here. There is additional training, best practices, and other resources available on that page.

Step #6 is putting together the required documentation. There are several documents and certificates from the ETS training that will need to be uploaded by the supervisor into the PMI system. Once this happens, the supervisor notifies HRD and the employee is assigned a telework agreement.

The telework agreement is in the PMI system. I’m not going to go through that process in this show, but we will create another video showing the steps involved. It will be very similar to most processes that you experience in the system.

Ok… once that’s done, the employee begins working according to the telework agreement.

I previously mentioned that this agreement remains in effect indefinitely, and it does… but, like everyone else, managers will review the performance of teleworkers during the regular PMI phases.

This might be a good spot for another disclaimer. Management can revoke the employee’s telework agreement at any time, for any reason. Or… for no reason at all. I guess that means that if you are allowed to telework, and you enjoy it, enjoy it while it lasts. (chuckle)(disclaimer stamp)

Ok, that’s it folks. Teleworking at the state of Wyoming has gone mainstream and more people that are able can do it. Talk to your manager if you are interested.

Thanks for joining me on the subject matter minute, I’ll see ya next time.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #43 – Prepping for the Evaluation Phase

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! I know I did. Just hanging with my immediate family was definitely different than usual, but it sure was relaxing. No scary driving, no deciding which family to visit, no drunken uncles to deal with…. So relaxing.

But, unfortunately, now it’s back to work. And part of our work here at the state is the Performance Management Initiative. Whether you love it or hate it, PMI is something we all have to take care of as state employees.

Today I want to talk about Prepping for the Evaluation Phase.

Before I dive in, I want to thank my subject matter expert, Brenda Kelly-Mitchell of HRD. She is the Jedi Master and I a mere Padawan. (chuckle…. I have to admit, I’m not a StarWars geek, I had to look that up.)

So, hopefully, you have been staying active with the PMI system all year long. I know that most are not, but, I’m telling you, that if you do, it makes it all easier in the end.

There are 3 things that you should be doing year-round and that you should definitely do now, in preparation for the evaluation, if you haven’t. 1. Get feedback into the Saba Talentspace system. 2. Monitor and/or document progress of goals, and 3. Refer to the “rater chart.”

Ok, so getting feedback into the system. As you know, or should know, our PMI software is now called Saba Talentspace. And within Talentspace is a feature called Feedback Central. Feedback Central allows you to receive feedback from your supervisor and your colleagues. It also allows you to give feedback. Now I’m not going to go over how to do that in the system because I’ve already done that in episode #26. So, check that out if you need a refresher after you watch this.

So, what should you put in the system? Has a co-worker thanked you for a job well done? Or has a customer or client commented about your work ethic? Copy those emails or chats into Feedback Central. You can also request feedback from your supervisor when you would like their input. Also, enter your own notes about what you have been working on and how it’s been going. Again, this is why it’s easier to do this throughout the year. But…. think back and get these things in the system.

Supervisors…. Be sure to be reading through your employees’ feedback. This will make it easier to pull the appropriate feedback into the evaluation form. Also, please give your employees feedback. Positive, constructive, whatever, just get it into the system so you know how it’s been going over the evaluation period.

Ok, next is documenting the progress of goals. You should be doing this throughout the year. But again, if you haven’t, get in there now and update them. You can show your progress as a percentage, or you can select a status from a dropdown menu, and finally, you can make comments on the goal. So, if you are having a hard time getting the goal completed because you are waiting on someone else, this is the place to note that. Or if you’ve gone above and beyond the goal… put it in the comments section. Again, I’m not going to demonstrate how to do this in Talentspace because it is also in episode #26.

So the third thing that you should be doing throughout the year, and now, is referring to the “Rater Chart.” If you haven’t seen the rater chart, this is what it looks like. You can access it in the show notes, as well. This is a guide for rating competencies. As employees, the reason you should be referring to it regularly is that it gives you an idea of what to strive for. If you are eager to get a “commendable” in customer service, it helps to know what your supervisor will be rating you on. As a supervisor, you may need clarification on what the different ratings mean. Referring to it regularly can help you re-balance your ideas of where your employees actually are.

A lot of people don’t realize that “meets expectations” is actually good. So rating expectations can easily get out of whack.

The rater chart can help both supervisors and employees manage their expectations of ratings.

I know that the PMI process can be frustrating and even annoying to some. Especially when there is no chance of tying money or any sort of reward to it. But… like I’ve said before… you just need to assume that someday… someday in the distant future… there may once again be some money for raises. So, please take the PMI seriously and try to do it to the best of your ability.

Oh, and, please don’t shoot the messenger.

That’s it for today. Here’s to a better year ahead.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #42 – Ambulance Insurance

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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Subject Matter Minute. I truly appreciate you guys. Sorry this episode’s a bit late or later in the month than usual, but to be honest I wanted to make sure we still had a functioning government in this country after the election. I’m only half kidding.

Two out of the three last episodes have been good news. The other was on leave… so just news, right? I told you about our access to LinkedIn learning, which I truly hope all of you are taking advantage of, and then I covered our new employee assistance program, which also I hope you’re taking advantage of… especially during this pandemic and the crazy election. Today I got some more decent news. Now we’re being offered an inexpensive ambulance insurance plan.

I thought of something I should probably mention here. Kind of sounds like the state is spending more money on these programs. I’m happy to say that that is not true the LinkedIn learning was acquired through the library through a federal covid grant, and the employee assistance program was previously being purchased by several agencies, and we consolidated it and now we’re breaking even on that. The ambulance insurance is optional insurance that we have to pay for. I just wanted to get that out there considering the current financial situation of the state.

If you recall I did an episode not too long ago about air ambulance coverage for us. It was episode 34. Check it out if you want. My conclusion towards the end of the show was that state of Wyoming employees don’t really have to worry too much about getting hit with a high bill. However, it is possible that we could. Besides the costs going up in the industry, every company charges different rates. So here’s the deal… first of all, all ambulance service in the state is out of network. That means that Cigna pays 75 percent after your deductible, up to your out-of-pocket maximum of 2000, and any non-covered amounts. That means that we have to pay our deductible and up to $2000, plus anything that is determined to be over the maximum allowable charge or not covered. These are the unknowns. This is called balance billing in case you’ve heard that term thrown around.

Here’s the other thing… any ambulance ride needs to be deemed “medically necessary” by Cigna, and this is not guaranteed. And of course we have no say whether or not we’re placed on an ambulance when we’re injured… we may not even be conscious. So, if it’s deemed not medically necessary by cigna, you get stuck with the entire bill.

I’m not trying to scare you. I’m not trying to scare everybody… I’m just talking about the possibilities, okay?

So currently one out of ten Wyoming citizens, not just Wyoming state employees but Wyoming citizens, will need a ground or air ambulance ride every year. It’s the large distances between towns that kind of put us above average for this need.

Okay let’s talk about this new ambulance insurance. First of all, it’s only $19 a month for you and your family. This insurance, through a company called MASA, covers everything that your insurance doesn’t, including your deductible. It covers you, your spouse, and any dependent children up to the age of 26. It covers you anywhere in the US and Canada. Finally, the insurance will cover any ambulance ride that your insurance, or Cigna at this point, deems medically unnecessary after the fact.

This insurance is being offered through Employees’ Group Insurance, which means that you can sign up through the portal. Also, we are currently in the open enrollment period (when this video aired) so you can sign up right now, and you can ONLY sign up during the open enrollment period. I’ll remind everyone how to do that right now…

You can either go directly to egiportal.wyo.gov or you can also find it on the A&I website by going to the home page, going to employees group insurance, scrolling down to “benefit portal” where you will find a couple of videos about how to do stuff… but if you’ve already done stuff, click on employee portal access and that’ll open it up. That’ll bring you into your dashboard. Here you can see ambulance is a tab now. Go ahead and click on “modify benefits” and that’ll bring you to this page where you again have to click over here, on the right, modify benefits.

That will bring you to the change enrollment page where you need to come down here to this drop-down, and select open enrollment because I’m showing you how to do it during open enrollment. Otherwise, you would have to have a qualifying event, but that’s a whole other topic.

Open enrollment… click next. Now what it’s doing is taking you through all these tabs up here on the top. If you need to change things in different areas you can just keep going through these tabs, but for this purpose, I’m going to go straight to ambulance. You have a drop-down here that says decline drop or employee or family. Let’s select family. Then you have to check this box, because you’re going to be doing it for one year, then click next and that takes you to the next tab which is disability.

What I’m going to do is go to the next thing you would have to do if you were only doing ambulance coverage. You need to go to dependents. That brings you to the page where your dependents are listed. You can see right here that Little Wayne says “no” under ambulance. You need to go to edit so your dependents come into this page, and click ‘cover dependent on ambulance plan.’

Now you can see that Little Wayne has the ambulance coverage. So once you do the ambulance tab and the dependents tab, if you have dependents, if you’ve chosen family, then you can go to next. That will bring you to the summary which shows you all the stuff. Then you click this… you accept all this red stuff, and then you click submit.

That’s the new ambulance insurance offered by the state. I think our family is going to do it just for that peace of mind aspect. You know your medical bills are going to be pretty high if you’re getting an ambulance ride or especially an air ambulance ride, so at least this shaves off the cost of the actual ride.

That’s it for today! You guys have a great month, and I’ll see you next time.