Yesterday, June 29th, Ellie and I met with Nicki Neal, Director of the Division of Personnel (DOP) and Pat Morrissey, the Human Resource Specialist II leading the ET/WDS class study. We were joined by DHSS Assistant Commissioner Elgee, Miriha Scalf, DPA’s Administrative Operations Manager, and Maritt Miller, the DOP Human Resource Manger that oversees the DHSS Management Services center.
We are now in the final weeks of the Eligibility Technician (ET) and Workforce Development Specialist (WDS) Class Study. Since April, Ellie, the regional managers, and I have been providing feedback on recommendations presented by the Division of Personal on the proposed series and class structure, class specifications, minimum qualifications, job titles, and salary ranges.
The Eligibility Technician and Workforce Development Specialist Class Study is on track and will be completed by June 30, 2010. Over the past 3 months, we have met with Division of Personnel (DOP) staff to review and discuss some of their initial recommendations. It has been a very productive process and every meeting and conversation is an opportunity to provide additional information about the nature of our work to help inform the process. We all hope that the level of involvement we’ve had with DOP and their interest in learning about our work in public assistance will be the norm for future classification studies.
On February first, the Gambell Office plans to fully implement a new system of work that promises to dramatically change the way staff in the office manages the workload demands of one of DPA’s largest and busiest offices. This is the culmination of three months of hard work that relied on the support of staff from across the state.
Over the course of a week in late October, over 35 staff from across the division participated in an event that identified the Gambell Office’s workload demands, the key products of the eligibility process and the critical tasks and functions that create those products. The participants of the weeklong meeting charged themselves with looking at how the business processes at the Gambell Office could be changed to provide clients with what they really want and need: same day interviews; accurate benefits issued in a matter of a few days instead of weeks; a workflow that ensures every step is value-added for our clients, and; manageable workloads for staff. In the simplest terms, the model that evolved out of 5 days of intense work shifts the way work is done from a case management model to a process management system that focuses on the of key functions that go into an eligibility determination.
From Ron Kreher, Chief of Field Services
The first stage of the Eligibility Technician class study should be completed by the end of December or early January at the latest. This initial phase was research and data collection entailing a review of the position descriptions and interviews with the Subject Matter Experts representing each job class in the ET and WDS series in DPA and OCS. Staff from the Division of Personnel’s Classification Section interviewed over 40 staff. While a number of the interviews had to be done telephonically, the classifiers also had many opportunities to have in person interviews that provided a chance to observe our work environment in offices across the state. Several of the SMEs may still be contacted via email with additional questions that will help to further clarify specific roles and duties. As noted by the lead classifier the interviewees were all “admirable representatives of their jobs and agencies”.