SPRING 2015
EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER
Waste Management staff make safety a habit!
ITS Start Centre
Language Services
Save the date!
Sunnyside Foundation Golf Tournament Monday, September 14, 2015 Rebel Creek - $145 per person Includes green fees, golf cart, lunch, dinner gift and $35 donation receipt To registered email: bschmidt@regionofwaterloo.ca Register early! Last year was sold out!
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
Award recipients at the RAVE Employee Awards for Values Excellence pose for a photo at Knox Presbyterian Church on March 30th.
Employee engagement and feedback In the employee survey you identified employee satisfaction with your supervisor as important. From trust and fairness, to feedback and coaching you made clear how this important twoway communication affects your day-to-day work and your ability to provide services. The survey results show a direct link between feedback from your supervisor and employee engagement. The Region has a variety of tools to support the Supervisor and Feedback driver, including tools to support two-way conversations as well as tools to support feedback and coaching between supervisors and employees. There are new
Food drive at 100 Maple Grove
Staff who work in the lab at 100 Maple Grove Road raised $143 for the food bank in December last year. The 36 employees at the lab also collected 88 lbs of non-perishable food items. It’s worth noting that when everyone in a small group contributes, collectively they can have a big impact when committed to success. Way to go! 2
STEP 4 Sign-off
STEP 1
Inititate PDP
STEP 2
STEP 4
End-of-cycle review and ratings
Establish key responsibilities, Performance & Development goals
STEP 3
Mid-cycle review
resources on the Performance Development Program (PDP) page, accessed under the “My Learning & Development” tab on the HR section of the Portal. Included on the PDP section
are new Management and Management Support PDP forms, Union PDP forms, and a twoway conversation “Tip Sheet and Checklist” to support the conversations. The PDP section also includes a wealth of other resources including the Learning at Work Calendar, Regional Values and Behaviours and the Region’s Core Leadership Characteristics to name just a few – and more resources are in development! Contact your Organizational Development Consultant for more information on these resources or how to initiate affective feedback conversations at work.
Planning inclusive meetings Have you ever wondered how you can make your meeting or event more inclusive and accessible for a diverse audience? What are the potential barriers people might face? How should you approach planning so that your events are inclusive and barrier free? Would a comprehensive resource on planning inclusive meetings help, including a handy inclusive meeting checklist? Some would say it just might! Visit the “Inclusive meeting checklist” page under the Diversity and Inclusion tab on the Portal for all the resources for planning your next meeting.
Population Characteristics
Unique Perspective
Location Characteristics
Personal Characteristics
Work Characteristics
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
What is your role at the Region? As an OD Consultant, I constantly look at situations and ask myself, ‘how can I make this better?’ Specifically, my role is to work with individuals and teams to help them with some aspect of development or performance; this could be everything from coaching to helping adjust to changes in the workplace, or even training new employees.
Who are your clients? Kylie Clarke Organizational Development Consultant (OD Consultant)
I work with Regional employees from T&ES (Design & Construction, Water Services, Waste Management, Transportation, Rapid Transit and Transit Services). Currently, there are four OD Consultants in HR assigned to work with employees from all areas within the organization. To find out who your OD Consultant is, employees can visit the ‘OD Contact Information’ page on the Portal.
What do you want readers to take away from this interview? I think it’s important for all employees at the Region to know that OD Consultants can be a great resource for all kinds of development. We sometimes support our clients in situations where teams, groups or individuals are experiencing a road block of some kind. We might do an assessment to determine the root cause of the challenge and make recommendations on how to solve the problem. From there we are sometimes called upon to help
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
implement strategies to improve the workplace. This can vary from coaching an employee, to setting up training or providing change management support.
Can you tell me about something you are working on right now? In addition to the work I do with my client group, I support corporate employee engagement initiatives. I’m currently the project manager for the RAVE Values Awards. I love reading the nominations for these awards as it highlights the amazing work that is done by the employees at the Region. Working on different projects such as this event provides variety in my role – an important factor in job satisfaction for me. I like to be continually challenged; it keeps the job fresh and interesting.
Can you tell me something about Kylie Clarke that’s not related to your role? I am learning to golf which I would love to say has taught me patience but instead has taught me new ways to deal with frustrations. I love going to new places and this summer I’m headed to the Okanagan Valley where I’ll be sure to fit in a winery tour or two.
3
Passenger traffic at the Region of Waterloo International Airport continues to climb. 2014 was another record-breaking year with 145,508 passengers, a 4.9 per cent increase over 2013. The Airport continues to have a positive impact on the local community providing connectivity, jobs and the ability for businesses to compete globally.
Did you know? • In 2013 the Airport had a $86 million economic impact on the Region* • Non-stop flights depart daily to Calgary with WestJet and Chicago with American Airlines • When you connect through Calgary and Chicago you can travel to an additional 250+ destinations with just one stop • WestJet recently announced an increase in service between YKF and Calgary – an additional 16,780 seats are now available • 25 businesses operate from the airport • 300+ people are employed at the airport including graduates from University of Waterloo and Conestoga College • Over 250 private and charter aircraft are based at the airport providing time-critical services • The Airport is one of the top 20 busiest airports in Canada • The Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre is one of the top three flight training schools in Canada
Fly from home and support your local airport! *A complete copy of the Wilfrid Laurier University 2013 Economic and Social Impact Airport Study is available at www.waterlooairport.ca
FlyYKF @FlyYKF 4
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
Waste Management staff make safety a habit!
From working with heavy equipment, to monitoring waste arriving on site, to managing waste cell expansions; the waste operations and waste engineering staff keep safety at the forefront. Through the Safety Management System process, these two groups have been working diligently to identify safety hazards in their workplaces and the risks associated with hazards. Controls and action plans for jobs with higher risk levels have been implemented and safer practices continue to be established.
Employees at all levels within the Waste Operations and Engineering groups as well as the Joint Health and Safety Committee play an active role in managing safety in their workplace and identifying potential hazards in monthly inspections. Training needs have been established and staff are completing safety training related to their jobs as well as learning to improve health and safety practices in their day-to-day activities. Congratulations to the Waste Management staff on Making Safety a Habit!
ITS Start Centre In Mid-March, Information Technology Services launched the ITS Start Centre, a new resource on the Portal where staff can access self-directed ITS support for many common technology needs. The Start Centre is designed to be friendly and easy to use with clear navigation and helpful instructions with screen shots to help staff solve problems or learn new things. Look for the ITS Start Centre logo on the portal the next time you need ITS support – “ITS easy! Start here first!”
Linda Cole from ITS just prior to the official launch of the ITS Start Centre.
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
New display from the Region’s Children’s Centres
A team from the Region’s Children’s Centres have redesigned the display cases at 150 Frederick Street to highlight some of the ways the Region’s Children’s Centres support children to become strong, independent, life-long learners. The Region operates five child care centres in Cambridge, Kitchener and Elmira. Our centres use a very specialized approach to learning called HighScope. The Region’s centres and staff are fully accredited as HighScope demonstration sites, the only municipally-operated centres in Canada to achieve this status. Children and adults learn best through hands-on experiences with people, materials, events, and ideas. This principle – validated by decades of research – is the basis of HighScope’s approach to teaching and learning. This approach enhances each child’s growth in the foundations of academics as well as in socialemotional, physical, and creative areas. 5
Welcome Connie! I am pleased to announce that Constance Lacy will join the Region of Waterloo on March 2nd as Director, Seniors’ Services within the Community Services Department. “Connie” as she is known, has worked for over 27 years in social, community and health services and has devoted her career to supporting and empowering vulnerable populations. Over the past 17 years, Connie has held a number of senior management roles. Most recently she served as Director of Services for Seniors in Halton Region where she was responsible for three municipal long-term care homes with 572 beds, respite and convalescent care, assisted living, meals on wheels, and adult day programs. During her time at
Halton, Connie was most proud of the best practice initiatives. She and her team implemented palliative and dementia care, Montessori programming, art, music and wellness therapy for the elderly. Connie has completed a degree program in Human Services Management, a graduate diploma in Non-Profit Management and holds a Masters Certificate in Healthcare Management. She
has also completed the OANHSS Administrator’s Certification program and is a certified member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders. Please join me in welcoming Connie to the team and to the Region. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Helen Eby for leading the Seniors’ Services Division as Acting Director for the past 14 months. Helen has been a stable and capable leader and influence throughout the RENEW process. Thank you, Helen for your leadership during this time. Management team transition plans within the Division have not yet been finalized. Stay tuned for further announcements in the coming weeks. Douglas E Bartholomew-Saunders Commissioner, Community Services
Language services at the Region provided at the right time. With that in mind, Citizen Service, in partnership with community members has developed a set of guidelines on the use of interpreters and accessing translation services at the Region. Good communication relies on the service provider and the customer having a shared understanding of the information being provided. For people who are not fluent in English, quality interpretation is essential for good decision-making to ensure the right service is 6
Soft launch The Interpreter and Translation Guidelines will be soft launched with Citizen Service, Waste Management, Licensing and Enforcement Services as well as Children’s Service from March – June, 2015. An assessment of the
Guidelines will take place postlaunch, and Citizen Service will work with program areas to refine the content prior to final approval by CLT and eventual roll-out to the entire organization. What do you need to do? Nothing new for now – unless your area is involved in the soft launch – your current practices and procedures will remain in place until the guidelines are launched in your program area. For more information contact Vanessa Lopak at x3861 or vlopak@regionofwaterloo.ca
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
Talk to me: delivering excellent service through accessible communication
Media training with Trevor Smith Diggins Staff from across the Region that talk to the media met at the Waterloo Region Emergency Services Training and Research Complex, (WRESTRC) to participate in a workshop with Trevor Smith Diggins, a media consultant. Staff from Waste, Community Services, Transportation, Planning, Development and Legislative Services had an opportunity field questions from the ‘media’ on-camera under a variety of challenging situations. Participants were encourage to critique their peers, which resulted in a day filled with valuable lessons and feedback on how to affectively interview for television. Another media training session is being planning for the Fall of 2015. Interested staff should consult with their managers on attending this event early as space is limited. Contact Carl Nattrass for details on cost and registration at 519-575-4757 ext. 3537.
Did you know that 440,000 Canadians live with a communication disability? People with speech and language disabilities face major barriers in accessing even basic services as many people do not understand them or are afraid to talk to them. People with this disorder may have difficulty hearing or being able to speak. A person with a communication disability may or may not also have a developmental disability. When communicating with people with this disability, you need to have your message be openly received, regardless of the communication tool used. Some tips to keep in mind include: 1) Welcome the person by smiling, saying hello and talking directly to them, not the people around them. 2) Give people with communication disabilities enough time to get their
message across. 3) Ask “How may I help you?” and follow their lead. Encourage people to use the communication tools they are most comfortable with (e.g. pointing to items on a picture or letter board) 4) Provide different ways for people to contact you (e.g. telephone, TTY, email, fax, website information) 5) Do not pretend to understand someone if you can’t; if appropriate, move to a quiet area or try another method to communicate. If you have difficulty being understood, apologize and ask them what you can do differently. You will get better at understanding each other over time. For more tips and resources on accessible communication, check out the Accessibility Resource Centre on the Portal.
Community member Gail Brunsdon demonstrates American Sign Language (ASL) to staff at an accessible training session.
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
7
The Region hosted its fourth annual Employee Awards for Values Excellence at Knox Church in Waterloo on March 31. This event provides formal recognition to staff who exemplify the Region of Waterloo values of Service, Integrity, Innovation, Respect and Collaboration. Almost 200 employees were nominated by their peers for living our Regional values, for work they did in 2014. A number of teams and individuals were recognized during the presentation of 10 awards at the event, including a bus operator, a Design and Construction Technician, a Supported Living Coordinator, a Building Operator, and a Housing team.
There was also special recognition given to a large group of employees who worked on the implementation of the provincially mandated Social Assistance Management System – better known as SAMS. This implementation required a huge amount of work from our Employment and Income Support staff, with assistance from Finance, Information Technology Services, Human Resources, Children’s Services, Public Health and Regional Council. The provincial SAMS technology has had a number of unanticipated problems, resulting in delays, negative service impacts, increased staff workload, and lots of stress! Fortunately, we have passionate and dedicated staff here at the Region who have been able to work together to find some innovative solutions.
You can read profiles of all the award recipients on the RAVE section of the portal. All of our nominees have accomplished great things by behaving in ways that exemplify our Regional values. They truly make a difference in our community, and within our organization. By continuing to demonstrate our values, even in challenging times, we will continue to provide excellent service to our community and our colleagues, and we will continue to make Waterloo Region a great place to live, work and play. Congratulations to all our 2014 nominees and winners! Do you have a question for Mike? Send it to connections@regionofwaterloo.ca
Service Review update As you are aware, the Service Review process is well underway. The overall purpose of this review is to ensure the Region’s services provide the best value to the community. The review will look at whether there are ways to provide our current programs and services more efficiently and effectively and/or whether we should consider adjusting the level of service we provide in some areas, to better reflect the changing circumstances in our community. In January and February, staff,
along with the consulting team from KPMG, developed “service profiles” for each Regional service. We also started gathering staff and public input to help inform the Service Review. The service profiles, along with KPMG’s initial observations, will be summarized in an interim report in April. This will be followed by a
staff report to the Administration and Finance Committee in early May. The next phase of the review involves analysis of the information gathered to date, and the identification of “opportunities for improvement” by the consulting team. This will include an initial “long list” of potential improvement opportunities, followed by more in-depth analysis of the five most significant opportunities. Stay tuned for more details.
connections@regionofwaterloo.ca