Ubits September 2016

Ubits September/October 2016

Making a good impression

WELCOME COMMITTEE

New hiring process coming soon

Oct. 19-30 H.U.G.S Drive

Hats, underwear, gloves and socks.

Benefits HopeSparks Family Services

In this issue

With a new hiring process about to roll out, Human Resources hopes to make first day jitters a thing of the past for both new employees and hiring managers.

HR plans to make everything that happens from the time a new employee accepts a job to the time they complete their training easier. The reasons for the change are twofold: engaging new employees and improving internal processes.

Research says

The joint project between HR and IT started with research through the City’s continuous improvement initiative. They went straight to the source – new employees and hiring managers – to find out what in the hiring process needed to change.

While the goal is that each new employee has a consistent “onboarding” experience, research showed that rarely happened.

Page 2

Q & A with Heather Huller

Page 3

The reason? Workgroups have been left on their own to figure out how to prepare for and bring new employees on board. Some departments were ready with a plan, computer and phone, account access, business cards, training, introductions and a desk; others were not.

“First impressions matter to new employees, and the City hasn’t always given a good one,” said Ben Thurgood, a continuous improvement analyst with the City. “Many new employees expressed that when they arrived, their workgroup was struggling to get ready for them. It was a discouraging, disorganized experience, where their new manager didn’t know how to use them and didn’t have the tools in place for them to get started.”

New employees weren’t the only ones with complaints about onboarding.

Community Connection

Continued on page 7

Page 6

Annual watershed hunt

Q&A with Heather Huller Emergency Management Program Manager

In June, TPU and about 100 other agencies from across the Northwest participated in the multi-day Cascadia Rising exercise, which simulated the aftermath of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and coastal tsunami.

Q A

What did TPU do well during the Cascadia exercise?

It was evident during the exercise that employees are well trained and versed in the utility’s procedures, and they know how to use the tools we have in place. For example, we were able to prioritize restoration and response plans and mobilize teams to fictional outages within two hours using the outage management system. During that same short time frame, Generation engineers assessed all of the facilities at the main campus and the dams. Tacoma Rail did an excellent job coordinating and communicating with the Port of Tacoma about damage to rail systems. We also had good interaction with city and county emergency centers through our liaison officers. They coordinated activities and information sharing between external agencies and TPU.

QA

Where do we need to improve?

There are a lot of areas we identified as opportunities of improvement. A main focus now is to develop an incident command system structure that works well with the National Incident Management System, while also keeping TPU’s organizational setup in place. The goal is to have universal processes, reporting and language when it comes to incident command systems. It’s less effective if our command is not set up in the same way as military, police, fire and other emergency responders. We have to be able to plug into large-scale incident response structures, and it will be easier to do that if our command is built the same way. Another thing we need to work on is developing our relationships with

Pg. 2

city and county emergency managers to ensure our emergency reporting, communication and priorities are consistent.

Q A

What’s next for TPU in terms of emergency management?

We have a good sized to-do list.

For all employees, an ongoing training program will be established.

We’ll cover employee roles, responsibilities, expectations and the incident command structure during emergencies. It will also have a component to teach about family and home emergency preparedness. For utility planning, we have three levels to work on: a comprehensive emergency

“It was evident that TPU employees are very good at their jobs, know what to do, and how to apply their day-today work and knowledge to resolving an emergency.” response plan for all of Tacoma Power, finalization of TPU’s Continuity of Operations Plan – a document that outlines how we maintain business operations during a disaster – and a utility-wide recovery plan. We also need to incorporate our vulnerability assessments into federal documents so that we’re ready to request federal grant funding and reimbursements in an emergency.

QA

What surprised you about the event?

Typically during exercises like this, there’s a lot of pushback from employees. They want to do real world work and not participate. I was pleasantly surprised that we had so many engaged employees who took the exercise seriously. They were committed and gave all they had to the exercise. It was evident that TPU employees are very good at their jobs, know what to do, and how to apply their day-to-day work and knowledge to resolving an emergency. The drill was a great confirmation that employees know their role in restoring our utility after an emergency.

Q A

What have you heard from other agencies that participated?

We received great feedback from Pierce County. They appreciated the amount of participants we had and the extensive planning that went into our simulation. The county was impressed that we were consistently able to complete our Incident Action Plans – a report that tells other agencies what’s happening with our assets, resources and systems, and what we’re working on until the next report is released.

It’s time for TPU’s annual United Way of Pierce County campaign! Each September, TPU provides employees with the opportunity to donate money to any 501(c)3 nonprofit of their choice through the United Way. The agency is focused on helping employed people who struggle to make ends meet. Despite having a job, about one-third of households in Pierce County are unsure whether they’ll be able to put dinner on the table each night. Another 12% of households

live below the poverty line. TPU has partnered with United Way to help end the cycle of poverty in Pierce County.

If you have a City email address, you will receive an individualized, secure logon and password by email on Wednesday, Sept. 21. You can use that to make your pledge to the community through the United Way. Employees who do not have City email will receive paper pledge forms.

Community Connection

TPU’s United Way Campaign runs from Sept. 21 to Oct. 12

Campaign happenings KICKOFF

Be on the lookout for smiles, cheer, coffee, breakfast treats and healthy snacks as you enter the main campus and Water Distribution buildings on Wednesday, Sept. 21, from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m.

OCT. 12: BASKET RAFFLE DRAWING

PRIZE PATROL WEDNESDAYS

OCT. 12: CELEBRITY WAITERS NIGHT

Wear your Live United T-shirt and jeans each Wednesday throughout the campaign. If the Prize Patrol spots you, you’ll get a prize.

Buy tickets throughout the campaign for $1, then come see if you won. The drawing will be held at 3 p.m. in the Auditorium (need not be present to win).

Turn the tables! Stop by the Swiss Restaurant & Pub between 5 and 7 p.m. to get served by your favorite TPU personality.

Cash tips benefit the United Way.

Pg. 3

bits & pieces New performance metrics report released The Public Utility Board and executive management team asked for a quarterly high-level, visual report to show how TPU is performing in key areas. The report recently made its debut.

What did it reveal? It shows the utility stands out in the areas of service reliability, competitive rates, energy savings and environmental responsibility.

“The report has done its job in highlighting TPU’s positive stories and employees’ good work,” said Deputy Director of Administration Jim Sant, who presented the report to the Board. “It also indicates there are some areas meriting further attention, including employee safety.”

To learn more about TPU’s performance, watch Newsline for a link to the full report.

Pg. 4

Tacoma Rail cleans up its fleet with grant Tacoma Rail recently welcomed home a locomotive that was sent out for an environmentally friendly makeover.

The new, $2 million locomotive has up to 65% lower emissions than the original locomotive and will save the railroad about 25% in fuel costs.

Part of the funds for the locomotive came from a matching fund grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Locomotive Repower Program.” It’s similar to the vehicle program “Cash for Clunkers.” Older, less-efficient engines are permanently destroyed by drilling a hole through them, in exchange for more efficient models.

“The old locomotive was an ugly, dirty thing,” said Rail Superintendent Dale King.

“Even though it was 59 years old and required increased maintenance costs to run, we wouldn’t have been able to replace it without the EPA’s financial help.”

Access to the grant was possible because of another partnership – one with the Port of Tacoma. As part of its Repower Program, the EPA had grant money specifically for ports. With a 20-year operating agreement in place between Tacoma Rail and the port, the railroad qualified for the funds when the two organizations jointly applied.

“This was a great way for the Port and Tacoma Rail to undertake a project where we both share in the benefits,” Dale said.

“We received money to help reduce the costs for locomotive improvements, which in turn, helped the Port get closer to meeting their emission reduction requirements.”

Fleet facts 16 locomotives: ■

■

1 2 dedicated to switching in the Tideflats 4 used to haul trains through the hilly terrain of the Mountain Division

T otal horsepower: 35,300 (that’s the engine power of 71 semi-trucks) verage age of fleet: 27.5 years A (some are as old as 48) F uel use: 373,000 gallons (that’s a third less than it was 10 years ago) T otal cost of locomotive fleet: More than $13.5 million

READY TO RUMBLE

Tacoma Water releases seismic vulnerability assessment When it comes to withstanding and recovering from earthquakes, Tacoma Water has a game plan, and is ready to share it. Called the seismic vulnerability assessment, it analyzes how earthquakes could impact Tacoma Water’s infrastructure and disrupt the supply of safe drinking water to its nearly 99,000 customers.

The seismic report is a portion of Tacoma Water’s full vulnerability assessment completed in early 2016.

The complete assessment, which analyzes the risk from natural and man-made threats, will not be released for security reasons.

The work revealed a surprising fact: About 57% of the risk to Tacoma Water’s system comes from earthquakes. With that in mind, the utility will focus on making high priority seismic improvements at several key facilities in the immediate future. From there, Tacoma Water will

strategize and plan long-term fixes that could include replacement of major transmission pipelines, enhancements to in-town water supply, installation of seismically resilient pipes and development of secondary water supply for outlying service areas.

Watch Newsline for a link to the seismic report.

“ We’ve been waiting a long time for a feature-rich product like TiVo.”

Click! adds TiVo to product offerings As customers move toward online streaming services for entertainment, the cable industry is now offering digital video recorder (DVR) boxes that allow customers to access online content and traditional cable programming from the same device. For Click!, the device is TiVO. “We know the landscape for cable TV continues to change,” said Click! Marketing, Sales and Service Manager Carrie Mantle. “We need to be flexible in the products and services we offer in order to retain the customers we have and acquire new ones. If customers want to access online content, we want them to use our equipment to do that.”

Some may remember TiVo as one of the original DVRs, dating back to 1999.

It has since evolved into a high-end, multi-room, Internet-capable DVR with many features: ■ A ccess to streaming services like Hulu, Pandora, YouTube and Amazon.

Record up to six shows at one time.

Store lots of space-hogging high definition recordings on 1 TB hard drive.

■ Auto-record shows based on viewing history and give thumbs up or down feedback.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for a feature-rich product like TiVo,” said Ken Ostrus, a Click! supervisor who is managing the product launch. “It’s the kind of equipment that allows us to compete against the big cable companies. It’s a well-engineered, continually updated product that we couldn’t afford to develop on our own.”

Click! was able to get a partnership with TiVo through its membership in a co-op of small cable companies, who collectively negotiated the TiVo contract. The deal requires that 3% of Click!’s customers sign up for TiVo within 18 months of launching the product. The cost for customers to upgrade to TiVo starts at $19.99.

■ ■

Pg. 5

LUCKY DRAW

Tacoma Water hosting annual hunt in watershed For some, the change from summer to fall means one thing: it’s hunting season. Each year, about 1,300 people apply for a special permit to hunt elk and deer in Tacoma Water’s watershed.

“It is one of the most popular hunts in the state,” said Watershed Operations Manager Bryan King. “It’s considered a trophy hunt because of the large size of the animals’ horns. They are well protected in the watershed and have time to grow and develop into prized animals.”

•

“We have a very special, beautiful place out here, and the event is a great way to share it.”

The hunt started back in 1984 when the utility couldn’t keep up with the high number of trespassers in the watershed. Although the 148,000-acre watershed is surrounded by mountains on three sides and gates and guards on the other, hunters found the risk of a $50 ticket worth it to find a way in. A partnership with This year’s hunt is scheduled for Oct. 22-28.

Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) – which has the authority to impose large fines and bring criminal charges – helped put a stop to most trespassing.

Part of the agreement includes opening up the watershed for a week-long hunt. Tacoma Water administers the event and WDFW manages the licensing and permit process. The number of special permits is based on herd size and health; this year 10 deer and eight elk permits were awarded through a lottery.

Before the hunt, Bryan and a crew of four watershed inspectors post the boundaries of the hunting area, and put together and mail packets to permit winners to explain the rules and provide directions. Once the hunt starts, they check hunters in and out of the gate, patrol the area for poachers and enforce safety rules. They also gather information about harvested animals and help pack them to hunters’ vehicles (animals range in weight from 120 to 600 pounds). Most important to Bryan is teaching the visitors about the watershed and its value.

“I love working on this hunt,” Bryan said. “It’s an exciting time to be in the watershed. We have a very special, beautiful place out here, and the event is a great way to share it. We get to teach people about the watershed, how hard we work to care for it, and why it’s so important to keep it closed to the public. The reception from the hunting community has been fantastic.”

Tre

TAKE A LOOK

New product displays coming to TPU lobby

Pg. 6

Energy Conservation’s product display area in the TPU lobby – called the Energy Savings Center – is about to get brighter.

With a new display, customers will be able to interact with various styles and types of bulbs to learn about each one’s

purpose, energy use, brightness, color temperature and longevity.

A fully functional ductless heat pump will hang in the Energy Savings Center so customers can see it in action. It will simulate how the full heating and cooling system works, giving customers a chance to hear how quietly the units run.

New signs and interchangeable floor displays will provide information about energy-saving programs, offers and

Lin

promotions for renters, homeowners and businesses. The entire space will have the look and feel of Conservation Resource Management’s “We’ve Got A Rebate for That” campaign.

Work will begin this fall.

Watch for it!

Lin

28.

New hiring process continued from page 1 Hiring managers have been responsible for thinking of everything a new employee might need and making individual requests to the various groups who provide those services. That required duplication of efforts.

In and out

Hiring inefficiencies cost the City more than a few days of lost productivity.

The project team estimates it costs about $250,000 a year.

“Early separation points to the fact that something was missing or didn’t go well for the new employee while they were here,” said HR Training Manager Cathy Journey.

“There’s a huge resource and cost component to finding, hiring and training qualified employees, so we want to make sure they stay long-term.”

New ways

• Same start date: New employees will

To help standardize onboarding and give new employees a positive experience, HR will make these changes to the hiring process: • Easier forms: One of two new electronic new-hire forms will serve as a checklist on which the hiring manager selects everything a new employee will need. Once the submit button is pushed, the form will automatically create and send work order requests to the right places so new hires have what they need from day one. Under development is converting the 55 forms new employees have to fill out into electronic forms.

be encouraged to start on the first day of the pay period and attend orientation on their first two days.

• New website and training videos: To help employees get excited and learn more about working for the City, they can watch videos and read about the City, work culture and benefit options.

“Most new employees want to do a good job, be productive and contribute from the start, but our current way of onboarding doesn’t allow them,” Ben said. “The new hiring process will fix that and allow people to be productive as soon as possible.”

The new process will take effect in November.

Who’s new around here

Timothy Berger Treatment plant operator Tacoma Water

Zachary Lane Line electrician apprentice Tacoma Power

Charles Blanchard Utility worker Tacoma Water

Landon Byman Jennifer Collin Ramos James Bozic Brandon Gallagher Supervisor Environmental Specialist Line electrician apprentice Track maintenance worker Tacoma Power Customer Services Tacoma Power Tacoma Rail

Batour Polda Gary Ponciano Travis Nelson Paul Peters Relicensing coordinator Communication systems tech Professional engineer Line electrician apprentice Tacoma Power Tacoma Power Tacoma Power Tacoma Power

DaJuan Smith Utility worker Tacoma Water

Who’s ready to retire Michael Sterling Eric VanCamp Kevin Ward Line electrician apprentice Communications system tech Line electrician apprentice Tacoma Power Tacoma Power Tacoma Power

John Zwosta Telecom engineer Tacoma Power

Sandra Buchanan, administrative assistant with Tacoma Power, retired in September after six years of service.

Alan Hardy, assistant superintendent with Tacoma Rail, retired in June after 12 years of service.

Pg. 7

Tacoma Public Utilities PO Box 11007 • Tacoma WA 98411

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID TACOMA WA PERMIT NO 2

Click! launches new website

Ubits is a publication for Tacoma Public Utilities employees and is provided as a courtesy to retirees.

Jenae Elliott, editor ubits@cityoftacoma.org • (253) 502-8754

Companies like Amazon and Nordstrom have set the bar high for online shopping experiences, and customers expect other websites to aim for it. Click! has done just that with its newly launched website.

“As customer expectations change, which they do rapidly in the technology world, we need to change and deliver,” said Erika Tucci of Community & Media Services, who managed the project.

“Otherwise customers quickly lose trust in us, which translates to them losing trust in what we’re trying to sell.”

Four months of research and user testing helped identify what customers expected to be able to do on the old site but couldn’t, and provided information to help ensure the new site meets their needs.

“The redesign really challenged us to look at how we can do business differently,” said Click! Business Operations Manager Pam Burgess. “We consider ourselves a customer service-oriented organization, and our website is becoming one of the main ways customers interact with us. We had to

respond to that change and ensure the site has the information and function customers are looking for when making a purchasing decision.”

In addition to a new look, the redesigned Click! site has three major changes in response to customers’ expectations: • Easy-to-use design that displays correctly on all devices • Improved function for the site’s most visited page (the “what’s on now” channel guide) • Self-service options that allow customers to troubleshoot, build plans and buy services online “We enhanced the usability of the entire site,” said Click! Marketing, Sales and Service Manager Carrie Mantle. “It’s more interactive and in line with what customers expect and trust online. Whether customers are on a device or computer, it’s a userfriendly, up-to-date experience to visit Click!’s website.”

Check it out at clickcabletv.com.