G-A M~OO PI Eer ( /;). A Publication of the Georgia Merit System Volume I, Number 2 May 15, 1998 A Forum for Georgia Government Leaders Information Technology Survey Shows Critical Staff Shortages The difficulty state government has with filling information technology positions may be only slightly greater than the difficulty experienced by the private sector job market. But, the industrywide shortage is hardly a consolation for agencies as they try to compete for a limited pool of qualified applicants and solve the year 2000 problem at the same time. The results of a January 1998 Georgia Merit System survey of 18 state agencies (eight large and 10 medium to small) show that the inability to ftil information technology positions with qualified staff is critical. Of the eight large agencies nearly one quarter of existing positions in key IT jobs are now vacant. And, these agencies predict IT staffing needs will increase by about 58 percent over present levels. This prediction is in line with the trend of the IT industry to grow faster than qualified employees are becoming available. Because of the increased complexity of computer program tasks, the level of education and quality of training required has been rising. The 1998-99 U.S. Department of Labor's Occupations Outlook Handbook projects that computer scientists, computer engineers, and systems analysts will be the three fastest growing occupations through 2006; computer and data Managing tip Make a list of all the employees you feel are eligible for promotion. If you find that your agency/division doesn't have enough workers worthy Of promotion, you either have an unsatisfactory hiring system or an inadequate training and development program. processing services will be the fastest growing industry. Agency managers indicated that staff shortages and turnover create problems in launching initiatives and upgrading IT services. Four of the agencies surveyed said that shortages could cause difficulty in maintaining basic services and continuity of operations. Again like the private sector, state agencies are following the industry trend and using contract workers to develop and maintain their systems. The survey showed that agencies are using contract workers more than they would like-by three or more contract workers to one agency employee. In rating strategies patterned after private sector practices for recruiting and retaining an IT workforce, managers rated the ability to make on-the-spot recruitment and hiring decisions and preapproval to hire at salaries above the pay grade midpoint as critical. The ability to tailor job descriptions and offer flexible pay options (such as individual bonuses, team bonuses, tuition reimbursement, or special pay for acquiring critical skills) were rated as critical to important. Other strategies, such as flexible work environments, the ability to hire on a project basis, the ability to offer in-house training and certification, the ability to recruit through intern- ships, and the ability to develop a pool of IT employees to be shared among agencies on a project basis, were rated as important to desirable. 2 viewpoint Good Reviews for Discipline Without Punishment Process Increasing Air Quality Awareness By Commissioner Wayne Shackelford Georgia Department of Transportation Air quality issues are on our radar screens in a big way these days. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards are not being met in the Atlanta region with respect to ground-level ozone. Conformity with these standards is essential, yet Atlanta is not able to conform. What can we as agency heads do? Support and encourage air quality awareness. The Clean Air Campaign, the Clean Air Coalition, Commute Connections, the Clean Air Force, the American Lung Association, and many other groups have educational materials that you can obtain and provide to your employees. The more information people have, the more they can make informed decisions about when and how to travel. Carpoolillg, vanpoolmg, arid'usmg public transportation are obvious ways to improve air quality and decrease congestion. In addition, there are other useful tools, such as teleworking, working at remote work sites, teleconferencing, and using a compressed work week that can help the region achieve its air quality goals. Georgia DOT has had a teleworking policy and program in operation for about two years now, and we have recently made our teleworking manuals available via the Internet. Both the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Planning Office of the Georgia DOT can assist you in obtaining air quality materials. An educated workforce can accomplish great things, and state government has a large workforce in the Atlanta region. We must take a leadership role in increasing air quality awareness and being apart of the solution. Several state agencies have been using the discipline without punishment method for managing poor-performing employees for about a year, and the reviews are good. "We have had good feedback from our mangers and supervisors;' said Deborah Moore, assistant personnel director for Pardons and Paroles. "Our documentation is much better than it was, and this has helped us with our discipline actions. Mangers have more confidence in doing a disciplinary session because everything is written down." Ms. Moore said their agency integrated the discipline without punishment concept with the Performance Management Process because of the overlap in coaching. For both, coaching by the manager is an essential component. In discipline without punishment as in the Performance Management Process, the first step is coaching employees to make sure they fully understand what is expected and that they know it is their responsibility to deliver. Ms. Moore said that coaching is not a "tell me your troubles" session-that's counseling, which has no part in discipline without pUnishment. (Employees with personal difficulties can be referred to appropriate counselors.) In addition to making performance expectations clear and providing the employee with the training necessary to meet expectations, she said coaching also involves ensuring that the employee gets the feedback necessary to know exactly how well or how poorly he or she is doing. Ms. Moore emphasized that in both discipline without punishment and the Performance Management Process, the manager and the employee together look at ways to eliminate lapses in the employee's performance. However, if employees do not reach an acceptable behavior level with coaching, the first formal step in discipline without punishment is the oral reminder. The oral reminder takes the place of the oral reprimand in the progressive discipline procedure. "There is a real distinction between a reprimand and a reminder," said Sam Clonts, personnel analyst for the Office of the Secretary of State, another of the five agencies already established in the discipline without punishment procedure. "A reminder is supportive of the employee, and this is frequently the point at which an employee can be recovered. Continued on page 4 Getting the Job Done Without Getting in a Car Air quality is a growing concern for metro Atlanta and may eventually become a concern in metropolitan areas statewide if we continue to use our automobiles. the way we do. Governor Miller has asked that metro Atlanta agencies [md ways to help reduce Atlanta's excessive summertime ground-level ozone. Because automobiles are the major contributor to ozone increases, the Governor specillcally asked that agencies reduce single-occupancy vehicle use by 20 percent between May 1 and September30. It's during this time that VOCs (solvents, coatings, fuels, adhesives, vegetation, and other smells), NOx (combustion of wood, coal, natural gas, gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.), and weather (high temperatures, low winds, and sunlight) combine to produce increased ground-level ozone, which is a component of smog. 3 Telecommuting In addition to carpooling, public transportation, and alternate work schedules, telecommuting is gaining wider acceptance as a means of reducing the number of vehicles on the road. One in four Fortune 1,000 companies now has a formal program for employees who regularly telecommute either part time of full time, according to a July 1997 KPMG Peat Marwick study. The study predicts the number will double by 2000. Local, state, and federal governments are developing-or have developedtelecommuting programs. As a result of Gov. Miller's request that state and local agencies participate in the Environmental Protection Division's Voluntary Ozone Action Plan, Fulton County now has 200 employees involved in telecommuting. And, in preparation for meeting air quality standards, the Georgia Department of Transportation has had teleworking guidelines in place since 1996. At the federal level the General Services Administration has created the Interagency Telecommuting Program with the goal of getting 60,000 federal employees involved in telecommuting by the end of 1998 and 160,000 by 2000. Videoconferencing Instead of getting in your car and traveling to Atlanta (or another city in Georgia) to a meeting, a conference, or a workshop, state employees have had the benefit for several years of using GSAMS (Georgia Statewide Academic and Because automobiles are the major contributor to ozone increases, the Governor specifically asked that agencies reduce singleoccupancy vehicle use by 20 percent between May 1and September 30. Medical System). GSAMS is a two-way videoconferencing medium that allows participants in as many as 16 locations to see and hear one another as if they were in the same room. The GSAMS network, which is managed by DOAS, now has more than 400 locations around the state at colleges, universities, technical schools, public schools, correctional institutions, state offices, and other locations, such as Zoo Atlanta. Almost every state employee is near one or more of these locations. GSAMS was initially set up for distance learning and is being used successfully in that capaCity by many agencies. However, agencies are also using it more and more as an expeditious means of carrying out administrative functions. For example, the GwinnettlRockdale/ Newton Community Service Board, Rockdale Center recently used GSAMS videoconferencing to discuss and plan training for its employees. The Disability Adjudication Section of the Department of Human Resources is experimenting with holding hearings using GSAMS. A number of hearings over a three-day period were conducted by videoconference in March. Telecommuting and videoconferencing can get the job done without putting autos on the road and adding to air pollution problems. And, even if you are in an area of the state not yet threatened by ground-level ozone, they can save your employees time and the state money. newsbriefs A Bureau of Labor Statistics study released in December 1997 predicts that the U.S. labor force, defined as people either employed or looking for work, will grow by 15 million workers between 1996 and 2006 to a total of 149 million workers. Compared with the working population in 1996, the 2006 workforce is projected to have a slightly higher proportion of women (47 percent, up from 46 percent in 1996), more workers of Hispanic origin (nearly 12 percent, up from 10 percent), more African-American workers (12 percent, up from 11 percent), and more workers ofAsian or other descent (5 percent, up for 4 percent). White non-Hispanic workers will continue to form the majority of the workforce in 2006, but by a somewhat smaller margin (73 percent, down from 75 percent). The study, Labor Force 2006, appears in the agency's November 1997 Monthly Labor Review. Read it on the Web at http://www.stats.bls.gov: .. President Clinton established in March a National Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities to develop federal policy that would reduce employment barriers encountered by 30 million disabled working-age Americans. The task force is chaired by Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and includes other cabinet members. The first of four reports is due Nov. 15, 1998.The final report is due July 26, 2002, which is scheduled to coincide with the 10th anniversary of implementation of employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. See:http://library.whitehouse.gov/. A new procedure for handling discrimination charges reduced the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) backlog of pending charges from 79,448 in 1996 to slightly more than 64,000 in 1997.The EEOC also cut back the average time it takes to process and resolve discrimination charges from 379 days to 358 days. Because the agency increased the number of direct suits and interventions to 296 from 150 the previous year, the amount of monetary benefits recovered by EEOC for victims through litigation more than doubled-from $51.2 million in 1996 to $112.1 million in 1997. Monetary benefits recovered for discrimination claimants prior to litigation jumped from $145.2 million to $176.7 million in 1997, according to statistics released by EEOC. Discipline Without Punishment Continued from page 2 Unlike progressive discipline, discipline After their managers' initial training without punishment is a positive Ms. Moore said the agency formed an program because you are trying to implementation team made up of the recover the employee." EEO coordinator, the personnel director, Like several of the agencies now using the director of training, several directors discipline without punishment, (Forestry, and first line supervisors, and several DOAS, Georgia Merit System, in addition employees. to the Secretary of State's Office and "Agencies are encouraged to the give Pardons and Paroles), Ms. Moore said the discipline process a unique name. We their agency's training in the concept called ours the Employee Discipline and was with Dick Grote. Grote developed Decision Process," she said. the approach in 1977 to replace progres- Their implementation team decided sive discipline while he was employed in how the matrix of policies and proce- human resources at Frito-Lay. Frito-Lay dures would look and how long the had found that the adversarial, labor vs. reminders would be active. management mentality of progressive After the oral reminder, the next step discipline frequently resulted in employ- is the written reminder. Here again, the ees sabotaging the company rather than manager sits down with the employee in in developing employees committed to a positive face-to face encounter and performing well. discusses the behavior that is unaccept- able. But this time the manager summarizes the conversation in a written reminder, which is given to the employee. Step three is decision-making leave. This is a one-day suspension with pay during which the employee decides if he or she wants to perform acceptably or quit. If the employee returns and still doesn't meet expectations, then he or she is terminated. "Managers are reluctant to enter the formal disciplinary process. It is probably the hardest part of their jobs," Mr. Clonts said. "But managers fmd discipline without punishment (we call ours the Positive Performance Program) easier in later stages because they have done all steps and they know that the employee has had the opportunity to improve." Georgia Merit System Suite 502, West Tower 200 Piedmont Avenue Atlanta, GA 30334 EXECUTIVE VISION Published quarterly by the Georgia Merit System Dana R. Russell Commissioner }udyWHall Editor Submissions are welcome and should be sent to }udyW Hall Georgia Merit System Suite 502, West Tower 200 Piedmont Avenue Atlanta, GA 30334 Tel: 404-657-0376 Fax: 404-656-5979 Email: www.jwh@gms.state.ga.us