Executive vision: a forum for Georgia government leaders, Vol. 1, no. 3 (Aug. 15, 1998)

A Publication of the Georgia Merit System Volume I, Number 3 August 15,1998

A Forum for Georgia Government Leaders

Board Authorizes Change In State Health Benefit Plan

I n a move to preserve the financial integrity of the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), Georgia's State Personnel Board approved a plan at its June meeting to implement regional provider networks for Standard and High Option members.The regional provider network system is scheduled to take effect July 1, 1999.
Merit System Commissioner Dana Russell said that increasing costsfrom both the prices paid for medical care and the rate that employees use medical care-brought about the change. Even though several actions have been taken to improve the financial status of the plan, costs have continued to increase at a higher rate than revenues. Operating losses for fiscal year 1997 were more than $21 million; fiscal year 1998 losses are expected to reach $25 million.
"Losses could escalate well into the hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years if major changes are not made to the system.Without the networks, unacceptably large increases in contributions-by employees or by the state or by both -will be required," Mr. Russell said.
A team of state government leaders and the Coopers and Lybrand consulting firm explored alternative means of maintaining the plan and decided that regional provider networks, often called preferred-provider organizations, were the best solution.
"The state wants to offer employees a better deal that will give them the ability to choose their own provider; and, unlike an HMO, the network arrangement will not restrict

access to specialty care.The Standard and High Option plan will continue to be a fee-for-service plan;' he said.
The new provider network system breaks the state into nine regions. One network contract will be awarded in each region and the selection will be based on quality of providers in the network, accessibility and financial advantage.
Nine regional networks instead of one statewide network will maximize competition and provide members with the best possible access to providers, according to Commissioner Russell.
"However, employees will not be bound to anyone region.They will be able to select network providers in any region they wish.They can also choose care outside the network at an increased cost.The majority of physicians and hospitals in Georgia will continue to be available and at more favorable prices," he said.
More than 407,000 active and retired employees and their dependents now participate in the Standard or High Option portion of the SHBp, which is currently administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia. A single third-party administrator will continue to administer claims for all nine regions.
Almost 139,000 other employees (active and retired) and their dependents participate in one of the four optional managed-care health plans (BlueChoice,Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, and Prudential) offered under the SHBP umbrella and will be unaffected by the change.

2

viewpoint PMTooIs Makes Quick Work of PMFs

Fair Employment Practices As Valuable Today As 20 Years Ago
By Administrator Mustafa A. Aziz
July marked the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1978 (FEPA). During the past 20 years the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity (GCEO)-formerly the Georgia Office on Fair Employment Practices-has had the legal responsibility for enforcing the FEPA.
FEPA affords Georgia citizens equal employment opportunity and safeguards the hiring and treatment of all individuals in public employment from discriminatory practices based on race, sex, age, disability, religion, national origin, or color.
As a member of the Task Force that guided the development of GeorgiaGain, one of my objectives was to protect the equal employment interests of state employees.The signing into law of Senate Bill 635, which amended the Merit System Act and placed all employees hired after June 30, 1996, in the unclassified service, separated newly hired employees from the protection of Merit System Rules and review by the State Personnel Board.
Thus, GCEO became the only Georgia administrative agency (except for the Board of Regents) that could review personnel decisions that were being challenged as discriminatory by nonmerit system employees.
See next column

In years gone by the paper that has been used to track and evaluate the performances of state employees has likely decimated several forests. And, there has always been the problem of fmding space for storage.
While paper volume and storage problems may be improving, it is not because the state has done away with performance evaluations. Much to the contrary. It is because many managers now are handling PMFs electronically.
"There is still some paper involved in the evaluation process, but it is more electronic than it has ever been. I hope it can be completely electronic soon," said Gary Marcum, who coordinates services for District One of the Division of Public Health.
Mr. Marcum and the five supervisors he manages are using the latest version of the PMToois computer program to complete performance evaluations for the 31 employees in the district office.
"PMTools saves a lot of time. It keeps everyIhing you need in a neat little packet;' he said. "There was some trouble transferring the employee's diary to the performance management form in the first version of PMTools; but now that that has been resolved, the diary function will be a great convenience."
However, Georgia was not turning its back on equal opportunity. Governor Miller had further established his commitment to employment equity with the issuance of an Executive Order on May 3,1996, requiring state agencies to comply with all state and federal equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination laws.
In addition to its investigative and . enforcement roles, GCEO also provides speakers, training, technical assistance, and mediation services to state agencies and commissions. We at GCEO respectfully encourage you to take advantage of these services in order to stay abreast of the prevailing law and to have your agency's policies and practices comport accordingly.

Sandra Bruce, a Georgia Merit System employee who developed a training module on the use of PMToois (which was also developed by the Merit System), says the Performance Diary is one of the most helpful functions of the program.
"The diary lets the manager conveniently record performance information throughout the year. Then, when it's time to do evaluations, diary entries can be reviewed or even copied to the PMF," she said.
Ms. Bruce and other Merit System staff routinely conduct PMToois training for managers throughout the state and at the Merit System's training center in Decatur.
As the new manager of the Systems Division ofTeachers, Retirement, Greg McQueen recently participated in PMToois training. He pointed out that the PMToois learning curve is going to be brief for managers because it is so similar to other Windows-based programs.
"PMTools takes some of the cumbersomeness out of the process. I've never had an evaluation tool as automatic as this one;' Mr. McQueen said. "Being able to point and click will make the process go faster."
Before recent cutbacks Lillie Allison supervised 17 employees as director of Social Services at the Georgia Regional Hospital at Savannah.Today her staff consists of eight social service technicians and providers, but supervising fewer people does not make PMToois less valuable to her. In fact, MS.Allison was so convinced of the value of the program that she paid for her first PMToois version out of her own pocket.
"The latest version is a lot easier than the first one. Now there is no trouble expanding boxes, which was difficult in the first one. When I've needed help, the help desk at the Merit System has talked me through

3

Ms. Bruce and other Merit System staff routinely conduct PMToois training for managers throughout the state and at the
Merit System f s
training center in Decatur.

the problem;' Ms.Allison said. "With PMTools I don't need to prepare the evaluations for my secretary to do. I do them myself, which frees up my secretary to do other things. It's easy to update job descriptions, and being able to make quick changes to individual job descriptions is a feature that I have found particularly useful."
The Performance Planner is the core function of PMTools, according to Ms. Bruce. It allows managers to

access whole or partial job descriptions from the state's database of more than 3,000 jobs. In addition, Statewide Responsibilities,Terms and Conditions and any standardized agency responsibilities are automatically included in each plan.
Like Ms. Allison, Mr. Marcum fmds the Performance Planner function helpful. "It is a great aid in setting up a PMF for a new hire. In many instances, a few clicks and you are done," he said.

Internet Becoming Major Recruiting Tool

Five years ago few people were searching the Internet to find the job of their dreams. Today, people in just about every profession, including those in government agencies, use the Internet to look for jobs. Career placement experts predict that in five years 95 percent of job openings will be listed on the Internet.Already, 53 percent of major companies go on line to find job candidates, according to a 1997 survey by the American Management Association.
While newspaper ad responses still outdistance Internet responses (59 percent to 17 percent), personnel managers in both the public and

private arenas are recognizing that Internet recruiting offers advantages over traditional recruiting venues.
Accessibility is the most obvious advantage.The Internet is on 24 hours a day, so even the midnight job hunter has the same edge as everyone else. More people now have access to the Internet at work and at home.And, for those who can't get to the Internet at home or work, more than half of Georgia's 300 public libraries offer Internet access.
The convenience of the Internet is attractive to the passive job hunter as well. Even if employees feel content in
Continued on page 4

newsbriefs
Robert L. "Steve" Stephens,]r., deputy commissioner of the Georgia Merit System, was elected president of the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE) at the July annual meeting held in Napa, California. NASPE is an affiliate organization within The Council of State Governments.
General Stephens, who retired from the U.S. Army with more than 30 years of service, has been deputy commissioner since December 1997. Before coming to the Georgia Merit System, he served four years as West Virginia's Director of State Personnel.
Efforts are under way on Capitol Hill to dissolve the marriage between health insurance benefits and jobs, according to a report in HRWire, a publication for human resource and employee relations professionals.
At least one lawmaker, Rep. Bill Thomas (RCalif.), is drafting legislation to achieve that goal. He calls his proposal "a blend of Medicare and Medicaid-a floor for all Americans so that you have a humanitarian base for health care."
Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.) who has been seeking support for his own health care bill-the Patient Access to Responsible Care Act-says employment-based health care insurance will be a thing of the past in 10 years.
The Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Business (elaws) can be accessed on the Internet at www.dol.gov/elaws. This interactive compliance assistance tool is designed to provide guidance to employers and workers on issues ranging from the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
A recent 50-state survey by The Council of State Governments shows that privatization of state government services increased in the past five years and that a majority of state officials predict it will continue to increase in the next five years.
State transportation agencies led the way with the most services privatized. Administration and general service agencies were next, followed by corrections, higher education and social services. The survey also looked at why states turn over services, costs and arguments for and against privatization.
To order a copy of the survey's summaryPrivate Practices: A Review of Privatization in State Government-published in March 1998, call 1-800-800-1910 and ask for order number S044-9800.The cost is $15.

Internet Recruiting Continued from page 3

their jobs, they may still spend their lunch hour quietly surfing the Net "just to see what's out there."
The geographical exposure that the Internet provides is also a tremendous advantage over traditional means of attracting job candidates. A programmer in Seattle or an analyst in San Jose may read your agency's job posting and decide that an opportunity in Georgia is worth the relocation. Certainly, the Internet increases the reach of and greatly expands the audience for recruiting efforts. Some estimates indicate that 70 percent of active job seekers will find their next job via the Internet.
A recent study conducted by iLogos, an Internet research company, analyzed the results 45 companies

have had with Internet recruiting and found that it reduces recruiting costs, shortens the recruiting cycle and results in higher-caliber candidates.The amount of money spent on newspaper ads, job fairs, head hunter fees and mailing is reduced by using the Internet. Companies are discovering, according to the research, that Internet recruiting can cost 80 percent less than the traditional means of finding employees.
It can cut up to two weeks off the recruiting cycle. Posting jobs is faster; candidate response is faster; resumes are processed faster. One computer hardware company adjusted its recruiting cycle because of the evidence that the best candidates on the market were being hired within five

days of beginning a job search. Given that Internet users tend to be
better educated and more computer literate than nonusers, companies believe that advertising jobs on the Internet allows them to attract higherqualified people who, importantly, are currently employed elsewhere.
Internet recruiting is being adopted most successfully in high-technology industries. Top-achieving computer software companies are receiving up to 70 percent of their applications on line,and one company said its goal is to receive 90 percent on line. For 52 percent of the companies analyzed, the employment page was the most visited page on their Web site after the home page.

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 ]udyWHall Georgia Merit System Suite 502,WestTower 200 Piedmont Avenue Atlanta, GA 30334 Tel: 404-657-0376 Fax: 404-656-5979 Email: jwh@gms.state.ga.us www.gms.state.ga.us