Calendar
a monthly newsletter for employees Vol 1 | Issue 10 | June 2012
June 28 11th Annual Planning and Budget Workshop – Day 1: Spending Plans Building 4050, Room 101, in Tallahassee
June 30 Deadline to complete annual information security training
June 30 Deadline to complete annual employee evaluations
July 1 New fiscal year begins
July 4 Independence Day
Greetings,
As many of you know, the Department of Management Services contracts with a service provider called NorthgateArinso to maintain the People First system and the People First Service Center. During last year’s Open Enrollment period, more than 5,000 benefit statements were returned to the service provider
due to incorrect addresses in People First.
An employee’s mailing address in People First is used for many different purposes, including the mailing of benefits statements, underpayment notifications, W2s, insurance member identification cards, and other documents related to insurance benefits.
DMS’ People First Team, along with the Division of State Group Insurance and NorthgateArinso, have designed a comprehensive plan to improve the accuracy of an employee’s address in the People First System for Open Enrollment 2012. The first step is the implementation of “address scrubbing.” The service provider has contracted with a certified United States Postal Service (USPS) vendor that will perform both the address formatting and correction process based on an employee’s addresses in People First.
Address formatting will ensure ZIP Codes are correct, apply the ZIP Code plus four, and use the official USPS abbreviations for street suffixes. The correction process compares an employee’s existing address against the USPS National Change of Address database and updates the system with the most current address on file.
A new self-service employee Address Verification process is coming as well. This process consists of a questionnaire that will be presented on an employee’s home page. The questionnaire will ask an employee to verify his or her home and mailing address, and offers a new notification e-mail feature. This “green” initiative will provide another means to communicate to our employees, lessen the dependence on paper, and save the State of Florida tax dollars when an employee elects the notification e-mail as the only means of communication for open enrollment confirmation statements.
Two other enhancements include a new consolidated employee contact information screen as well as front-end system edits, so that only valid city, state, and ZIP Code combinations are presented to the employee to enter.
We are proud of our People First Team for its ongoing effort to continue making Open Enrollment more efficient and effective for those who serve Florida.
Scott Stewart, Interim Secretary
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Employee Spotlight
Q. How long have you worked at DMS? A. Teresa Hatcher: Mike and I both joined the DMS family ten years ago in 2002 when the
Department of Labor and Employment Security was abolished.
Q. What do you do for your division? A. Mike Hatcher: I work in Desktop Support for DMS; Teresa provides staff support for the Billing
Management and Operations sections in the Division of Telecommunications.
Q. What would people be surprised to know about you? A. TH: People may be surprised to know that Mike worked in construction after graduating from
high school, and many folks would not be surprised to know that I like to bake and am very fortunate that my co-workers are (mostly) willing guinea pigs when I try a new recipe.
Q. Do you have any hidden talents? A. TH: One of Mike’s hidden talents is working puzzles. He is really good at wrapping his head
around a puzzle and figuring it out. His favorite are Sudoku puzzles. I have tried my hand at many different crafts over the years – one of my favorites was making copper foil-stained glass pieces. My most recent crafting adventure is making handmade cards.
Q. What do you like best about working for DMS? A. MH: I get to work with, and talk to, many different customers every day, and it is always
interesting.
TH: It’s the people, the people I work with are like family.
Q. What’s it like working for the same agency? What are the pros and/or cons? A. TH: It is wonderful working for the same agency. I have gotten to meet a lot of terrific people
that I may never have had a chance to get to know because I am blessed to be “Mike’s wife” (everyone knows Mike). For me it has been all pros.
MH: Ditto (except for the “Mike’s wife” part).
Q. Do you both drive together in the morning? A. TH: We carpool together every day. It is almost a 45-minute ride each way. If we are not
listening to a book on CD (Louis L’Amour is a favorite), then we talk, or Mike keeps me giggling with his jokes and funny stories. He has a terrific sense of humor.
MH: It is a very great privilege to get to ride to work and back home every day with my wife.
Q. Do you eat lunch together? A. MH: We eat lunch together every day – we brown bag it. Teresa is a great cook and she packs
our lunches and my snacks and coffee. I am spoiled.
Q. How long have you been married? A. TH: We’ve been married two and a half years. We’ve both wished we had met 30 years ago.
We feel very blessed for every day that we spend together.
DMSduos
Office of the Secretary Tallahassee, Fla.
DMS Implements Tornado Plan, Drill Dozens of tornadoes during the last few months in Texas, Alabama, and other states have caused wide- spread damage resulting in scores of businesses and homes being destroyed and hundreds of people being injured or killed. Although there is no clear-cut tornado season in the United States, 2012 is starting off to be a tragic year as people in the Midwest try to rebuild and move forward with their lives after suffering catastrophic loss of property and people.
Tornadoes are not usually associated with the Sunshine State. However, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM), Florida has had more reported tornadoes and more reported tornado-related deaths in the last 20 years than Oklahoma, Nebraska, or Iowa.
To keep employees safe and to ensure that their agency is prepared for a tornado, the Florida Department of Management Services has implemented a written tornado drill policy, as well as conducted a practice tornado drill. The DMS tornado policy informs employees in writing what to do when a tornado warning is issued and will be posted on the DMS website for employees to review.
In addition to the written tornado policy, DMS also implemented its first practice tornado drill in March.
Article courtesy of Deidra Jones, Training Coordinator with the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Risk Management
Photo by Greg Stumpf
Hundreds of people attended the 33rd Annual Police Officers and Firefighters Trustees’ School, hosted by DMS and Florida State University’s Center for Academic and Professional Program Services, which was held last month at the Turnbull Conference Center in Tallahassee.
The program was designed to help keep participating cities, districts, board members, police officers, firefighters, and the public informed about programs and regulations that affect their operations. The participants are made up of police officers, firefighters, board of trustee members, plan sponsors, attorneys, actuaries, accountants, investment advisors, and anyone interested in or involved in the administration of Florida Statute Chapters 175 and 185 pension plans.
All of the speakers, including DMS Secretary Scott Stewart; Kelly Loll, Chief Procurement Officer and Director of State Purchasing; Retirement Director Sarabeth Snuggs; and Ash Williams, the Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of the Florida State Board of Administration; donated their time and expertise to address the participants.
Public Records Refresher As most of you already know, DMS provides excellent customer service, and we pride ourselves on responding quickly to public record requests. In fact, our goal is to acknowledge receipt of every request via email or telephone within 24 hours of receipt, and when possible, fill each request within 24 hours.
Each division has a public records contact (see list to the right). This individual is responsible for acknowledging receipt of the request and ensuring a timely and accurate response. Please refer all requests, whether oral or written, to your division’s public records contact as listed below.
Should you receive an anonymous request, please provide the requestor with the telephone number and/or e-mail address of your division’s public records contact and note the following:
1. VERBAL requests are permissible. There is no legal requirement for a written request.
2. IDENTITY is not required. A requestor may remain anonymous.
3. PURPOSE is irrelevant. A requestor is not required by law to show a valid public purpose.
In summary, do not ask for the requestor’s name or purpose for the request. You may also refer the requestor to the General Counsel’s Office at (850) 487-1082.
Division public records contacts are as follows:
Administration - Edgar Gonesh (850) 410-0205 Communications - Kristopher Purcell (850) 921-5266 DivTel - Jonathan Rakestraw (850) 921-0857 DSGI - Laura Cutchen (850) 921-4593 Florida Commission on Human Relations - Lawrence Kranert (850) 488-7082 General Counsel - Tammy Smith (850) 414-7600 HR (DMS) - Lila Dyer (850) 487-9877 HRM - Mailea Adams (850) 413-9503 IT (DMS) – Sarah Hamilton (850) 414-6999 MFMP - Kelley Scott (850) 488-3049 People First - Toni Estes (850) 414-5783 Purchasing - Kelley Scott (850) 488-3049 Real Estate - Meredith Brock (850) 413-9578 Retirement - Amy Pickett & Harry Halley (850) 414-6346 / (850) 921-8516 Fleet Management and Federal Property - Mike McClure (850) 488-4693 Priv. Prison Mont. - Michael Weber (850) 488-4904 Sunshine Spending - Edgar Gonesh (850) 410-0205 Supplier Diversity - Denise Wright (850) 922-6850
Public Records Request/Public Meetings (MS Office 2007 66.95 kB, includes Cost Calculation Instructions)
Exhibit 1 - DMS Public Records Request Manual (MS Office 2007 30.77 kB, includes List of Exempt and Confidential Records Exhibit
Exhibit 3 - PRMS Process Maps (MS Word 652kB)
List of Divisions’ Public Records Contacts
Public Records Management System (DMS Intranet)
People First Public Records Request Policy (MS Word 301.00 kB, public records request for State of Florida employee data)
About Open Government in Florida
Page 3
For more information, please refer to the policies and manuals listed below:
33rd Annual Police Officers and Firefighters Trustees’ School
in the Life of
1. 7:55 a.m. – Victoria Clutter arrives at work and checks e-mail
2. 8:10 a.m. – Retrieves a cell phone and car keys from supervisor, Martrae Mills
3-5. 8:12 a.m. – Walks to the state car, records starting mileage, and makes her way to the post office
6. 8:25 a.m. – Arrives at the post office and unloads a dolly from the car
7. 8:27 a.m. – Locates the Retirement Division’s post office box to get mail
8. 8:28 a.m. – Timestamps certified letter cards to indicate date and time of pickup
9. 8:35 a.m. – Loads mail for the Division of Retirement onto the dolly
10. 8:50 a.m. – Hauls mail bag into the offices for separation and delivery
11. 9:05 a.m. – Drops letters into sections’ boxes for later pickup
12. 9:10 a.m. – Scans hard copies of retirement records into digital database, called the Records Archive
13-15. 9:25 a.m. – Returns to the mail room to distribute more mail
16-17. 9:32 a.m. – Distributes mail throughout the offices of Retirement
18. 9:42 a.m. – Sorts outgoing mail
19-22. 9:50 a.m. – Continues mail route to additional Retirement offices
23-25. 10:20 a.m. – Picks up mail from the Fletcher Building
26-27. 10:46 a.m. – Delivers mail to the Florida State Board of Administration on Hermitage Boulevard
28. 10:57 a.m. – Returns office supplies to the mail room
29. 11:10 a.m. – Sets automated mailing machine to fold, seal, and stamp first batch of outgoing mail
30. 11:45 a.m. – Uses a special pen to seal outgoing envelopes
31. 11:50 a.m. – Returns to her computer to check e-mail and log in earlier Records Archive scans
& For DMS’ Division of Retirement, timely mail delivery is key. Keeping up with the incoming and outgoing envelopes, packages, and parcels are Victoria Clutter and Rebekah Lesho, who are Retirement’s daily couriers.
For half of the day, both Clutter and Lesho collect, route, and sort mail for members of the Florida Retirement System (FRS), the state’s pension plan, and they are also responsible for archiving important documents and record keeping for the other half.
Retirement’s courier service is managed by Martrae Mills, a former courier, and tasks are split between two positions that are responsible for runner duties, document image archiving responsibilities, and mail distribution for one of DMS’ most important programs.
The DMS Difference followed around the couriers along their normal mail routes, starting with a pickup at the post office, where most mornings it takes a hand truck to load all the mail into the car, and ending with several loads of mail being returned in the evening.
32. 1 p.m. – Rebekah Lesho checks e-mail to see if there are any special courier requests
33-34. 1:10 p.m. – Retrieves mail from employees’ boxes and loads it into a cart for distribution
35-36. 1:15 p.m. – Makes afternoon rounds, delivering mail to the Division of Retirement’s Winewood offices
37. 1:30 p.m. – Talks with Retired Payroll Benefits Technician Ronnie Randolph about a mailing request
38. 1:40 p.m. – Heads over to Retirement offices on the far side of the lake
39. 1:45p.m. – Talks with Trish Shoemaker, the benefits administrator for police and firefighter pensions
40. 1:55 p.m. – Heads back over to the main offices for mail sorting
41. 2:00 p.m. – Stacks mail in piles separated by division
42. 2:15 p.m. – Sets automated mailing machine to fold, seal, and stamp second batch of outgoing mail
43. 2:25 p.m. – Makes a photo copy of the day’s mailing report
44-45. 2:30 p.m. – Delivers mail to several offices throughout her building
46. 2:40 p.m. – Runs into supervisor, Martrae Mills, in the hallway
47. 2:45 p.m. – Checks phone, logs mileage, and heads toward Southwood office complex
48-49. 2:55 p.m. – Picks up and drops off mail at DMS’ main administrative offices in Southwood
50-52. 3:20 p.m. – Heads back to Winewood offices for sorting
53-55. 3:55 p.m. – Loads up the dolly with outgoing mail and delivers it to the post office
56. 4:58 p.m. – Logs in her Records Archive scans from earlier in the day and prepares to head home
30
Food Garden
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is joined by a local Tallahassee Girl Scouts troop for the opening of the Fresh for Kids Food Garden. They planted vegetable seeds and plants and culled fresh lettuce with the help of farmer Nathan Ballentine.
Research shows that children who participate in gardening are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. This food garden is an example of how we can teach students about Florida’s seasons, healthy diets, and the importance of incorporating fruits and vegetables into their meals.
Source: Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
With the help of DMS Division of Real Estate operations staff, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services opened the Fresh for Florida Kids Food Garden at the Holland Building in downtown Tallahassee. DMS staff constructed the garden beds, installed the water systems, and landscaped the grounds to create the food garden.
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Tip
Kudos to Dave Wiggins, who was recently presented with a 2011 Claims Rate Reduction Award on behalf of DMS for the second highest decrease in claims frequency rate by a small agency or university over Fiscal Year 2010-11. He was honored last month at the annual State Loss Prevention Awards Ceremony hosted by the Department of Financial Services Division of Risk Management. This award recognizes the work DMS has accomplished to reduce the rate of workplace claims, such as reduced liabilities, thefts, and occupational injuries. Reducing workplace claims protects the state from financial loss caused by legal liability, loss to property, and other hazards.
“Dave does such a great job for DMS and continues to move us ahead of the pack in safety,” said Debra Forbess, DMS’ Director of Administration.
DMS is committed to providing employees and visitors a safe and healthy work environment. To accomplish this, DMS has a comprehensive Workplace Safety and Loss Prevention Program that is administered by Dave Wiggins, Debra Forbess, and the DMS Safety Advisory Board. The program’s goals are to prevent, reduce, and control occupational injuries and illnesses, hazards in the workplace, damages/losses to DMS property (including fire and explosion), security breaches and thefts, and liabilities (auto, general, civil rights, employment discrimination).
For more information on the Workplace Safety Program, visit The Workplace Central Library to review Administrative Policy 08-105 or visit www.dms.myflorida.com/safety. Employees are encouraged to annually review the policy and the Health and Safety Manual to maintain emergency readiness at DMS, and they are encouraged to submit questions, comments, and suggestions on safety and loss prevention to DMS.SafetyCoordinator@dms.myflorida.com
Hats off to Jill Soderberg and Frank Miller with the Division of State Purchasing, who both went “above and beyond” to help a citizen seeking information. “Both Jill and Frank are top notch and the interactions with each of them this week rank among the best and most helpful interactions I’ve ever experienced,” said the caller.
Many thanks to Theresa Kalu in the General Counsel’s Office, who not only provided help and guidance to a caller, but did so as a “model of professionalism and efficiency,” making a real difference in the life of a thankful citizen.
People First’s Mindy Rudd, who volunteers for the Challenger Baseball League at the Miracle Field to help persons with disabilities enjoy sports, was recently recognized in the local paper for her work in giving back to the community, helping a young woman, who cannot walk, talk, or control basic muscle movement to play baseball. Although she does not seek out recognition, Mindy deserves to be honored for the work she does that enriches the lives of others.
Hats off to the 2012 Ice Cream Social Planning Committee members, who made the two-day employee recognition event such a success. “Each of you were a pleasure to work with, and I appreciate you taking your time out of your work schedules for the planning, setup and cleanup,” said committee organizer Holli McLanahan. “You are awesome.”
Constance C. Mayo, Planning and Budget
John W. Lindner, Real Estate
Shanesia L. Wilson, Retirement
Robert E. Wood, Fleet and Federal Property
Alton P. Cape II, State Purchasing
Matthew B. Dempsey, State Purchasing
Damodaran Kuttikrishnan, State Purchasing
Marsha L. Baine, Retirement