Workplace Survey Initiatives program update - February 18, 2021

The ITS Leadership Team and the ITS Climate, Culture, and Inclusion (CCI) Task Force continue to make workplace improvements through the nine separate initiatives derived from the 2019 Workplace Survey results.

Between January 20 and February 11, teams working on these initiatives have accomplished the following:

• Establish ITS work from home guidance for staff (Ted Hanss) – Ted’s team is developing a survey for ITS staff to measure sentiment. We expect to distribute this survey soon.
• Promote transparency and provide access to senior management (Ryan Schlagheck) – The IT Senior Leadership Team (SLT) reviewed and confirmed skip-level meeting guidance, and this information is now available as a resource on the new Performance Feedback website. Skip-level guidance was also added to the New Employee Orientation for Manager/Supervisor reference and reviewed with the IT Leadership Team at the January 27 monthly meeting. The team completed all work for this initiative as of January 29.
• Implement inclusive recruiting practices (Diane Fusco / Blanche Temple) - The team identified interview questions that focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion - all of which have been approved by the Office of General Counsel. A select number of diversity websites have been identified for posting open positions. The team is currently researching tools and processes to address unconscious bias in job descriptions.
• Examine total rewards and pay equity/simplify career paths and alignment to market data (Blanche Temple) - This initiative is in the final stages of refining lists of job families. The team received preliminary data from compensation to support the pay equity and alignment effort. The team is currently iterating on career paths for M&P roles.
• 25 Science Park safety (John Barden) - Public Safety has drafted a plan, and that team is working on staffing and implementation through winter.
• Research “high tech” firm employment practices, culture, and retention strategies (Hadar Call / Kiran Keshav) – The team has completed strategic themes. The team is in the process of developing a draft findings report for discussion with our sponsor and has begun creating an outline of a resulting report that we will refine throughout the process.
• Ensuring fairness of opportunity - Extend ITS diversity and inclusion training curriculum (Ann Brainard-Dougan / Sandra Germenis) – The team has identified new LinkedIn Learning diversity and inclusion training content to replace SkillSoft content. CCI and the IT Senior Leadership Team (SLT) reviewed, approved, and implemented the new learning content in early February. Now set up as a new Learning Path, ITS presented the updated content at the ITS New Employee Orientation on February 3.

Previously completed initiatives:

• Meaningful performance evaluations for all ITS Staff (Assure 1:1 feedback consistency across M&P & C&T) (Sandra Germenis) – All work for this initiative was completed on October 30, 2020, resulting in the publication of recommended practices and resources for managers.

For the latest status, visit the Workplace Survey Improvement Initiatives Monthly Tracker snapshot on the IT Teams channel, or contact Randal Ritter, Senior Project Manager, Enterprise Reporting & Analytics.