1. Unemployment Insurance Optimizing Staff
Kierston Howard
UI Infrastructure Operations
Branch Manager

2. Staff Allocation Model
Data driven staff allocation model to better respond to variations in customer demand over time
Started in November 2014

3. Initial State Variation in workload over time with static staffing
Lack of consistency in performance to customers

4. Initial State
Lack of data to quantifiably understand workload and staffing needs by unit over time.
Units ‘siloed’ with decisions made in units
Informal sharing of staff. Not coordinated, data driven, or tracked.
Reactive vs. proactive or responsive staffing reallocation.
“It takes years to become good at the job…”

5. Desired State-Goals Better meet customer demand
Level out individual workloads
Function as a division, not as disparate units
Understand our processes and how we define and measure success
Create new job pathways

6. Approach Structured Crosstraining Process Improvement
Build out the data
Cadence of coordinated dialogue & decision making
Quarterly
Weekly
Monthly
Evaluate model effectiveness
Discuss and make decisions on needed improvements
Establish by-unit needs
Make staffing allocation decisions
Execute and measure
Evaluate staffing trends and performance data
Set guidelines for next month

7. Observations During implementation
Lack of standard processes, production standards or operational data collection/reporting
Little training infrastructure in most areas
Lack of updated, easy to access job references

8. Year 1 Results Contributed to meeting federal and internal metrics
Greater flexibility to respond to workload demands with crosstrained staff
Better operational awareness of each unit’s processes & relevant data
Better infrastructure to coordinate as a division
Improved ability to understand true staffing requirements
Career Pathways created

9. Observations Post Implementation
No base hiring model as a backbone
Lack of data and training infrastructure
Number of employees crosstrained-too many for regular exposure to work leading to quality concerns
Administrative duties being done at professional level

10. Additional Gleanings
Marathon not a sprint and we are in the first mile
Buy in at all levels-paradigm shift (both new way of managing the business and meeting metrics across all units is possible)
The successes of year one primarily is in the trial and error and exposing organizational gaps

11. Year 2 Modifications Developed division wide hiring model & cycle
Scaled down crosstraining-fewer employees with greater impact
Set agreements for regular exposure to work with ability to ramp up due to workload
Increased metrics gathering around satisfaction and unit specific metrics, greater transparency
Strengthened change management efforts

13. Early Year 2 Results
Maintaining federal and internal performance metrics
Agreements upheld building flexibility in job knowledge in preparation for claim load busy season
BPC is swarmed during CP/CSC nonbusy time and has reduced backlog
Staff satisfaction with the model is increased
Strengthened training infrastructure & reduced silos

14. Staff Exposure to Crosstrained Area

15. Workload Management by FTE

16. Staff Satisfaction Results
Staff responses:
Management responses:

17. Next Steps Comprehensive evaluation of current training
Job assessment/Curriculum development
Centralized Knowledge Database
Tracking system-data at our fingertips
Building accountability in staff/management evaluations
Pushing work down to lowest levels

18. Questions