May Employee Caboose

MID-MAY 2024

MENTORING PROGRAM FOSTERS MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS

A mentoring program is helping senior-level staff members foster connections, as well as guide and inspire other employees to learn how to navigate their careers The first group of 42 employees participated in the three-month Glendale Mentoring Program that wrapped up in March. Using The Art of Mentoring international platform, mentors answer questions, provide advice on handling challenges and serve as champions and listening ears for mentees

Mentors are matched with mentees who work in different departments to allow employees to expand their horizons and build networks within the city. To qualify for the program, mentors must have worked in a managerial role for at least five years (in any organization) while the mentees must be employees in good standing who have worked for the city for at least a year. The pairs met at least five times during the program. Applications will soon be taken for the next round of the mentoring program.

ON THE CALENDAR

LAST CALL: BENEFITS ENROLLMENT

The deadline is fast-approaching to enroll in and make any changes to benefits. You have until FRIDAY, MAY 17, to confirm and/or make any adjustments for health, dental and vision coverage, life insurance and other compensation perks. Those who don’t make any selections will automatically have their benefits waived for the 2024-25 fiscal year. July 1 will mark the start of a new year for our benefit plans. All employees must log in to Employee Self Service to confirm or change their benefits.

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MANAGING WORRY AND ANXIETY

Date: May 21

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Location: Zoom webinar

Do you struggle with worry and anxiety? When your thoughts about the future generate fear, they start to negatively impact your life. Such thoughts often come in the form of a “what if.” Join us for this webinar, where participants will learn how to distinguish doubt from danger and develop strategies to help them work with worry and anxiety. RSVP link below.

LAST CALL: HARASSMENT PREVENTION

We all must do our part to foster a professional, respectful and inclusive workplace free of harassment and discrimination. All employees are required to take the Harassment Prevention for Employees Training by May 18. Periodically employees must do this training to refresh their understanding of what harassment is, how to identify harassing behaviors and how to prevent them. This training has been assigned in NEOGOV. Questions? Contact Trish Wright at x5987 or pwright@glendaleaz.com. Click below to start the training.

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SAVE THE DATE: JUNETEENTH EVENT

Join the Inclusion Network for a Juneteenth event on Wednesday, June 19 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p m at the Main Library Dr Velma Trayham, a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award winner who is also an entrepreneur, acclaimed speaker and best-selling author will speak at this event.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday to commemorate June 19, 1865, when more than 250,000 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, received news that they were emancipated.

Enroll for this event

IN THE NEWS

HONORS FOR EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP

City Manager Kevin Phelps has been selected by the Phoenix Business Journal as a prestigious 2024 Most Admired Leader honoree. Phelps was one of only 22 leaders who were selected from all across the Valley who have demonstrated strong leadership in public or private sector roles. The publication also did a special section profiling the honorees.

The newspaper revealed interesting details about Phelps’ exemplary career in a Q&A-style article in which he is quoted as saying his proudest achievement since being chosen as the city manager in 2015 was helping Glendale achieve its recent status as one of WalletHub’s top 10 financially healthiest large cities in the U.S., despite not raising the city’s property tax levy rate for the past eight years.

GLENDALE ROCKS THE SPOTLIGHT

When The Rolling Stones hit the stage at State Farm Stadium, legendary front man Mick Jagger gave a shout-out to the City for proclaiming May 7 as “Ruby Tuesday” and temporarily renaming a stretch of 95th Avenue as “Satisfaction Way.” The rockers posted on social media to nearly 18 million followers to showoff the street sign and celebrate the group‘s record-breaking third stop in Glendale.

Phelps gave this advice to emerging leaders: “Strive to have influence in your organization, not power or authority Influence is most impactful and can last even when you no longer have authority ” He also shared a fun fact that in high school his career goal was to be a high school or college basketball coach

Leaders

HEAT RELIEF CENTERS HELP VULNERABLE

The Community Services team has been busy preparing for the critical heat relief and respite centers, which are now open The city has partnered again with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the Arizona Faith Network and Phoenix Rescue Mission Glendale’s successful heat relief program has been featured on 3TV, KTAR 92 3 FM and KJZZ, as well as in “The Arizona Republic,” “The Glendale Star” and “Glendale Independent ” Michelle Yates, community engagement program manager, provided excellent information to journalists, including for the story in the “Glendale Star,” which is posted below.

Rockin' in Glendale!