Our Voices (Summer 2020)

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

It is great to see so much being accomplished this year. The pandemic certainly changed the landscape of how we perform our HR roles, but it certainly didn’t take us down. We are a resilient group and have been able to accomplish so much during this challenging time due to our ability to adapt. There have been many examples of how HR demonstrates care for our customers, as well as our coworkers throughout the County. I am very proud to be a part of our

learning and following my ambitions to take on new challenges.”

Over the arc of her professional career, starting with her freshman Diederichs says she has watched transform from an outsider to

The County reopened, again, on September 8, 2020. This means that our County buildings are open to the public. We will encourage the public to take advantage of making appointments for services and obtaining services either online or by phone calls. It is important to continue to adhere to all the safe practices that are in place, such as wearing a face mask, social distancing, and washing/sanitizing your hands regularly. The COVID-19 Guides continue to evolve with the newest information available to us. To access the latest version of the Guides please visit: rc-hr. com/coronavirus.

can’t be CONTROLLED...OR PREDICTED

HR is pushing forward with all our important initiatives and technology upgrades. There is a lot to look forward to between now and the end of the year as we continue to launch new

the career ambitions he once had as a teen to orthodontist. chair at his orthodontist’s office getting braces, he goal with the guy working on his teeth. Yes, his him, it was a good career, but he warned Sanford get a minor in business,” Sanford recalls. that he graduated from dental school with too didn’t know how to run a business.”

to Sanford’s freshman year. The introductory the thought of dealing with copious amounts of didn’t appeal enough to Sanford to keep that career

What I do now is totally different from what I thought I was going to be. I think students need to understand ”

orthodontist’s business advice, however, did steer Sanford estate and law) into the College of Business went on earn his law degree from Loyola Law other experiences before finding his niche as the manager at The Mortgage Law Firm, PLC, where looking at ways to improve the efficiencies and various legal work processes and operations. president of the Cal Poly Pomona Alumni whenever Sanford talks to students about their thinks of his old orthodontist and advises open. Transformations, he says, happen where and expect.

things that led me in this direction, and could have predicted any of it,” he says.

What is also normal, says Brenda (’80, political science), is that some transformations may start in college and take much longer to finish.

In fact, says Diederichs, who also serves on the Alumni Association board, those transformations might never end.

“I think they can take a lifetime, especially if you’re the kind of person who is curious, driven and always learning something new. Then I don’t think the changes will ever stop unless you do,” says Diederichs, who is the director of human resources for the county of Riverside. “That’s been true for me. My transformation started at Cal Poly Pomona, but I don’t think it’s stopped. I’m constantly

“

professional transformation has brought him career ambitions he once had as a teen to his orthodontist’s office getting braces, he with the guy working on his teeth. Yes, his

What I do now is totally different from what I thought I was going to be. I think students need to understand

“I really felt like an impostor when I first stepped on campus,” recalls. “I was this 18-year-old from a single-parent, working-class household. I didn’t have any frame reference for college. I had nothing prepare me for it, and I didn’t belonged there.”

But Diederichs’ ambition the opportunities afforded by Pomona — transformed that uncertain 18-year-old into a successful, winning labor and employment (like Sanford, she has a J.D. from Loyola) who now oversees HR of the region’s largest counties.

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“ The great thing about university is that they “and those seeds will

learning and following my ambitions to take on new challenges.”

Over the arc of her professional career, starting with her freshman year, Diederichs says she has watched herself transform from an outsider to an insider.

“I really felt like an impostor when I first stepped on campus,” she recalls. “I was this 18-year-old kid from a single-parent, working-class household. I didn’t have any frame of reference for college. I had nothing to prepare me for it, and I didn’t feel like I belonged there.”

But Diederichs’ ambition — and the opportunities afforded by Cal Poly Pomona — transformed that uncertain 18-year-old into a successful, awardwinning labor and employment lawyer (like Sanford, she has a J.D. from Loyola) who now oversees HR for one of the region’s largest counties.

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4 National Intern Day

Did you know that July 30th was National Intern Day and that we have staff that were once interns?

5 DIVISION HIGHLIGHT

If you haven’t heard yet, Learning and Organizational Management Development is making strides!

6 employee discounts

As we adjust, we are looking to highlight businesses that still offer County employee discounts.

7 Benefits for your health

Check out the resources available to you as an employee of the County of Riverside.

8 NEOGOV Arrives

HR launched NeoGov on September 1, 2020! Learn more about the enhancements to the recruiting process.

9 Telecommuting

It has been a year of adjusting and learning how to adopt. Learn more about the benefits of telecommuting.

10-11 Peoplesoft HCM 9.2

As you know, PeopleSoft is moving along and we have provided monthly updates, but here are the highlights!

National INtern Day

On July 30, HR celebrated “National Intern Day”, which highlighted the County’s Internship program. This program is a part of the Learning and Organizational Development Division, in which, we captured intern stories of current and former interns. The County of Riverside was nominated by WayUp as one of the top 100 internship programs in the nation. Programs will be judged by voting (30%) and a panel (70%), which means, we need to ensure we get out to vote for our program.

Check out the stories of HR employees who were former interns.

I started my career in 2007 as a Professional Student Intern assigned to the Office of Second District Supervisor John F. Tavaglione, I learned a great deal about the County structure and the critical services that we provide for the community. My internship allowed me to learn the basics of working in a professional office setting, acclimate to the government structure, develop and hone my customer service skills, earn college credit, and most importantly, it was during this time that my passion for public service was formed.

I began my internship with the County in 2015, when I was in school working towards getting my master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. The internship lasted for about 9 months. I interned for our HR Department in the newly established Classification and Compensation Team. While on the team, I was allowed to explore other areas of HR which included recruitment and ER/LR. I am now a Senior HR Analyst for the Classification and Compensation Unit.

From 2013 - 2014, I was an intern with HR’s Talent Management team. My internship helped me find my passion for public service. During my internship, I was able to get involved in all kinds of different projects within the Human Resources Department and in doing so, I quickly learned about the County and its structure. I absolutely still utilize the resources, skills, and knowledge I acquired during my internship with the County.

division highlight: learning and organizational Development

The year 2020 has brought about many new challenges for every HR team and has required us to step outside our comfort zone. These strange times have really shined a light on our department’s ability to be innovative, agile, and resilient. Prior to COVID, opportunities to attend live, in-person events was the norm, such as participating in a professional development class with 50 other county employees or having our new employees attend an orientation with 100 new colleagues from around the county. This gave us the opportunity to meet, interact, and learn from other employees that we otherwise may have never met. The Learning and Organizational Development (L&OD) Division ran into the challenge of moving all events and trainings to a completely online format in a matter of weeks. This may not seem like a large task considering the availability of many online meeting platforms, including WebEx and Teams. However, with online learning there are many factors that need to be considered in order to ensure participants maintain a high level of engagement and that learning continues to take place. Many of these factors are very different than what is required to hold an online meeting or do a presentation.

When creating quality online courses or events, whether live or recorded, there are many factors and moving parts to take into consideration. For example, all components of the live new employee orientation required scripting, creating assessments/ survey questions, audio recording and editing, creating closed captions, extensive cutting and editing of the video content, testing the online version multiple times in each internet browser, and solving all of the new administrative processes and challenges that accompanied the move to an online recorded event. Add to all this movement, ongoing collaboration with numerous HR divisions, county department liaisons, other county departments, the unions, and especially our Communications Team. It was truly an amazing team effort!

In addition to transitioning NEO to online, L&OD also had to transition all live classroom courses and events to a live, online format, which included academies, professional development stand-alone courses, mandated courses, even the quarterly education fair. To assist in delivering quality, interactive courses and events, L&OD began using the Adobe Connect platform. Adobe Connect is a more robust platform compared to WebEx, Teams, or Zoom. Since our courses typically include table or group work, Adobe Connect offers break out rooms which provide an additional virtual space to work with a smaller group of participants in the class. The instructor has the ability to have all 50 participants in one large virtual room to instruct on a particular topic, then break the participants up into smaller groups of, for example, 5 to then do activities and have discussions. After a period of time, the instructor can then pull all participants back into the main room to continue teaching. Adobe Connect also allows instructors and event presenters, to set up their course or event with question polls, chats, downloadable supplemental documents or information, and breakout rooms, then save that course or event to present on multiple dates without having to recreate for every offering. This is a huge time saver for courses and events that are offered on a regular basis. Lastly, the acquisition of Adobe Connect provided many L&OD team members the opportunity to gain new skills. Many learned how to set up courses and events on the new platform and assist the trainers, and subject matter experts delivering mandated courses, by producing the online live events and courses, which is a skill in and of itself.

Another major accomplishment for the L&OD team in 2020 was the creation and launch of HR’s new Passport Program. The Passport Program is an innovative, fun, and creative cross-training program intended to grow and develop our existing workforce. Development of the program necessitated several steps and involvement from many individuals not only on the

L&OD worked with the program’s pilot HR Service Managers to brainstorm how the program would operate and to develop each destination’s unique “travel itinerary.” We developed several different branding options for the program and got the whole HR Department involved in selecting which option would be used for the final program materials. Much time, creativity, and effort went in to crafting the numerous tools and materials used to administer the Passport Program, including the program’s SharePoint site, travel brochures and itineraries, passport booklets and stamps, travel alert templates, program information and FAQ guides, and much, much more.

Since the program launch on July 1st, multiple travel alerts have been released and many travelers began their crosstraining journey. Due to COVID, our changed working environment caused the “travel guides”, or destination team trainers, to adjust to virtual training vs. the traditional in person format. With our many virtual meeting platforms, and the ability to share screens, this transition went smoothly. L&OD has received great feedback from both the travelers, as well as their destination teams, on the cross-training process and on the overall administration of the program. Travelers report the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and abilities through their participation in program. L&OD is very proud of the Passport Program and all of the teamwork that went in to making it such a success!

COVID has made all of us adjust our mindset on what is a normal working environment. It has caused us all to look at everything a little different, find new ways to do our work, and appreciate the moments when we get in-person, faceto-face interactions. If there is anything positive that has come out of this life altering event, it has been our ability to shine during difficult times. We truly are a department full of resilient, innovative, hard-working, customer-focused, compassionate professionals. We are HR!

Kountry Folks

Picture this: warm, soft fluffy pancakes drenched in your favorite sticky gooey sweetness served with a hot side of hash browns. Now what if I said that you could get that and more scrumptious food at a discounted price? Yep, all Riverside County employees get 10% off their total bill if they show their employee ID. So, what are you waiting for? Go get some yummy, buttery pancakes and steaming hot coffee.

neogov arrives

Human Resources implemented a new online applicant tracking system called NEOGOV. Widely used in neighboring large public agencies such as San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Orange County. NEOGOV went live with the County on September 1, 2020.

RECRUIT

NEOGOV’s Recruit module cohesively integrates a public sector-specific job board, applicant tracking system, and onboarding solution to deliver a faster, more efficient, and compliant recruitment process. NEOGOV will allow the County to offer our internal and external customers more efficient and userfriendly recruitment services.

INSIGHT

With Insight, HR teams can quickly and easily manage all applicants and access recruitment data throughout the application process. List open positions on your company website and accept online applications, while ensuring ADA/Section 508 Compliance. Ensure compliance with the built-in, auditable, and legally defensible hiring process, complete with reporting on applicants, applicant flow, EEO, adverse impact, and passpoint analysis.

ONBOARD

Enables new hires to become more productive before their first day on the job by streamlining new hire paperwork, processes, and training on an easy-to-use platform. Assign checklists to your new hires prior to their start date and create forms specific to employees, groups, or departments. Set up required fields to ensure forms are properly completed by new hires.

Telecommuting: new normal

If you would have told me a decade ago that I would be working from home one day, it would have seemed too good to be true. Today, it is the present and future of work.

As Riverside County and other Counties adopt telecommuting practices, there is now more awareness of the virtues of telecommuting, but also of its challenges. Here are the reasons I embraced telecommuting and remote work.

1. With none of the distractions from a traditional office setting, telecommuting allowed me to retain more of my time in the day and adjust my mental and physical wellbeing needs. I didn’t have to take that extra hour to get ready for the day as well as mentally prepare myself for socializing even in the days where you need some time to yourself and to just stay work focused.

2. “According to the State of Work Productivity Report, it is estimated that employers in the US lose $1.8 trillion a year in productivity. From distractions like coworker socializing to excessive commuting, health problems and more. Workers are finding it harder than ever to hit maximum productivity in a traditional office work environment.”

3. Working from home was always a good mental day. From eating homemade lunches to a wider range of snacks (my entire pantry), it was easier to save money on food and eat healthy. It was also a good feeling as a mother to spend my breaks and lunches around my family and just be present.

4. “In a report published by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK, it found that 55% of people felt more stressed as a result of their commute. Snacking habits also

increased and with less free time available, the report also found that workers were leading less active and healthy lifestyles.” My average commute is 60 to 70 minutes a day. Time, traffic, gas…..this is a no brainer stress reducer.

The County wasn’t prepared for so many employees telecommuting so suddenly. The many facets of COVID-19 and the new laws are influencing how we frame telecommuting for the present and the future. An updated telecommuting policy will soon be going before the Board for approval. There will be a corresponding guide and tool kit for our managers and staff to have as a reference for telecommuting. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, wear a mask, wash your hands, and practice social distancing.

VICTORIA SANTOS Media Production Specialist

peoplesoft HCM 9.2

While the PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 upgrade teams are working hard to configure a new upgraded environment and begin testing, we would like to use our June newsletter to spotlight some new features to get excited about. These new features will help those who use PeopleSoft frequently work more efficiently with real-time data charts and grids. All employees will benefit from viewing pay information with Mobile Paycheck on the go and being able to update their personal information as Life Events happen. These are just some of the ways PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 is modernizing how we do business.

Mobile Paycheck

Today, digital technology is changing the way employees like to be paid and view their pay information, from the paper check, to direct deposit, now many of us do our banking online through our mobile devices. So why not be able to do the same with our paychecks? With the new Peoplesoft HCM 9.2 update you will be able to view your paycheck anywhere. The Pay tile will allow you to see when your last paycheck was received right from the home page when you first login. Simply clicking that tile will show you all your recent pay dates and Net Pay for each check. From there you will be able to select to see more details about an individual paycheck such as earnings,

taxes, and deductions both before and after taxes. Using this feature, you will able to track your paychecks quickly and efficiently at any time, viewing just the information that is important to you. Peoplesoft HCM 9.2’s fluid user interface will format automatically to best fit the device you are using, be that your on a smartphone, tablet, or computer. There will be a number of self-service actions like this that you will be able to do through your mobile device, stay tuned to hear about more mobile features coming soon.

Life Events

Part of the new self-service features that will be available in the new Peoplesoft HCM 9.2 upgrade is the ability for all employees to make changes to their personal and benefit information when life events occur. At any time, an employee can access their benefit information to easily make changes should they have a qualifying event like having a baby, adopting a child, or getting married. The fluid design will easily walk employees through the process of making these changes, presenting them with what information is needing, allowing them to upload necessary documents, even save and come back if they don’t have all the information yet. In addition, they can change personal information if needed, such as change their address, change their name, or change bank information for direct deposit. These changes may have required lengthy paperwork and sending documents to HR, but can now be done by the employee from their own computer or mobile device at any time.

Pivot Grids

For administrators who work in Peoplesoft a new functionality that should prove helpful is pivot grids. Pivot Grids are visual charts and tables that filter PeopleSoft data into precise views that can show meaningful insight and patterns that currently might not be easily obtained. These charts and tables might include key data regarding organization, personnel, or compensation that can be filtered to show you the data you need in a way that you can best interpret it. For example, one such grid might include head count information showing new hires, retirements, and movement within organizations during given time periods. These visual representations of County data will allow greater insight into business needs, help increase productivity, and allow us the ability to analyze trends instantly from our dashboards.

The PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 Upgrade continues to move forward and has entered the testing phase. Teams will be hard at work testing the new environment and putting it through real world scenarios to ensure the system has been configured to meet the business requirements. There are a lot of new features to look forward to in this upgrade. This month we spotlight the new mobile timesheet and self-service options that let employees update their home and mailing address. These are just a few of the ways PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 will allow you to update information more efficiently.

Mobile Timesheets

Peoplesoft HCM 9.2 introduces time and labor fluid time entry which will provide the ability to enter timesheets quickly and easily. Optimized to be used on mobile devices and tablets in addition to desktop computers, employees can enter their time on-thego as needed, ensuring reporting is more accurate and submitted on time. Fluid timesheets can be configured for all types of employees and all types of time reporting, giving options for weekly, bi-weekly, and more. The ability to copy from the previous time period if no changes are needed can make time entry even faster. Supervisors will also have improved workflows to help them quickly view and approve timesheets.

Employee Self-Service: Review and Update Personal Information

One of the most common changes to employee’s personal information is address changes. Today there is no self-service option to change this information in our current HCM system when employees move, requiring them to contact HR and wait for their request to be processed. But with the new Personal Details option in Peoplesoft HCM 9.2, this becomes a self-service option allowing employees to easily make these changes at anytime from their own devices—no paper required. From the Personal Details page, employees can select to update addresses then make any necessary changes. This self-service option will make it much easier and faster to update employee information as changes occur.

Project Status Update: System and Performance Testing

The PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 Upgrade Project has now entered the first part of Stage IV testing phase. Project teams have been working diligently to ensure all County requirements and integrations have been considered and the upgrade will meet business needs while also including necessary new features. These requirements and configurations have been used to build a new PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 testing environment. This environment will now be put to test

by County teams through multiple testing cycles, including system, performance and user acceptance testing (UAT) to ensure all components work together. During this time the County’s PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 implementation team is executing system and performance testing; providing them the opportunity to ensure that configurations fit the County’s requirements and work as expected. Testing will include user interfaces, integrations with other systems, and end-to-end processing. Each PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 process and function will be tested multiple times by multiple users in a variety of realworld scenarios. As testing takes place, teams will respond to issues and make necessary changes, which will then be further tested, until teams are confident that the system is ready to go live.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT ARTICLES FOR THE NEXT ISSUE IS OCTOBER 15, 2020

EMAIL YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO COMMUNICATIONS@RIVCO.ORG

PUBLICATION

BRENDA DIEDERICHS Assistant CEO/HR Director

MICHAEL BOWERS Assistant HR Director

BRANDE HUNE Assistant HR Director

SARAH FRANCO Assistant HR Director

MYLENE DANIELS Deputy HR Director

MEGAN GOMEZ Deputy HR Director

KAREEM GONGORA Senior Marketing & Communications Coordinator EDITOR

ULICES DEL TORO Media Productions Specialist PHOTOGRAPHY

ISABELLA AYALA Intern