November 2018

Review Resources on DPS' Food Purchasing Policy Winter break is just around the corner, and many teams are planning parties or holding strategy meetings for their work in the new year. When planning these meetings and events, make sure your team is following DPS' policy for purchasing food, beverages, candy and snacks. As a reminder, purchasing food for a holiday party is not an allowable expense with district funds.    Here are some resources on DPS’ food purchasing policy: One-Pager on Food Purchasing Policy Guidelines Frequently Asked Questions Full Board Policy   Thank you for ensuring your team is doing their part to prioritize our budget resources to support our Shared Core Value of Students First.

Growth, Performance and Training

Schedule Mid-Year Conversations with LIFT/CCE-Eligible Team Members Don't forget to schedule time to host mid-year performance conversations with your employees Dec. 3-Jan. 31 . Consider hosting a second conversation in early February with LIFT leaders who receive CollaboRATE results, or delay mid-year conversations until CollaboRATE results are available on Jan. 31. Mid-year is the time to: Provide formal feedback. Address barriers to success. Assess progress toward achieving goals. Discuss professional growth plans. Request feedback on how you are leading. Document progress in Infor HR.  Keep in mind, mid-year is not the only time to provide and receive feedback. Feedback should be ongoing and timely to allow for course corrections. Also, documenting feedback throughout the year makes year-end conversations easier. If you have questions, talk to your HR partner about how best to document your feedback.

Sign Up for Suicide Prevention Training DPS is offering Working Minds training to any school or department interested in learning more about suicide prevention. This training is between 90 minutes and two hours long and gives participants the skills and tools to appreciate the crucial need for suicide prevention, while creating a forum for dialogue and critical thinking about workplace mental health challenges. Email staffwellness@dpsk12.org to learn more or schedule a training.

Updates & FYI

Review Important Deadlines for Employee Pay Changes

Human Resources and Finance receive many inquiries about pay errors from employees. Most of these errors occur because transactions in Infor HR were submitted late or with incorrect dates.   Here are some ways leaders can help ensure our employees are paid correctly: Submit all position and pay change transactions by the deadline.  Date all changes for school-support center employees (i.e., managers and protechs) the first or 16th of the month. We strongly encourage using the first or 16th transaction effective dates for other employee groups, but to ensure that our students receive teaching and support services without interruption, these changes may occur on any date. Beginning Dec. 1 , HR will no longer backdate transactions that are submitted late, and instead will adjust the date to the following first or 16th of the month. If you have questions, email Connect_HumanResources@dpsk12.org .

CollaboRATE Survey Coming Soon

DPS' all-employee engagement survey, CollaboRATE, will be open Jan. 4-18 . This is an opportunity for team members to provide feedback on their leaders and DPS as a whole.  Reminder: Team members will be asked to answer a number of questions about "MY DEPARTMENT." Each leader should inform their teams before the survey goes out about how to interpret "MY DEPARTMENT" for the purpose of the survey. Use this email template to clarify with your team. New this year: Voluntary self-identification questions and a shorter leader survey. These important changes will aim to create a more inclusive and effective survey. Tools and resources coming soon. More information will be shared in the newsletters soon. For a general overview of the survey, visit thecommons.dpsk12.org/collaborate .

Provide Correct Benefits Eligibility Information to New Employees

All employees entered as a .5 full-time equivalency (FTE) or greater are eligible to receive benefits. This includes temporary employees, interns and students in some cases. To ensure that employees are correctly classified as benefits eligible, it is important that the number of hours to be worked are accurate when creating a new position. Employees working 30 hours or more (.75 FTE) will be automatically enrolled in health insurance if they take no action. Please make sure that you are providing your new employee with correct information about benefits eligibility. If you are unsure of an employee’s eligibility status, email Connect_HumanResources@dpsk12.org .

Talent Acquisition

Find Top Job Candidates in One Place If you have an open position on your team or a position in the pipeline, Talent Acquisition has a list of qualified candidates to consider. These candidates come highly recommended and their experience ranges from finance, marketing, leadership, change management and nonprofit. Check out this list of this month’s top candidates and their resumes. If you have questions or would like to schedule time to talk with a candidate, contact Krystina Brickley or Nicole Kramis .

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