State HR Centralization Update and Pandemic response
I wanted to write to you today about an important announcement that DAS made with Governor Lamont today about our human resources centralization efforts. In July of 2019, Governor Lamont signed Executive Order #2 in an announcement where he discussed the State’s effort to provide a high-quality, cost-effective human resources program.
The initiative has helped us keep a closer eye on cost-saving measures to incorporate into our HR activities, and to prepare for the anticipated wave of retirements in 2022. But, we’ve also reached some significant milestones, even while supporting the pandemic response. We have:
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Began the launch of LinkedIn Learning to help the State address workplace and societal issues, state mandatory topics, business, technical, and skill development;
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Reduced the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) case backlog from 500 to under 100 cases;
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Eliminated the military leave backlog of 30 cases;
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Digitized over 100,000 paper files, totaling over 1 million pages (most notably in workers compensation and Family Medical Leave Act programs);
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Processed over 700 retirement applications with higher rates of accuracy than in the past, eliminating the need to re-work service calculations; and,
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Built specialized teams to work across state government in a consistent and more efficient manner, thereby relieving on-site human resources offices of service delivery workload and enabling them to better support their respective agencies during the pandemic.
I can confidently say that this effort allowed us to act faster when it mattered most this past year. A centralized HR team has allowed State agencies to work together more quickly, allowing them to dedicate precious time to support those who needed help, rather than on paperwork, and has allowed the HR team to balance work across a larger pool of individuals, rather than in smaller groups of staff at agencies, and ensure that polices across state agencies are consistent.
Our state’s pandemic response has remained among the best in the nation, and we wouldn’t be here without the interagency collaboration that this team does every day. I am grateful that we have some of the most talented HR professionals I have ever worked with right here in Connecticut, and am hopeful that our residents will see more great things come from our team in the coming years.