Ashley Kavanagh, Department of Human Resources

Ashley Kavanagh developed and implemented five critical human resource training curricula, kicking off a comprehensive redesign and centralization initiative for the Department of Human Resources’ (DHR) new employee orientation and onboarding processes. The objective of this project was to centralize and standardize the management compliance of over 50 key policies and required training. Ashley streamlined processes, enhanced tracking and reporting mechanisms, enabled automation where feasible, considered different employee groups with different needs, and ultimately elevated compliance levels within the organization. This project impacted over 14,500 employees. Since the curricula were assigned to employees on 9/11/2023, there has been a remarkable 56% increase in compliance.

Ke’Andra Hackett, Nicole Jingozian, Barnabas Kerkula, and Melissa Winters, Department of Health and Social Services

This small team worked together on the Connect Community Project which deliberately fosters relationships and prevents loneliness in long-term care residents. The team designed a program to meet three overarching goals: to improve the psychosocial quality of life for the residents; to address loneliness as a social determinant of health which impacts the resident's physical well-being; and to creatively engage existing resources in ways that could improve staff experience in the workplace and professional quality of life. To date, 50% of residents have been matched with a specific Connect Community member for individual engagements and many Connect Community members report positive feedback and are naturally spending time with residents other than their designated partner.

Digitization Project Team: Ashley Lebo, Alex LeClaire, and James Robinson, Department of Human Resources & Department of Technology and Information

This interagency-agency team made up the Department of Human Resources (DHR) Digitization Project Team. Together they transitioned DHR to an electronic enterprise document management system. Prior to the 2023 implementation, paper personnel records were manually managed by HR staff as employees progressed in their careers, and records were transferred from agency to agency. The Digitization Project Team successfully managed the file structure and system configuration, conducted thorough testing, and supervised the scanning and uploading of documents for all active employees across 16 Executive Branch agencies, resulting in the digitization of 2.77 million documents! The system automates processes, enhances user access, minimizes risks, improves management, bolsters security, and enhances confidentiality associated with managing employee records.

Jerrica Boyer and Tina Selby Ware, Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families

Jerrica Boyer and Tina Selby Ware implemented the Comprehensive Review Tool Project Team – a department-wide administrative case review process to assess cross-divisional practices and identify opportunities for improvement and consistency in support of a trauma-informed system of care approach to service delivery and family engagement. System of Care is a coordinated effort to build meaningful partnerships with families and youth informed by their cultural and linguistic needs to help them function better at home, school, in the community, and beyond. Under their leadership, full implementation of the process was realized in 2023. This included implementing protocols for sampling, timeframes, and procedural expectations; implementing the review tool that assesses case management practices and service delivery quality; developing a reference guidebook to ensure inter-rater reliability; training staff in the administration of the tool and process; and completing one full year of department-wide implementation.