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LEADERSHIP AGENDA

OPERATIONAL SCAN

DEPARTMENT PERFORMANCE

Operational Scan 

The scan of economic, fiscal and administrative indicators that affect state government's ability to better serve Iowans. Click below to see data and explanations.

• Agency Operations
  A. Number of employees per supervisor in state government (FTEs/Span of Control)
  B. State employee performance evaluations completed on time.
  C. Minorities and persons with disabilities (PWD) in state government (%).
  D. Number of grievances filed.
  E. Energy costs and consumption for the Capitol Complex.
  F. On-the-job injuries in state government
  
• Government Finance
  G . Current revenues
  

• Economic Indicators
  H . Personal income
  I . Average weekly earnings
  J . Employment level and Unemployment rate
  K . Home sales
  

Why this is important:
The Executive Branch of state government contains over 19,000 employees. Of this amount, over 1,800 employees are classified as supervisors and over 17,000 employees are classified as non-supervisors. A span of control of 1:12 is critical to state government's mission because it optimizes the ratio of supervisors to employees in the workforce. This permits the allocation of resources to more appropriately accomplish the work of the organization. As the graph indicates, improvement continues to be made toward the 1:12 goal.

What we're doing about this:
A concerted effort within state agencies is being made to decrease the number of supervisors. Each agency carefully evaluates job responsibilities as supervisory positions become vacant. As the situation dictates, supervisory responsibilities may remain unchanged, may be transferred to existing supervisory positions, or may be eliminated.

Why this is important:
This graph indicates that state government continues to make progress in completing timely employee performance evaluations, though the FY 2007 percent completed dropped from the FY 2006 rate. Periodic and timely performance feedback provides necessary advice and counsel to employees that permit them to maximize productivity and to more meaningfully contribute to organizational goals.

What we're doing about this:
Data regarding the timeliness of employee performance evaluations is periodically provided to the Governor and to state agencies. DAS personnel continue to monitor agency progress and inform agencies of completion status. DAS' Performance and Development Solutions also offers a training course for managers and supervisors on performance evaluation. Of the 70 individual reporting units in FY 2007, 55 achieved completion rates of 70% or better; 17 of those had completion rates of 100%.

Why this is important:
State government is fully committed to equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and overall diversity in the workforce. Ideally, the number of minorities and persons with disabilities in the state workforce would be equal to or great than their representation in the Iowa labor force, which is based on periodic census data. According to the 2000 Iowa Census, the percentage of persons with disabilities is 11.8% and the percentage of minorities is 6.022%. Although we continue to make steady progress, it is important to recognize that due to changes in demographics in the State, the available labor force is constantly changing. For minorities in particular, 6.02% represents a minimal goal.

What we're doing about this:
State hiring practices at the individual agency level are currently under review. DAS is conducting the reviews with visits to each agency to discuss the hiring practices information the agencies submitted to DAS in February of 2008, followed by a review of specific vacancies filled in FY2007. A DAS team is assigned to each agency as they are selected for review. The results of these reviews will be summarized for the Diversity Council and its sub-committees, who will make suggestions for best practices to be adopted by the State. Other elements of Executive Order Four are being implemented concurrently:

Diversity training for hiring managers was completed in December 2008 with approximately 2,000 attendees. The full-day course is now offered by Performance & Development Solutions on a quarterly basis for any new hires or newly-promoted managers. The half-day course for all employees within the executive branch began in March 2009 and is scheduled to be completed in December 2009. At the end of FY 2009, approximately 9,000 employees had attended the session. It is anticipated that 11,000 additional employees will attend by the end of this calendar year.

Diversity and Affirmative Action Planning has been incorporated into the Workforce Planning process for FY 2010 and beyond. Agencies have submitted their FY 2009 Diversity Affirmative Action progress reports and their FY 2010 Workforce Plans. The submitted plans will be summarized and published in the annual Diversity/Affirmative Action Plan and Report for FY 2009-10 to the legislature and IGOV.

DAS and the Diversity Council continue to work on special emphasis programs for employment of persons with disabilities. DAS will continue to partner with ICRC, DHR, IVRS, and the Diversity Council. All of these diversity related initiatives will be ongoing as part of the general strategy of reflecting the people of Iowa in the workforce and tap all possible labor pools to meet the workforce needs of the State as an employer.

Why this is important:
The number of grievances reflects the union's reaction to departments' policies and the way those policies are implemented. Grievances provide both the union and management a process to resolve issues and problems.

What we're doing about this:
The state and AFSCME have formed a labor/management committee to work through the state's current grievance resolution process to insure there is an effective method available to resolve grievances at the employee/supervisor level. Resolving grievances at the department level reduces the number of costly arbitrations.

Why this is important:
Ongoing evaluation of energy cost and usage is critical, especially during the winter months. Energy prices have increased significantly over the past years. The Department continually compares natural gas cost and usage with fuel oil cost and usage to determine which fuel source is most cost effective. By finding ways to conserve energy and reduce consumption levels, DAS keeps the cost of energy down.

What we're doing about this:
The department is working on energy management improvement projects and analyzing data to determine the most effective means of reducing energy cost.

Why this is important:
Workers' compensation claim submittals are an indicator of employee on-the-job safety. The higher the number of workers' compensation claims filed, the higher the cost and the more likely a serious claim will occur. This is of particular importance because the state is self-insured and the current annual cost exceeds $20.0 million. Iowa state government has one of the lowest worker injury and illness incident rates in the Midwest. The data indicates that the number of reported injuries is fluctuating while the average cost per claim is increasing.

What we're doing about this:
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) employs a Safety Officer who works with all agencies to encourage the development and implementation of effective safety programs that will impact new claims frequency. DAS is also providing early notice of accidents and prompt, thorough accident investigation to determine which claims or medical conditions may not be deemed 'work-related.'

Why this is important:
This web site shows the amount of general fund receipts received to date by the state compared to last year at the same date. This is one of the tracking mechanisms used for general fund revenues. It gives the viewers updated information on general fund revenues are being received compared to last year.

What we're doing about this:
Over the past few years, general fund revenues have either grown very little or declined. It is important to understand that general fund revenues are the main funding sources for state programs, so efforts are underway to realign state spending with revenues. It is also important for budgeting purposes for accurate general fund revenue estimates and efforts are underway to improve the data that is collected from tax returns, and expand and analyze state and national economic information to better help the estimating efforts.

Why this is important:
Personal income measures income received by households from wages, fringe benefits, rents, interest, dividends, and transfer payments like Social Security. It represents the main component of consumer purchasing power. Because consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of economic activity, growth (or declines) in personal income have a major impact on the economy.

Why this is important:
This represents the money income of workers in all industries. Changes in the figures over time reflect underlying trends in industry wages.

Why this is important:
Employment figures are a count of the number of filled jobs, excluding the self-employed, domestic jobs in private households, farm jobs, and the armed forces. Because some people work more than one job, the employment level also exceeds the number of working persons. Employment is the main source of household income and has a direct impact on consumer spending and the overall health of the economy.

The unemployment rate measures the number of persons 16 years of age and older who do not have jobs and are available for and actively seeking work within the labor force as a whole. This is a major indicator of the degree to which the state economy provides jobs for those who are seeking work.

NOTE: All of the figures were revised downward in the spring of 2005 in response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmarking effort and using the methodology changes which took affect in January 2005.

Why this is important:
This reflects the number of residential home sales within a year. Home sales are often a product of favorable interest rates, economic activity, and gains in disposable income.

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