A Message from Executive Director Marvin Dodge
Dear GovOps Colleagues and Friends,
Welcome to April! Spring has always been my favorite season of the year – the returning warmth, snow transitions to rain, the grass greens up, tree buds open, and flowers bloom. Be sure to take some time to enjoy this transition and to unwind and appreciate the beautiful wonders around us here in Utah!
I wish to continue reporting on my listening efforts. I express my sincere thanks to all the volunteers serving on our five Return to the Office committees, and members of the Focus Group I assembled to discuss employee needs, suggestions, and ideas. We meet monthly so I can listen to and review the ideas that are being shared. Here are a few updates based on recent suggestions.
a) 1:58 a.m. emails from Marv. I was made aware that some are worried by my late-night emails. Please understand my timing and work schedule reflects a life-long habit of being a night owl – it is not my expectation that any of you should be working at that time of the day or replying to my emails when they arrive late at night. Nor do I expect any of you to work longer than your standard workday or outside your normal working hours. Throughout my career I have been very respectful of employees’ personal, non-work time. It is incredibly rare (almost never) that I reach out to employees – including my leadership team – nights or weekends. Please do not fret.
b) Return to the Office. I’ve received many suggestions for how Return to the Office could be handled better with more flexibility. Thank you for your suggestions and please know that I am keeping a list of ideas. However, I also want you to know that I am not going to make any changes to the return directive for at least six months. Executive Director Tracy Gruber (DHHS), who also implemented return to office, and I agreed to allow time for folks to return and adjust to a new normal instead of making random adjustments along the way. Change requires time. In addition, the Governor’s Office is tracking our progress to determine best practices for the state.
c) Rural employee initiative. I remain committed to the Governor’s rural employee initiative and have directed all divisions to continue recruiting efforts in rural Utah. Rural workers fit well in GovOps due to our broad responsibilities reaching all corners of the state. This includes the many mobile workers we employ, particularly in DFCM. I’ve asked my Focus Group to prepare for a discussion at our April meeting on how to continue supporting rural and mobile workers along with how to successfully manage teams when the supervisor lives in a rural location.
d) Food truck park and construction. TSOB employees have undoubtedly witnessed several construction projects around the building. The landscaping is being updated to enhance the appearance and significantly reduce water consumption. The new food truck park is beginning to take shape on the southwest side of the building, included in this project at the food committee’s request. We look forward to expanded food opportunities later this summer. We are also discussing more options with our food vendors like gluten-free and vegetarian, however, these are items that often expire the quickest and become a loss leader for vendors. We’ll keep you updated on progress.
Construction of the new surplus warehouse and fleet building to the north of the front parking lot is well underway and will be a great addition to the campus when it opens this fall. UDOT recently announced construction of a frontage road along I-215 which will include a connector road running between the TSOB Annex and the Department of Health building. Once completed, this road will provide exceptionally quick access to our buildings from southbound I-215. At our request for employee and visitor safety, directional speakers for the visually impaired will be installed on the stop lights at the intersection of 2700 W where the TSOB parking lot exits (soon-to-be connector street).
e) ADA Accommodations. Based on rumors circulating in the department, please know that I have not, nor will I ever ask to review any ADA accommodation request, particularly those relative to Return to Office. While a number of requests were recently submitted, my direction to DHRM remains to follow historic practice. They should receive and process every request submitted and assess each in accordance with the federal laws that outline the criteria. Whatever decision DHRM reaches is final. I have not reviewed any request, nor am I being asked to provide input on Return to Office-related ADA requests.
Finally, I wish to thank Melissa Brown and members of her team for completing the GovOps website redesign including each of our divisions. The new design looks fresh and consistent. Content has been reviewed, pages reduced, and overall functionality enhanced. While it may take a little time for users to become acquainted with the new format, the finished product is a great step forward!
I look forward to our upcoming town hall meeting on April 24th where we can discuss current events and additional department items.
All the best for a wonderful spring,
Marv