Reality TV Inspires Revamped Supervisor Academy

Ever work with an Absent Amy or a Lazy Larry, or on the flip side, a Superstar Steve? All kinds of personalities show up in the workplace and a supervisor needs to make sure they all work well together to get the job done. Easy, right? Not so much.

Help is at hand with the new Supervisor Academy Redesigned. What’s so different about it? Instead of instruction based on presentations, the new Academy students participate in hands-on workshops along with role playing, a simulation, giveaways, prizes and even, yummy treats. Okay, sounds like fun, but how does that help you deal with the Absent Amys or Lazy Larrys?

“Soft skills are hard,” says Human Resources Analyst Shauna Rose-Pfeiffer, “and everybody thinks they’re the best person and all their staff loves them, but there are always things you can work on to help motivate them and get the best out of your staff.” 

First, acting supervisors must get a refresher on the basics. As a prerequisite for the Academy, they need to take the Supervisor Certificate Online Program (SCOP) offered on LMS. The program acts as a foundation for the Academy so when trainees get there they can focus on the soft skills. Some examples of those soft skills? How do I motivate staff; how should I handle difficult conversations with my staff; how do I juggle my workload with my supervisory duties? And yes, find out what’s going on with your Absent Amy and learn how to deal with the problem.

She’s just one of several fake employees who come complete with their own names, their own personalities, quirks, weaknesses and strengths. They’re presented as examples in the workshops. Attendees get the tools, resources and techniques to work successfully with the fake employees and then practice them. Experts give immediate feedback.    

“We use her a lot in the motivation workshop, how to motivate her to be on time. Is she bored? What’s wrong? She doesn’t like her work?” says Rose-Pfeiffer. “We’re trying to fix that kind of stuff.” 

So you may have your suspicions about Amy, but there may be more to it. “It might not be about Amy, it might be about the work environment. If you make the work environment better, Amy may not be so absent anymore.”  

The Academy also puts supervisors to the test in other ways. Do they have the right stuff for emergencies? Enter Supervisors Survival Island. You can get a taste of what that’s all about from this clip. Yes, Supervisors Survival Island comes complete with a simulated disaster, three tribes who find themselves stranded, an upcoming storm and other obstacles. How do you face those challenges, prepare for the tempest, and forge ahead despite the consequences of your decisions? It takes supervisors out of their usual environment and drops them into a challenging one.   

“This scenario takes place on the last day and gives supervisors a chance to practice their skills before they go back to the office.”

Sound interesting? If you manage a staff and want to attend the Academy, contact your supervisor and it goes up the ladder. Each of the five County Groups chooses six nominees for each session and the next one is scheduled for April.  It’s a privilege to be chosen, and a sign you may be groomed for better things to come. At the very least, the Academy gives you a chance to learn how to get better at what you do, a plus for you, your staff and the County overall. And don’t forget bragging rights, you lived through Supervisors Survival Island!      

Animal Services Vet Tech Goes MacGyver

Hungry kids don’t like waiting to eat, and that goes for goats too. When this 10-pound Nubian kid was brought to the Animal Services shelter in Bonita Tuesday, the little thing wanted milk. But the shelter only has to bottle-feed livestock occasionally, and staff discovered they were out of bottles. A quick-thinking employee, Registered Veterinary  Technician Yadira Figueroa, improvised, making a milk bottle from an empty container of Epi-Otic, an ear wash for dogs and cats. The kid gulped happily from Yadira’s bottle and had a full belly for the trip to a foster home later that day.

“Now this is what I call using your brain and getting creative to make things work,” said Animal Services Director Dawn Danielson. 

Pet of the Week: Shiatzi

Puppy love is all well and good. But 9-year-old Shiatzi’s mature and mellow ways have their own attraction. (Almost said “mature, mellow and dignified,” but you’re looking right at the photo!)

This spayed pit bull has lived many lives. Animal Services picked her up as a stray in rural North County. Her microchip identified an owner, but when contacted, the woman said Shiatzi had disappeared two years earlier. The woman owned four dogs now and couldn’t take Shiatzi back.

But it’s never too late to love again, and Shiatzi is searching for her forever home. She’s the laid back type, knows basic commands, and she’s been good with other dogs at the shelter.

You can meet Shiatzi at the County Animal Services shelter in Carlsbad, 2481 Palomar Airport Road. Please bring her ID number, A1452202, for reference. Her adoption fee is $35—the fee for the County’s senior dogs. For more information and shelter hours visit the Department of Animal Services online.

Pet of the Week Update

Good news! The Department of Animal Services reports that an HHSA employee adopted cool-cat Jagger this week after reading about him on InSite. 

Recycling check

The County’s been collecting mixed recyclables at dozens of our buildings for a little more than two years. As time goes on, it looks like employees and the public are getting more and more clued in to the  blue bins. In 2011, the County recycled 52 percent more material—paper, bottles and cans— than in 2010.   

 Mixed recycling—or comingled recycling, if you prefer— has been in place at 128 locations, including libraries, Sheriff’s stations, our County office buildings and public health centers, since the start of 2010. In the first year of the mixed recycling effort, contractor EDCO collected about 1,350 tons of material from us, according to Walt Stepahin, facilities support manager with General Services.  

Last year, that amount increased to 2,052 tons.

As you might imagine, paper accounts for the bulk of the recycling. During quarter of 2011, 68 percent of the collection was paper, 20 percent cardboard, and 12 percent plastic, glass, and metal bottles and cans.

But, again, we seem to be getting more used to this concept of mixed recycling. In the first three months of the program back in 2010, less than 3 percent of the collection was bottles and cans. Some 97.5 percent was paper or cardboard, according to an EDCO report.

Employees who work at the County Administration Center may just be getting used to the concept of comingled recycling. General Services recently  took over the building’s management and has furnished many departments with their first blue bins.

So CAC employees, anyone else who needs a refresher, here’s the drill: You can chuck almost every kind of plastic, glass, and metal jar, jug, or bottle and almost every paper product into  those blue receptacles.

Some commonplace items are exceptions.  These include disposable  plates and cups, milk and juice cartons, tissue, plastic grocery bags, Styrofoam, and light bulbs.

To make sure your department gets it just right, you can post this flyer near the recycling bin.

Pet of the Week: This Cat’s a Rock Star!

This “Jagger’s” moves make cat lovers melt, and he even dresses better than his namesake. Staff members at the County shelter in Carlsbad say Jagger’s the most well-adjusted, social, mellow, affectionate and contented cat they’ve seen in a long time. He’s cool with stretching out on laps, on a desk, in a patch of sunshine—wherever. He’s 2 years old, neutered and looking forward to lavishing languorous love on a new family. His adoption fee of $58 includes a microchip, vaccinations and a free veterinary examination.

 Jagger’s waiting to meet you at the County Animal Services shelter in Carlsbad, 2481 Palomar Airport Road. Please bring his ID number, A1451052, for reference. For more information and shelter hours visit the Department of Animal Services online.

Jagger chills out and helps the staff at Animal Services in Carlsbad.

'San Diego’s Most Wanted' Taps ME’s Office Expertise

Fox 5 reporter Lynn Stuart interviews Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Jon Lucas for the show "San Diego's Most Wanted."

Prescription drug abuse is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. and San Diego County, even surpassing the number of motor vehicle fatalities. Who sees this trend first-hand? For one, the County’s Medical Examiner’s Office; and reporter Lynn Stuart from Fox 5’s San Diego’s Most Wanted interviewed our Dr. Jonathan Lucas to get his take on why the numbers have grown. In the last ten years, he’s seen the number of prescription drug-related deaths nearly double.  

The Medical Examiner’s Office investigates thousands of unnatural deaths a year whether they were caused by homicides, suicides, accidents, or the sudden unexpected deaths of people who were not recently under a doctor’s care.

Dr. Lucas is the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, the second-in-command at the department. Part of his job involves tracking trends. The growing problem with prescription drug abuse prompted the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department and Health & Human Services Agency to work together to educate the community about the problem and how to prevent it from getting worse.  

Most cases involve people in their 40’s and 50’s who suffer from chronic pain and become addicted to pain medication, but he also sees young people who have died from abusing prescription drugs. “One of the big problems among young people is access,” said Lucas. “The common way for them to get these drugs is from the medicine cabinet at home.” They may find leftover Oxycontin pills and in time become addicted. When they can’t afford it anymore, they switch to heroin and die from it.

Stuart says San Diego’s Most Wanted appeals to a younger audience and the segment on prescription drug abuse deaths may hit home. The program is scheduled to air on Fox 5 Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and repeat the following day at 11 p.m.   

Love is in the Air

Valentine's Day may mean mushy cards, flowers and boxes of chocolates to you, but to some County workers it means weddings - and lots of them!

The Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s (ARCC) Office is gearing up for one of its busiest wedding days of the year. More than 100 couples are expected to get marriage licenses and recite their vows at the County Administration Center or a branch office in San Marcos and El Cajon. In preparation for this big event, ARCC recruited volunteers and reassigned staff members to act as deputy marriage commissioners to make sure all the bridal couples who come in can tie the knot.

While appointments at three offices are filling up fast, the downtown office at the CAC is taking walk-ins as well. That means if five couples walk in just before closing time at 5 p.m., staff will make sure the bride and groom get the wedding they will always remember.

Sometimes, it’s the deputy marriage commissioners who remember the special day. A few years ago on Valentine’s Day, one enterprising gentleman asked his girlfriend to meet him in Room 273 at the CAC. She agreed. Little did she know she had entered what insiders call the ‘Marriage Room.”  She walked in and he popped the question. “He went out on a limb and she said yes,” said Sandra Banaga, ARCC Assistant Division Chief. “They got married right then.”

Banaga will tell you her staff members have seen it all. Some weddings are big family affairs; others are just a party of four, marriage commissioner, witness, bride and groom. Some couples go all out in the traditional formal dresses and tuxedos, or they show up in shorts and t-shirts. No matter, it’s all about the time honored tradition of saying “I do.” And County staff members can’t help but get caught up in the excitement of the special day too. How many other people spend their day at work saying “I now pronounce you husband and wife?”             

Pet of the Week: Patches and Lily

Welcome to Pet of the Week. Our County's three shelters in Carlsbad, San Diego and Bonita are always a great source for employees or people you know to find a new furry family member. Each week on Insite, we plan to highlight one of the many pets the Department of Animal Services has available for adoption. These pets will also be featured on the County News Center, so if you see a Pet of the Week you think would be perfect for a friend or family member who doesn't work for County, you can send the potential adopter to the County News Center.

Wouldn't you know it, the first Pet of the Week is actually two animals. 

Patches and Lily are a bonded pair of guinea pigs that have lived together their entire lives.

Now the 2-year-old friends would like to be adopted together into a new home. They both love tangerines and like to be petted and brushed. They’re used to living indoors with people and are both litter box trained. Patches, ID number A1451628, and Lily, A1451628, are currently available at the County Animal Services shelter in San Diego, 5480 Gaines St. The adoption fee is only $10 for both animals; please bring their ID numbers for reference when you visit. For more information and shelter hours visit the Department of Animal Services online.

Making All The Difference…

Laurie Johnson (center) received her award from Chairman Ron Roberts and Child Welfare Services Director Debra Zanders-Willis.

A volunteer who gives her time, friendship and advice mentoring a foster child is the proud winner of the County Volunteer of the Month award. Chairman Ron Roberts presented the award to Laurie Johnson during the Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting.

She has been a volunteer for Health and Human Services Agency Foster Youth Mentor Program since December 2008. More than 450 volunteers take part in the program. Johnson was nominated because of her selfless commitment in giving her support, counsel and unconditional friendship to one child.

“Laurie offers a future with hope, aspirations and optimism,” said Chairman Ron Roberts. “She has truly made a difference in the life of this youth.”

As a volunteer, Johnson works with teachers, group home staff, a mentor liaison, the Court Appointed Special Advocate and social workers if they’re needed.  While thanking the Board for the honor, Johnson said she couldn’t have done her part as a volunteer without the support she received. She recommends the program to anyone, saying the time spent is well worth it. “I’ve grown close to my mentee and look forward to seeing how she grows into a young woman,” said Johnson. “I’m hopeful I am making a difference in her life.”

During the last year, the volunteers in the Foster Youth Mentor Program have donated more than 11,000 hours of their time, a benefit worth over $247,000 to San Diego County.

San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith’s County Connection

Pam Smith and Alex in Washington D.C. last year after a meeting with the Speaker of the House to talk about the needs of foster youth.

If you’re a football fan who’s been dedicated to a particular team year in, year out, you know about the heady highs and the depressing lows.

Now, imagine the intensity of being wrapped up in every season, every game, every play, not just for fun and from habit, but because the starting quarterback is your son.

Some of you may know, Pam Smith, our County’s HHSA East and North Central Regions head and Aging and Independence Services director, is mother of Alex Smith, the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback who helped take his team within a game of the Super Bowl this year.

Alex Smith’s  fraught career—from number one draft pick in 2005, to six straight disappointing seasons with numerous injuries with the 49ers, to his career redefining season this year—and his likability and persistence have drawn a lot of media attention lately. He was featured in the Sports Illustrated cover story earlier this month.

“They see it as a story of perseverance,” said Pam Smith. “...that patience and hard work can pay off.”

Smith said the 49ers loss to the New York Giants Sunday after their wildly exciting victory over the favored New Orleans Saints the weekend before—with Alex playing a central role—was the kind of heart-rending drama she’s learned to handle as she’s supported her son through his career's struggles.

Working under three coaches, a different offensive coordinator every year, and sitting out the entire 2008 season due to a shoulder injury, until this year, Alex Smith’s talents, persistence and opportunity had never quite jelled.

“It’s been a long, hard road, I tell you,” Pam Smith said.

Smith and her husband Doug have attended every one of Alex’s NFL games, and Alex’s three siblings and large extended family go to as many as they can.

“We’ve been the first faces he’s seen after some of the worst games,” Smith said. “Sometimes you search for words, but it’s always about helping him get through it in a positive way.”

Despite its disappointing end Sunday, Smith said 2011 was a, “very, very exciting season.”

It almost didn’t happen.  Alex was a free agent after the end of the 2010 season, and his family had urged him to leave San Francisco. But a new coach, Jim Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback himself, liked what he saw in Alex.  Encouraged by the new leader and guided by loyalty to the 49ers and his longstanding aim to play his best in San Francisco, Alex signed a one-year contract with the team.

At Candlestick Park Sunday, the national anthem was interrupted by the wild cheering when the camera turned on Alex Smith. It was a marked contrast to 2010, when during one low point in a game, home fans had booed Smith and called for the backup quarterback to take the field.

“When they like you, it’s out of proportion, and when they don’t like you, it’s out of proportion,” said Pam Smith.

That’s why it’s been important to keep fan reaction and everything about an NFL career in perspective, Pam Smith said. Alex has a knack for this.

“He’s down to earth, he’s humble, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet; he’s not any different now than he was when he started playing,” Smith said. “He feels he’s lucky to do something he loves; lucky for the opportunity.”

In the past couple years, getting married and having his first child, a boy, have also been sources of joy for Alex, 27.

Also helping Alex keep a healthy perspective has been his work with the Alex Smith Foundation, whose mission is to support transitional age foster youth. Alex founded the organization at the outset of his NFL career, and the work has been a  positive constant throughout football’s ups and downs.

“Through all these bad years, his foundation has done a tremendous amount of work and good,” Smith said.

In one of the foundation’s programs,  foster teens get to take a special course at SDSU, so they can experience college and envision themselves there. And the foundation’s Guardian Scholars Program at SDSU supports former foster youth to help them earn a degree. Fewer than 2 percent of former foster youth who enter college graduate, Pam Smith said. Alex’s scholars so far have achieved a 75 percent graduation rate.

Alex first became interested in supporting foster youth after attending a San Pasqual Academy football game shortly after being drafted into the NFL. San Pasqual Academy is the County’s unique residential high school for foster youth near Escondido.

“He just linked with those kids,” Pam Smith said. “Here he was 20, and he was facing the daunting task of going into the NFL number  one, and he had a lot of family and support to help him.”

“These people were 17, 18, and frankly, he couldn’t imagine it...starting life at that age with no family support.”

Alex Smith’s connection to the County means it’s not just his mother who’s invested in his career. HHSA employees have also been rooting for him, and they’ve been happy for Alex and Pam Smith this year, said Denise Nelesen, Communications Manager for Aging and Independence Services.

“It’s like he finally gets some just deserts for all his work and his effort...you can hear people talking about it up and down the hall.”

It’s not just their vicarious proximity to an NFL celebrity that keeps employees interested, according to Nelesen.

“Because everyone cares about Pam, and she’s always so  good with everyone, it’s exciting to see something good happening with her and her family.”

Nelesen said she has worked with Pam Smith for 12 years and followed Alex’s progress since he was a champion quarterback and top scholar at Helix High School.

Interestingly,  many of  the successful traits Pam Smith ascribes to her son, Nelesen also sees in Pam.

“One of her strengths is positivity. She’s always looking at what can be learned from a tough situation,” Nelesen says.  “She espouses the futility of pointing a finger of blame for any failure, but rather aims all eyes toward what we can do better.”  

  Left to right, Alex's brother Josh Smith and Josh's wife Patty, father Doug Smith, Jay Leno, Alex, Pam, and Abbey, Alex's sister