Team Purpose

The Workforce Transition team was developed to transition employees whose positions are affected by the EMPOWER Kentucky Administrative Services project. The team’s goal is to successfully transition employees into other jobs in state government or redeploy them into newly created positions based upon a careful assessment of skills and interest, all without experiencing any loss in their base salary.

The plan has received strong support from the Governor and Personnel Cabinet, which has dedicated a number of key staff to this effort, as well as senior leaders and personnel officers throughout state government. A transition team has been formed to assist the affected employees through the transition process.
 

Team Structure and Roles

• Your Agency Personnel Staff - the role of each Agency’s Personnel Staff is to transition employees whose positions have been affected by the Administrative Services EMPOWER Kentucky project. The Personnel Cabinet and the Administrative Services team trained all personnel administrators in the transition process in March 1998. Responsibilities include the following:

• Identifying employees whose jobs will be affected by the EMPOWER Kentucky Administrative Services project, in conjunction with agency implementation team members.
• Working with the Administrative Services project Organizational Design Team to develop new positions and reclassify existing positions that will change significantly.
• Identifying internal vacancies and freezing those that may be filled by the affected employees.
• Providing job counseling to the employees, with the assistance of Personnel Cabinet Counselors.
• Tracking employees through the transition process.

• Rapid Response Team (RRT) - the role of the Rapid Response Team is to assist agencies affected by the Administrative Services project in conducting a smooth transition for employees whose positions have been affected as a result of the EMPOWER Kentucky initiative. Responsibilities include the following:

• Explaining the Outplacement Policy to employees who need placement.
• Providing job counseling and qualifying employees for placement on registers.
• Monitoring agency compliance to the outplacement policy.

• Human Resources Team (HRT) - the role of the Human Resources Team is to serve as liaison between the Finance Cabinet’s Administrative Services Team, Agency Personnel Staff and the Rapid Response Team. The Human Resources Team assists in developing the workforce transition plan. Responsibilities include the following:

• Providing agencies assistance in preparing Transition Plans for employees whose positions will change as a result of the process redesigns.
• Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the transition plan designed for the Administrative Services multi-agency project and reporting results to EMPOWER Kentucky project leaders.
• Surveying employees who participate in the outplacement process as a result of the Administrative Services project and their immediate supervisors (on a one, three and six month basis).
• Developing managers’ messages and press releases on the Transition Plan with the assistance of the Administrative Services Change Leadership Team.

Employee Focus

The EMPOWER Kentucky project, above all, is based on and driven by employees themselves. We value your work and commit to providing a strong framework for a smooth job transition for every employee affected by this effort.