Since my last update we have had five new employee cases of COVID-19, two of them resulting in a workplace exposure. A workplace exposure happens when someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19 has been in a city building while contagious. If this happens in a building where you work, you’ll get a notification via email. If you have been in close contact with the person, you will be contacted directly.
By now, many of our team members have been working from home since last March, while some have come back in a limited or different capacity. Others have carried on in the field or as part of a rotating office schedule to ensure essential services are covered. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve made it work while minimizing the spread of COVID-19.
Let’s continue to protect one another both at work and at home.
Protecting employees: Action required
You have received an email from HRmailbox@carlsbadca.gov about the city’s COVID-19 prevention plan, which outlines how employees are protected. All employees are required to review the plan and acknowledge receipt by Jan. 29. Please make time for this as soon as possible. Full details here.
Time to brush up on cybersecurity
Security@carlsbadca.gov sent you an email about your required cybersecurity training, which includes a new section about working from home. You have three months to finish your cybersecurity training, but I strongly encourage you to get it done sooner rather than later. Cyber threats are very real, and we need to remain vigilant. Full details here.
New digital tool – records management
Need to find a staff report from 1986? What about a specific contract when you can’t quite remember the name of the vendor? You’ll be happy to know that as part of ongoing efforts to utilize technology to be more efficient, the city is implementing a new records management system.
The new system will:
Provide a more user-friendly interface to help staff manage and find city public records
Make it easier to digitize forms, workflows and approval processes rather than doing it manually
In anticipation of the new records management system going live for the public and staff next Monday, Jan. 25, the Records Management team has reached out to provide customized training for each department to ensure the training material supports your business needs.
Staff kudos
In addition to the new records management system launching next week, progress continues on the city’s new Digital Information Network, a super high-speed fiber network that will deliver lightning fast internet speeds for city operations. This system will be foundational in spurring other technical innovations across the city, first of which will be the new digital phone system, which has recently crossed some major milestones. More information on that project will be coming later this month. Thank you to IT staff, for keeping us well connected and helping us be more efficient and user-friendly in all of our programs!
(Love your holiday team spirit from last month!)
Online training and support
The HR Department continues to put together timely and valuable online training opportunities and support resources that are available to you as employees.
Upcoming trainings include:
Essential coaching skills: How to help others gain direction and clarity, Jan. 20
Cultivating your work-life balance, Jan. 26
OneNote Advanced, Jan. 27
OneDrive for Business, Jan. 28
See the full details here.
In addition, print out this one-page summary highlighting helpful support resources like the Employee Assistance Program. This past year has been stressful to different people in different ways. It’s only natural that you might need extra support from time to time, and the EAP is a good place to start.
Our community continues to praise our efforts and give us kudos for the ways we are carrying on with city services. That’s thanks to each of you and the level of professionalism and commitment you bring to everything you do. Vaccines are being distributed, the holiday surge appears to have peaked, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
Hang in there, and thank you for all you do! We got this Team Carlsbad!
Miss my last update? Read it here.