interactive home-based employees and vocational support: the collaborative experience › wp-content...
TRANSCRIPT
Interactive Home-Based Employees and Vocational Support: The Collaborative Experience
Shawn WeldonShawn Weldon currently serves as a Senior System Administrator for Peckham Business Services IT, providing technical support to several hundred end users in a call center environment across multiple sites, working for several federal government agencies. Included in his role he configures and supports several IT solutions ranging from desktop support, to SCCM and VMWare – VDI. Supporting users with disabilities and barriers to employment, implementing accommodations to overcome those challenges is one of the areas of working for Peckham that Shawn loves most.
Prior to joining Peckham in 2014, Shawn worked for a Tool, and Die shop located in Grand Rapids, MI for 12 years. Shawn started as a Mechanical Engineer and transitioned to an IT System administrator supporting end users using a vast variety of IT solutions.
Shawn is a graduate of Grand Rapids Community college, earning an associate level degree in mechanical engineering and computer science. Shawn loves to travel, and enjoys sports of all levels. Shawn lives in Grand Rapids, MI with his wife Brittany and their two boys Carter and Cameron.
Erica Johnson-McNealErica Johnson-McNeal joined the Peckham Team in 2007 as a Vocational Services Specialist. She has worked with a large caseload of clients with a diverse range of disabilities and barriers to employment. She has served clients in Lansing, Grand Rapids, MI and has previously been involved with locations in Iowa and Arizona. Erica has primarily served Team Members working in call centers and custodial work. Erica has been involved with cross functional teams across Peckham including the Sustainability Team, Wellness Team, Peckham University, the Peckham Self- Advocacy Team and others.
Prior to joining the Peckham Human Services Team, Erica worked with secondary students (6th-12th grades) for 6 years. Her background of Education and Special Education work well with the role of case management and working with clients towards individualized goals.
Erica is a graduate of Central Michigan University and earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Michigan State University. She speaks German, loves to travel when able and enjoys cycling and gardening. She lives in Grand Rapids, MI with her husband, Ryan, her dog and her cat.
Pictre Here
Background
Intentions for our presentation• The background is that we started this journey only around one
year ago. This is a relevant topic that will continue to come up more and more as future work environments demand more of this type of opportunity.
• The information presented here today is to provide a look into how we got started, where we are headed, what we have learned, and what considerations we are preparing for as we move forward.
• You may have opportunities to use this information to speak with your own employer and team, community employers, or to explore future opportunities for the clients that you work with.
• We are not experts. We simply intend to share what we have learned along the way.
WHO WE ARE • Peckham, Inc., a nonprofit vocational rehabilitation organization, provides job
training opportunities for persons with significant disabilities and other barriers to employment. Peckham provides people with physical, cognitive, behavioral and socio-economic challenges, a platform to demonstrate their ability, learn new skills, participate in work and enjoy the rewards of their success. Peckham provides opportunities so clients can experience meaningful employment growth.
• We work with a specific area of Peckham called Business Services and we support call center training, on the job training, and supports while employed and building job skills. The VSS (Vocational Services Specialist) is typically found on-site with their clients and is available for crisis or more pro-active support. This is where more virtual supports and work first became an option. However, we have been expanding how we balance case management needs in other areas of business in new and creative ways as a result. For example, we have a VSS located in Arizona that is supporting clients in Lansing, MI during the overnight shift.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPtoWAFoZmU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BmHkDJxJQI
Telework Intro• Teleworking can be broken down in two types.
Regular telework: Where an employee has a consistent mix of telework and working onsite.
Occasional telework: Situational, where an employee always works onsite except during emergencies or other specific employer-approved situations.
• Teleworking requires many considerations from each business unit.
HR: (Legal documents)
VSS: (Support / Case Management)
Managers/Supervisors: (Inclusion / Coaching)
IT: Asset Management, Risk Management, Broad IT support.
• Consider a pilot before jumping in.
• Why we embarked on this journey
An at home worker example• “George” started working with Peckham a few years ago. He
recently moved. Due to his commute, his finances and enthusiasm were going down. Car troubles and his over an hour commute each way was impacting his finances and threatening his independence.
• Prior to moving, George’s performance on the phones was strong. His VSS and Supervisor worked with him to build and keep his performance metrics on track. He was able to apply to be an at home worker. His application was accepted and his journey started.
An at home worker: continued • He worked with his supervisor and his at home training to get his
work station set up at home. Within a few weeks, “George” was working from home.
• “George” continued to come in to the office one day/week and felt like he was still a part of the team. He had bi-weekly meetings set up with his VSS to continue check-ins as he has a history of social isolation.
• After some time “George” started having reasons to not come in to the office on a weekly basis (car troubles, repairs to the house, sick, etc.) His VSS started chatting with “George” daily to check in and see how things were going and provide encouragement.
An at home worker: final thoughts
• “George” was not maintaining his performance and started to have attendance concerns as well
• Meetings with his supervisor and VSS were scheduled weekly for a larger impact and to further support (on his day in the office)
• “George” was still not feeling like a part of his team. He was feeling isolated and communication with his supervisor was breaking down
• “George” is now coming in to the office 2-3 days/week and his connection to his team and supervisor is improving
• He will continue to be monitored and supported
• Each case is treated individually and days in the office vs. at home can be responsive to need
A Technical Focus
Technical Challenges• Asset tracking ability
Remote Management of those assets – patching / password resets
• Remote Troubleshooting/support – isolated incident vs wide spread – home user network connection
• VPN (Virtual Private Network) vs VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) – early day one vs future solution – benefits / gains
Desktops as a service
Make changes to one image – deploy to a pool of Virtual Machines for all users to share
Ability to provide all required toolsets remotely in a secure environment
All a user needs is an internet connection
Ability to support remote agents – outside of the four walls in GR
Redundancy preventing work stoppage
BYOD (Bring your own device) - Remote Agents become part DR (Disaster Recovery) plan
Solutions as a software
• Removes hardware requirement and traditional infrastructure of physical phones (Avaya OneX)
• Remote administration
• Connecting people face to face using Skype for Business
Operations• Isolated labor force where some individuals can become disconnected from
expectations without knowing it.
• Implementing the telework program, developing a system to track who is assigned to what and their frequency in the office.
• Overall increase in work life balance and performance for employees.
• Measuring performance of teleworkers and regularly intervening if performance decreases. Hiring agents in remote locations – not limited to hiring locally in GR
• Other opportunities within Business Services – existing contracts / expanding to new lines of business
• Connecting people face to face using Skype for Business and exploring new software as needs change and evolve
• Creating a process for setting clear expectations for at home work force
• Working from home is not only an opportunity for workers, but it can also be an accommodation. Each situation is observed as unique.
An Overview of Services
Getting Started• Traditionally, the VSS has been available on-site with their clients;
this has been a change in service delivery
• Getting started involved many considerations:
1. Case Management needs
2. Coordination with our IT Department and Supervisors for establishing best solutions for continuing best practices for case management
3. As we progressed with a hybrid type of work from home option two other environments were added as well. (Working 100% from home and Facility Based work with 100% virtual case management). We have learned to always explore new opportunities to utilize creative ways to provide virtual services
Best Solutions for Communication• Instant Messaging is a way to keep daily and in-the-moment communication
between Team Member (TM) and VSS (we use Skype IM)
• Email is a constant and dependable form of communication
• Outlook Calendar is a necessary tool for coordinating schedules and keeping supervisors in the loop as well
• Virtual Meetings are an excellent way to keep face-to-face communication going (VSS and TM both have Skype cameras and access on their computers)
• Phone Calls are a great back up and tool for communication
• One Day in the Office TMs work at least one day in the office/week to keep up with team activities and connect with their VSS in person
• Touch Point Opportunities This is not something currently available but will be further explored as we grow. This is where clients and VSS could meet in person at a monthly or regularly arranged location for in-person supports in scenarios where the client could be a 100% at home worker. Virtual case management could look very different in the future.
Strengths/Opportunities• TM’s have become more independent and pro-active when
coordination needs to happen outside of the office
• TM stress levels and barriers have reduced since they have more control over their work environment
• Work life balance has improved for many
• We can serve clients in locations outside of Grand Rapids, MI
• Attendance and performance improvements for those that work from home as an accommodation to remove barriers
Challenges• TM’s have one day in the office, but it is not always set.
• Technology and Skype do not always work
• TM isolation
• Communication breakdowns with team, staff, supervisors
• Culture changes when working primarily from home
• 100% Remote sites (real challenges with building rapport and joining culture) (Kentucky is facility based with 100% remote case management)
What remote support looks like• Skype Communication available during work day on work computer
(IM/Chat)
• Regular meetings set up with TMs struggling with communication or other barriers
• TMs are more purposeful in their daily interactions when in the office
• Email is still the primary communication method, but is not the only method available
• A flow of virtual meetings via Skype or phone conversations as needed
• Frequent communication with Supervisors on monitoring performance
• Working and coordinating with community resources
• Maintaining file compliance
Wrapping it all up
Final thoughts • The majority of TMs that work from home have maintained or
improved their performance since working remotely with one day in the office
• The other sites that we have with facility based workers and completely virtual case management are still pretty new as is our 100% remote site- so it is hard to say how performance is enhanced or modified; but it has been a great opportunity to explore and learn through
• The majority of TMs with some form of working from home enjoy the opportunity and are appreciative
• We will continue to explore ways to expand and improve our services as we move forward
Resources Used
• https://www.vmware.com/
• https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/anyconnect-secure-mobility-client/index.html
• https://www.avaya.com/en/
• https://www.skype.com/en/
• https://www.youtube.com
