Minnesota Reorganization PlanMay 15, 2018 Minnesota Leadership Team

SECRETARY’S OFFICE OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The Bold Goal“We intend to lead the way, to provide The BEST customer service of any Department in the Federal Government.”

Secretary Sonny Perdue and Deputy Secretary Steve Censky

Why Change? Why Now?Change is not always easy but I believe this change is needed for everyone’s best interest.

Change had to happen. We cannot sustain at a high proficiency level much longer at the current staffing numbers.

I cannot expect all of you to continue working as hard as you have and wearing so many hats. This is not good for you or the customer.

I know this change will bring added stability to the offices and your position.This change will offer added career development opportunities.

There are many more reasons for this change as we transition ourselves into a different staffing structure that serves the customer best and utilizes all your skills in the very best way with a common sense approach.

Why Change? Why Now? (cont.)

Team Minnesota is moving to restructure the conservation delivery system to provide the very best customer service and customer experience for you and for our customers.

We have been challenged these past years with reduced staff numbers and yet very high demand for financial and technical assistance workloads.

This restructuring of the conservation delivery system is designed to meet the customers (internal and external) needs by having the right people in the right places, doing the right jobs.

As mentioned in the previous slide, we have been expecting all of you to wear multiple hats of responsibility over the years and its time for each of us to refocus our delivery on existing skills and abilities we have and continuing to be the go to experts we all want to be.

Reorganization is needed.The most critical and identified reasons are:

• Current reduced staffing levels due to USDA reorganization, retirement, resignations, career opportunities and other attrition types.

• The need for additional time and resources to provide more on-hands technical assistance to the customer. (relationship building & follow-up).

• Better utilization of skillsets, talents and interests our staff currently obtain and or desire.

• In the best interest of staff retention and overall job satisfaction.

• The need to be effectively and efficiently responsive to the customer.

USDA ParametersThe USDA has set forth new departmental and agency specific criteria impacting our structure and what USDA will look like in the future.

• Staff will be primarily focused on the optimal customer experience.

• Ratio of Mission Delivery Staff to Mission Support Staff should be at 90/10. With 90% of staff be field-faced providing direct support to the customer.

• Improved ratio of supervisor to direct reports. Minnesota has a goal to transition into a 1:8 ratio over the next five years.

• Distances between physical offices is being reviewed for consideration of efficiencies and access to customers.

USDA Parameters (cont.)

• There is a new Department Regulation that specifies all offices going forward will have FSA and NRCS sharing a suite/office space. Therefore the supervisory office locations are tied to locations where FSA and NRCS both have a presence.

• NHQ has released a new workload assessment metric that all states are required to use. Minnesota has also chosen to include additional metrics as some of you have helped me with and best describing and capturing our existing workloads.

• The National workload assessment snapshot taken on December 1st, 2017 supports 260 NRCS staff for Minnesota.

• The new Reorganization Staffing Plan for Minnesota asks for 285 NRCS staff that we plan to be able to justify. We are currently at 237 FTE employees. An additional 48 staff needed as of today.

• Just three years ago we were over 300 employees. A loss of over 70 employees.

The MN Reorganization Plan From Six Areas to Four Areas Absolutely No Direct Reassignments Creation of new Conservation Delivery Teams (CDT) Increase in field level staff (customer service) 8 per CDT Addition of new Technical Support Specialist Teams (TSS) Increase in career ladder opportunities across the state Volunteer Reassignments will be considered based on need and

available space In make-sense situations offer movement of selected statewide specialist

positions to more field accessible locations (volunteer reassignment) of duty station change.

Streamlining the workload responsibilities of the Conservation Delivery Teams by taking Easements and Compliance off their plates and placing full responsibility onto the Easement Team and Compliance Team.

One-Team Easements

One-Team WC/HEL

MapNew MN Structure

4 Area Offices21 CDTs (Conservation Delivery Teams)

All Field Offices remain – No FO Closures

4+ TSSs (Technical Service Specialists

Movement of appropriate SO staff to field when/where appropriate

Physical Office LocationsThere will be 21 Conservation Delivery Teams (CDT)

There will be no Field Office Closures in this reorganization.

The only movement of offices will be at the Area Office level. • Consolidation of Area Offices that are in the same

community as a Field Office – leasing based not personnel based

• Proposed movement to new centralized location for Area Offices – Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast

• Proposed closure of Area Office in Brooklyn Center – all staff will have a position somewhere within MN

Changes to PositionsAll Supervisory Conservation Delivery Team Lead positions for the CDTs will be GS-12, advertised and competed for.

All other GS-11/12 District Conservationists not selected for the Conservation Delivery Team Lead will maintain their pay grade and be non-supervisory Resource Conservationists and providing technical assistance. In their current duty station.

The Conservation Delivery Team Lead will have operational, managerial, and supervisory duties, not technical.

Again, no one will experience a loss of grade as a result of the reorganization.

Differences in Position DescriptionsConservation Delivery Team Leader (Supervisor) Supervision of all staff within the

CDT Focus on all aspects of

supervision including training needs of staff

Focus on partnerships, maintaining and identifying new opportunities

Primary contact with the SWCDs Ensure that the CDT staff are

addressing the workload of the full CDT and not a single office

Managing the resources assigned to the CDT

Accountable for QA for the CDT

Resource Conservationist No supervision Certified Planner (must be

higher than apprentice) Primary focus is planning,

implementation of practices and follow-up

Serve as secondary point of contact with the SWCDs

Ensure that the CDT workload needs are brought forward to the CDT Leader

Assist with training needs of CDT Staff (JAA, Certified Planner, etc.)

Base Model of Positions in Area Office

Assistant State Conservationist – Field Operations Area (GS 0301/0401/0457-13)

Area Resource Conservationist (GS 0457-12)Area Program Specialist (GS 0401/0457-12)Area Engineer (GS 0810/0890-12)Area Administrative Coordinator (GS 0303-06/FPL 08)Area Accounting Technician (GS 0525- 05/FPL 07)Business Tools Team Member – GIS (GS 0301-11)

Base Model of Positions for Conservation Delivery Teams

Conservation Delivery Team Leader (GS 0457-12)Resource Conservationist (GS 0457-11 or 12 current DCs)Soil Conservationist (GS 0457-07/09)Soil Conservationist (GS 0457-05)Soil Conservation Technician (GS 0401-03/FPL 08)Civil Engineering Technician (GS 0802-05/FPL 09)Additional positions as necessary

Number of each position within the Conservation Delivery Team will be determined by existing workloads and types of workload.

Sample Future CDT Org Chart

Proposed members of Technical Support Specialists (TSS)

Technical Support Specialist would include but are not limited to the following types of positions:

Agronomist (GS 0457/0471 – 09/ FPL 11)Ag Engineer (GS 0890-11)Nutrient Management Specialist (GS 0457/0471-11)Grazing Specialist (GS 0457/0454-09/ FPL 11)Water Management Engineer (GS 0890-11)Hydrologic Engineer (GS 0890-11)Forester (GS 0460-09/ FPL 11)Biologist (GS 0401-11)Civil Engineering Technician (GS 0802-09/ FPL 10)

Benefits to the reorganizationThe Minnesota Reorganization plan offers us the opportunity to:• More effectively deliver services in a real time shrinking workforce• Supports staff focused on mission delivery by providing more

designated technical staff (Added Resource Conservationists and Technical Support Service Teams)

• Flexibility to respond to changes in the Farm Bill, staffing, workload, program timelines

• Increased career path opportunities for staff within state.• All Easements, Wetland Compliance and HEL workloads will be handled

exclusively by assigned TSS Teams • Reduce administrative burden on staff by having dedicated

administrative/operational staff.• Achieve more efficient Supervisor to Employee Ratio 1:8• Allowing people to work to their strengths by streamlining job duties

(fewer hats).

Good News in Hiring!!

Monday, May 14th Under Secretary Northey announced that he has gotten approval from the Secretary for NRCS wide hiring to begin. The agency cap has been increased from 10,378 to 10,800.

NRCS Agency wide has been approved to fill 1100 positions; 400 in June and additional 400 in August and additional staff to be filled in 1st Qtr. FY 19.

It is not yet clear how many of these positions will be in MN, however, MN is actively providing a list of priority to fill positions statewide.

Filling Vacancies

MN Leadership team cannot begin to fill positions based on the new reorganization plan until it is approved.

We can fill existing positions that are vacant. The focus will be on field level staff such as:

Soil ConservationistsSoil Conservation TechniciansCivil Engineer TechniciansArea Engineers

There will also be additional leadership team and technical specialists on the list of priority to fill positions.

Details – Filling the HolesThe MN Leadership Team and Curtis Elke continue to focus on filling the holes across the state to provide relief to our field staffs.

This is being done via detail assignments; we currently have 21 individuals from 9 states assisting with our workload.

There will be approximately 25 positions advertised this month to provide ongoing coverage to Minnesota until the positions are filled.

The Road to ImplementationAfter the allowed two week comment period for all NRCS staff and key partner leaders, Curtis Elke will read and consider all comments and then share your collected suggestions with the leadership team for our final approval.

The MN Leadership Team will then package the Minnesota Reorganization Plan for National and Departmental review and approval. (12-18 months typically until we receive National NRCS and USDA Departmental final response)

The MN Leadership Team will then implement this plan upon approval by NHQ and the Department.

This plan will be implemented by filling the supervisory positions first then working down the organizational charts to fully staff each office as quickly as positions are approved for advertisement.

As MN receives approval to fill positions the Leadership Team will work together to fill as many field positions as possible.

Training Package Phase I In the interim, Training all Leadership Team on the

expectations of the Reorganization Implementation and support will occur.

Training opportunity for all potential Team Leader positions:

What is expected as Team Leader How to manage a larger geographic work area How to manage remote employees Office Operations

Training opportunity for all employees: USAJobs How to complete an position application How to write a resume Interview skills

Training Package Phase II Team Leader training after selected:

Accountability Supervision

Dealing with conduct issues Dealing with performance issues

How to manage staff/workload Getting the Right People in the Right Place

Mobility of staff within the Team boundaries District Relations Leadership

How to access/work with the TSS Team for support Training opportunity for all employees:

Work-Life Balance How to manage change Time management Stress management

Understanding the processThe MN Leadership Team has worked through a lengthy process to review reorganizations recently completed by several other states (particularly in the Central Region).

By evaluating several other state reorganization plans we were able to identify what worked, what didn’t work, and other lessons learned in the process of a reorganization that best fits Minnesota.

The Leadership Team wants to assure you, all your best interests were taken into consideration and creating a plan that would put our agency out in front providing the very best technical assistance to our customers.

This sort of reorganizational structure is not new and has been successfully implemented in other states for over 20 years, in various forms.

Understanding the processThe MN Leadership Team have 100% consensually agreed to this proposed plan for your review and comment and are committed to seeing it thru to the finish line once approved.

Your buy-in, comments and support are integral to the success of this plan. We want a plan that works for you!

The leadership team believes the state needs a path forward that will address the workload needs at the field level and making the state more responsive to the things outside of our control such as a new farm bill, budgets, and Departmental requirements.

Developing a plan for the future has been challenging with all the changes we have experienced thus far. However, we believe this plan is field focused with the customer experience in mind and of course all of you in mind as well.

The revised DR-1010-001 process

In January the process to complete a reorganization was revised by the USDA for all agencies.

The new process requires a request be submitted for the Under Secretary and Secretary to review and provide consideration. This results in a list of required documentation or approval to proceed with the plan.

It is true that it can take upwards of 12 – 18 months to get approval of the reorganization plan; in the old format. No state has completed the new process to date.

MN intends to have the initial request submitted the first week of June 2018.

Strength of NRCS

NRCS has great strength in local staff and relationships. Local farmers and ranchers value relationships with NRCS built on trust, communication, flexibility, and the information or resources provided to help minimize risks.

The Leadership Team recognizes that field offices are extremely busy and your plates are overloaded. However, we all need to find the time to get to know the producers and their land, listen and teach where opportunity allows, and keep an attitude that’s service oriented.

Strength of NRCSTrust is developed when the employee-customer relationship is truly a partnership and when the assistance and recommendations incorporate the knowledge the customer has provided about their own land.

NRCS is learning that in many cases, the traditional delivery structure model does not provide enough capacity, flexibility and personal empowerment needed to serve the customers at a level they deserve and expect. The trust and credibility of NRCS is built on the relationships developed one-on-one with local customers.

We want to again be the technical strength agency of choice in all we do and this reorganization plan supports that!

The Leadership Team would like your feedback

The Leadership Team would like your feedback, ideas and comments on the following portions of the MN Reorganization Plan:Conservation Delivery Team Staff (Service Center Area)

What positions are needed to make it effective?

Technical Support Specialist TeamWhat positions are needed?How many teams?What locations?What should be their territory of responsibility?

Area Office locationsWhat three locations for NW, NE, and SE Area Offices? (SW - Marshall already decided)

Other positionsWhat additional positions would you like to see in Minnesota that haven’t already been mentioned in the proposed plan?

Any additional Comments you want to shareAll comments are encouraged and welcomed

Town Hall Meetings – Q & A Open Comment Period – May 14 – May 29• Staff are invited to provide feedback and comments on a list of topics. An

email has been sent to all staff that contains a link to Survey Monkey. This feedback will assist the Leadership Team in finalizing the MN Reorganization Plan. PLEASE Do Not Forward the link.

Partners will not receive the Survey Monkey link. They will be contacted by their Leadership/Directors for comment.

June 2018 - Submittal of Part 1 of the 1010 packet to NHQ and USDA

June 2018 - Initiate the Training Package

SECRETARY’S OFFICE OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

As We Look Forward Let’s continue to Commit in Being-----Helpful

– “You can count on me.”Courteous

– “Caring service with a smile.”Accessible

– “I’m here for you.”Responsive

– “I’m on it.”Knowledgeable

– “The right answer, the first time.”

Thank you Team MinnesotaTogether We Chart New Waters!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

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