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Reconfiguring Division of Highways staff saves
nearly 21,000 personnel hours

Balancing workloads with resources in the Division of Highways has always been complex, demanding, and a challenge. When those challenges became even more pronounced, division business manager Linda Brown (pictured below) devised a way this summer to consolidate personnel and still get everything done.

By pooling administrative support (going from 15 FTEs to 5) and hiring financial technicians to support financial activities, she was able to reduce the amount of office support required by nearly 21,000 hours. The division now has one administrative assistant and two financial techs per division.

"When our administrative staff was embedded in each unit, some were crazy busy, some were bored and we had no coverage when someone was gone, for any reason at all (training, sick, vacation)," Brown explained. "The support staff now have a wider range of support, and can help all sections and see efficiencies throughout the division."

The financial technicians perform duties in a job-share fashion, allowing them to attend trainings, use sick and vacation time, complete each other's tasks, and provide excellent customer service (either one can answer any question from anyone in the division).

The administrative support was relocated to a central location, removing silos, and allowing for easy job coverage and customer-service support.

The new employees answer to Linda, and ultimately report directly to the division's administrators, Blake Rindlisbacher and Kimbol Allen.