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In this Issue
Performance evaluations are due by Dec. 11. Managers and employees are encouraged to schedule time to complete their respective steps by the due dates listed below. To keep to the timeline, managers should be preparing to rate employees’ performance, due to their manager on Nov. 13.
- Employee completes Year-end Feedback Form – due Oct. 31
- Manager rates employee’s performance, submits to manager's manager – due Nov. 13
- Manager's manager approves review – due Nov. 20
- Manager and employee meet to review final rating – due Dec. 6
Managers are encouraged to use the tools in Perform, such as journal entries, writing assistants, and the employee Year-end Feedback Form while rating employee performance and completing the annual performance evaluation.
To learn more about how to complete performance evaluations in Perform, access the following:
Open Enrollment begins Monday, and your Open Enrollment informational packet (PDF) and online enrollment instructions (PDF) should be arriving in the mail.
Start looking through the information and think about your options. Then make your selections online at MetCouncilBenefits.hrintouch.com during the Open Enrollment period Monday, Nov. 1, through Friday, Nov. 19.
Visit the Open Enrollment page on MetNet for more information, including:
- Enrollment actions allowed during Open Enrollment and which selections roll over to 2022 automatically
- Choosing the Flexible Spending Accounts that are right for you
- Updates for 2022, including what you need to know about TASC, the new administrator for the Flexible Spending Accounts
- Links to helpful videos
- How to review your benefits and log in to the online enrollment website
Questions? Call the Met Council's Benefits-One line at 651-602-1601, email Benefits@metc.state.mn.us, or join one of the virtual info sessions linked below to hear more and ask questions of the Benefits team. (Click the link to add the Microsoft Teams session to your calendar.)
Monday, Nov. 1, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 3, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, Nov. 4, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 12, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 17, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 19, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
If you are not able to join a session live, a recording of one of the sessions will be posted for later viewing.
“The health of any relationship, team, or organization can be measured by the lag between identifying and discussing problems.” Joseph Grenny, co-author of Crucial Conversations.
When the stakes are high and you are not getting desired results, it’s likely an important conversation hasn’t happened or hasn’t been handled well. At the heart of healthy and high-performance organizations are people willing and able to hold important conversations quickly, directly, and effectively when it matters most.
The Crucial Conversations class is designed to build skills to have effective conversations when you are not getting the results you desire and/or the stakes are high. This instructor-led class will be offered Wednesday, Nov. 3, via Webex from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.
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Go to Learn.
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If you have a Council-issued email address, go to the Talent Hub page on MetNet and click Learn. Then click "Employee with an email address."
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If you do not, go to https://metc.sumtotal.host, click the "Employee without an email address" button, and sign in with your Learn username and password.
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Click the library book icon at the top of the page, locate “A-Learning Institute,” and click the arrow pointing to the right.
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Click “LOD Classes Open for Registration.”
- Locate the class and register.
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Nominations will be accepted through Nov. 3 and evaluated by the Office of Equal Opportunity leadership team for the new Equity and Inclusion Award as part of the annual employee recognition event.
Examples of equity initiatives include:
- Removing barriers to Met Council contract and procurement opportunities for businesses and individuals who have been historically underrepresented
- Increasing the integrity of equity efforts by ensuring public transparency for and participation of those most impacted by our actions
- Redefining equity measures and using resulting data to identify current racial or accessibility-related disparities in the Met Council’s regionally delivered services and investments
- Special efforts to increase diversity and inclusion within the Met Council’s staff positions
Use this nomination form to nominate Met Council staff or team members from any division.
Frontline employees who want to gain supervisory experience will be invited to apply for the Leadership Academy starting next week.
Employees who are accepted into the Leadership Academy program will spend six months working alongside mentors in full-time acting supervisory roles and take online and instructor-led classes. By completing the program, participants earn the equivalent of one year of supervisory experience that can be used to meet minimum qualifications for Met Council supervisory job openings.
Selected participants will complete their on-the-job-experience in one of the following cohorts:
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March 2022
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September 2022
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March 2023
- September 2023
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and in case you missed it, look back at our articles from the past few weeks for more on how the Met Council is working to create a more inclusive work environment:
- Sept. 30: Learn about the importance of this work, a new workforce data and Affirmative Action Plan dashboard, and a few initiatives already underway.
- Oct. 14: Hear about the summer 2022 Ability Internship pilot program.
Now, we'd like to share with you the Met Council’s recently updated reasonable accommodations process and an invitation to work with Human Resources and the Office of Equal Opportunity to help make the Met Council a more inclusive workplace for current and prospective staff with disabilities.
A reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment to a job, work environment, or the way things are usually done that would allow an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform job functions, or enjoy equal access to benefits available to other employees. In addition to prohibiting discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires covered employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to qualified job applicants and employees with disabilities.
- Job restructuring, such as altering when and/or how an essential function of a job is performed or reallocating marginal job functions that an employee is unable to perform because of a disability.
- Modifying work schedules to allow an employee with a disability to attend to matters related to treating the disability, such as medical appointments or medication schedules.
- Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, such as adjusting a desk height to accommodate an employee who uses a wheelchair or providing an employee with quadriplegia a mouth stick to type on their computer.
- Adjusting or modifying tests and training materials (for example, providing materials in alternate formats, such as braille, CD, or large print).
- Providing assistive technology or devices, such as computer screen readers for employees with visual impairments or a specific telephone compatible with an employee’s hearing aid (this does not include personal assistive devices, such as hearing aids or prosthetics).
To request a reasonable accommodation, contact your manager or submit an Employee Request for Accommodation (PDF) to Occupational Health at HR-OccHealth@metc.state.mn.us.
We know the work to improve employment opportunities and success for individuals with disabilities is in its early stages. We welcome your feedback on how the Met Council can be an employer of choice for people with disabilities and a place where staff with disabilities feel welcome, understood, valued, and have opportunities to lead our efforts as we grow a more prosperous region.
While October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we know that all cancers are important and should not be overlooked.
Some cancers can be found early, before they have had a chance to grow and spread. To help make regular cancer screening easier, make it an annual event to have everyone in your family complete their applicable health screenings and appointments at the same time.
Whether you take advantage of our onsite Mammo a-go-go screening events (PDF) next week or encourage a loved one to see their doctor, getting screened can often be an early detection point for breast cancer and other types of cancers.
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