Learn how the 2024 DMEC Emerging Leader Award winner is helping employees return to work while providing them with access to resources that help them learn new skills and expand their horizons. Hear about the creative approaches Tamisha Waters, senior personnel analyst I for the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, has taken and her dedication to finding mutually beneficial solutions to leave management challenges!

More resources:

• Read more about the inaugural DMEC Kaleta-Carruthers Innovation Award and the 2024 DMEC Emerging Leader Award winner in the @Work magazine article Celebrating Leadership and Innovation in Disability and Absence Management
• The True Payoff to Integrated Disability Management
• DMEC Awards

Heather Grimshaw: Welcome to Absence Management Perspectives: A DMEC Podcast. The Disability Management Employer Coalition, or DMEC as we're known by most people, provides focused education, knowledge and networking opportunities for absence and disability management professionals. DMEC has become a leading voice in the industry and represents more than 20,000 professionals from organizations of all sizes across the United States and Canada. This podcast series focuses on industry perspectives and delves into issues that affect DMEC members and the community as a whole. We're thrilled to have you with us and hope you'll Visit us at www.DMEC.org

to get a full picture of what we have to offer. From webinars and publications to conferences, certifications, and much more. Let's get started and meet the people behind the processes.

Tamisha Waters: Thank you again, Heather, for having me today. I'm so grateful to be here and to share my experiences with you all, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. I should first say that we do start off with the traditional approach. In most cases, people try to find an assignment within their primary location. So when your employee comes to you with the work status that says they have restrictions. At that point, of course, you see if you can accommodate them within their work site doing what they have been doing, or at least modifying that.

At the point that you know our supervisors are saying, hey, we can't accommodate this, then they send them to us in HR. I like to believe that when they say no, we say yes. Or at least that is definitely what I strive for every day. At that point, I am sitting down and speaking with the employee to find out their skill sets. I think that's an important piece to find out who your employee is beyond what you know them to be on paper.

At this point, I think it's important to note that I found a lot of people are reinventing themselves within the workplace. With that being said, it's not most people's first rodeo. This may be their second or third career. When I started with the city, I actually met, met someone who was starting alongside me who was the CEO of their company that had tanked and now, you know, they were trying to figure life out. So with that being said, I think taking that approach of knowing like, hey, just because it says this person is, let's say an electrician, it doesn't mean that that's awe of who they are, they may be good at it or other avenues of where you can place them. So at that point, once I'm determining and finding out what they're good at, I then go and see like placement. So my first stop is to see other areas within our department.

So again, we first looked at, you know, their spot where they're actually working and determined that they cannot accommodate there. But now I'm now reaching out to other divisions within the department to say, hey, I have an employee with these skill sets.

Do you have tasks that need to be completed? Are they aligned with these skill sets? If that avenue does not work, then I am now placing them in my light duty boot camp that I like to call it.

So this is where I've partnered with the library department and I utilize their resources. So they have very excellent online programs that I encourage anyone who has access to our local libraries within the city of Los Angeles, of course, to check them out.

The courses specifically that we use are called the Gale courses, that's G A L E. And it's an online program that can assist you with learning. So it teaches you about leadership, office etiquette, business skills and life skills, health and wellness. These are ongoing courses where a person can pick up and kind of self-paced guiding for them to take. I will create the light duty assignment around this and set them up to sign up for these courses as well as using our Cornerstone training platform, which is our city training platform, to make sure that they have completed all of their mandatory courses that they need to have done within the year, the annual ones for the city of Los Angeles.

So the great thing about the Gale courses is at the end of the coursework they do receive a certificate of completion. That's important for me because unfortunately we do see some of these employees again.

Right. I'm able to put that in their file and I'm able to know that, hey, you know what? Bob knows how to do Excel. Bob knows how to do Word.

Bob is great in Photoshop. So these are things that I am now mindful of and I'm bringing to the table if I see Bob in the future and he comes back to me so that I can say, hey, you know, he has these restrictions.

However, this is what he is good at. You know, these are the things that we can offer to make him more marketable in placing him within those assignments. And I think it also motivates our employees.

And I mean, it's exciting not only for me, but for them to receive. Receive these certificates of completion. It gives them another avenue and something else to put into perspective and kind of just takes the pressure off of, you know, going back into that space within their workplace setting so they're able to heal and get better, learning something different.

And a lot of people are like, hey, I never knew that these things existed. Or they're very grateful for learning something else that can assist them with potential promotional opportunities or just learning things that they would like to be better at with life.

I think that's awesome. And this is something I would love to continue on with our employees as well as assisting other departments and kind of ramping up their program as well.

Heather Grimshaw: That's fantastic. I love what you said about not their first rodeo and also that people are reinventing themselves at work. I think for anyone and everyone, that that's inspiring. While reading through your nomination form, I was struck by a reference to, and I'm using air quotes here, fixing a broken system without many resources, which is something I think will resonate with your colleagues. Would you talk a little bit about how you came up with the idea to use library resources, which honestly, I think is ingenious, and which ones have been most helpful to employees? You talked about the Gale courses, so just maybe jumping off of that.

Tamisha Waters: I will start by thanking my prior chief, Adria Williams, who has been motivational.

Definitely just a person who has been there for guidance, inspiring, and a friend more than anything. You know, I was presented with, you know, this task to say, hey, this is what's going on here.

We need help, but we don't have the money. Like, we're limited. So I need you to figure this out without spending anything. And you're just kind of like, okay, where do I go from here?

What do I do? And I will say that I am. I can probably be competitive by nature, but I'm definitely a researcher and also a person who I like to hear yes, more than no. If I'm presented with something, I am going to be the one to work day and night to figure out a solution for that. I started looking first within our workspace at different avenues that weren't turning out to be a good route to go.

And then I actually went to a local library and realized, oh my goodness, they have all of these things that they offer to people for free. So why can't we tap into this? It's not just that you have to be, you really don't have to be a city employee. It's for all of the local citizens around to use what they have to offer. And so when I looked into it more and kind of started working with the employees there, they were excited about the partnership as well, because that's just that much more people who are now engaged and aware of what the services that they offer. So yes, I would say that the main one that I do use from them is the GALE system, but I also use the ESL courses as well. So we do have a large population of employees where English is their second language.

You know, they have been able to utilize the ESL classes to kind of just make them more confident within their workspace with engaging here at Rec and parks with the patrons that come into our parks, as well as people who come to the front counter to provide that excellent customer service that we strive to do. And also while working at lax, you know, we had a lot of individuals who were working within the terminals who weren't as confident providing information to the passengers who were coming in there. So now with them taking these courses, it has given them that ability to, I feel like, just be stronger and what they're presenting and just be more aligned with what the city of Los Angeles is about and what we would like to be, our representation of who we want to be and what we want to provide to not only our citizens, but anyone who interacts with us on a day to day basis.

Heather Grimshaw: That's fantastic. So you had mentioned in the light duty boot camp, and I'm hoping that you'll share a little bit more information about that. So maybe starting with an overview of what that entails and an example of how the program and the skills employees gain have helped them reengage in new and perhaps different ways, including those who, who might have permanent work restrictions.

Tamisha Waters: The process of the boot camp is essentially them being placed into a light duty assignment. And so at that point I would likely assign them to myself. I would be their light duty supervisor. And for us, we don't go past 150 days. Of course, if you know, they get better, they're going back to their regular assignment. But as long as we're able to accommodate the work restrictions that they have, it will be set for roughly about a five-month time frame. And so during that time, I'm going to sign them up for more than likely the Gale courses and the Cornerstone courses. I also like to talk to the employee and find out what are their career goals, where do they see themselves?

So that I can go through our course library to kind of pull out courses that would better suit them. As to where they see themselves, I like to tell them, use this as a time to not only heal, but to be better for yourself. I know just in any work environment, I feel like we get caught up so much of, you know, I have to complete this, I'm trying to finish that. And a lot of times we don't take care of ourselves.

You know, we're putting ourselves last. And so if anything, this is the moment that I would like them to put themselves first, get better for you and take advantage of the resources that we're offering.

A lot of times you're in that type of job where if you are trying to take advantage of the resources, it would probably be on your own time, you know, that you wouldn't have that much downtime to really tap into the things that we're providing.

I've had some miraculous stories and things that really were the reason why I come to work. You know, those types of moments where you're like, oh my goodness, this, this is what I live for.

This is why, you know, I do what I do. I have had a custodian who went through the program and she did express to me, hey, I don't know how to type. You know, this is foreign to me. I work with my hands a lot, but not in that manner. So she was near retirement. I would say within a year or two she had planned on retiring. And so I thought it was great for her to be able to start with the Gale courses and just start with Word, Microsoft Word. I wanted her to get comfortable with just learning how to type. And I stressed to them, take your time. You know, it's self paced. If you have to read through something more than once, that is okay because I really want you to take this time to absorb the information. I don't want you to run through it because you're thinking, you know, I have to complete this in this certain timeframe and all that. We're here to monitor and see how everything is going.

But in saying that monitoring also involves me making sure that you're grasping the information and that it's connecting with you so that you're able to apply it into your workplace after you've completed the assignment, after, you know, she had Gone through her light duty assignment. She was so happy to be able to have that moment, to be connected with something so foreign to her and learning how to type that, you know, she told me she was motivated to take on an office job after she retired.

She reached out to me and told me, you know, I purchased a laptop. I want to go into a job where I can now use this tool. And I was so excited for her. That was such an inspiring moment. I've also had an individual who had came through the program, and again, I'm asking the skill sets, and she expressed to me, hey, you know, I plan events on the weekend. This is the second job that I have turned out to be great for us because our workers comp team was actually planning a health fair during that time that they had not done in the past five years. So it was a new team working on that who really wasn't familiar with the planning process and coordinating the pieces together. She was great, and she worked well with them to execute this idea and have the health care put on and be successful.

I have an individual who was offered permanent placement. He had permanent work restrictions, and we offered him an office assignment. Prior to this assignment, he was a gardener, caretaker. He was not comfortable with his English language to be able to speak to people at the front counter. So I encouraged him to start the ESL classes. And, you know, I told him, hey, if you. You need to call me and we can do homework together, we can conversate, I am there for you. These are my hours. You can call me at any point. And I would love to speak to you further so that you could feel comfortable practice with your family and friends. You know, this will help you to gain that confidence. And so he has been doing that for a couple of months now. And I will say that he's gotten so much better from the first point that I met him. So I do believe that by the top of the year or so, I foresee him coming back to us and feeling motivated to take on that challenge of the new role that we offered him.

I just would love to reiterate that these are the moments that I live for. To be able to help someone make a change for the better.

Heather Grimshaw: I just love that. And there are such wonderful stories. Thank you for sharing those. I think hearing how the programs really influence people's lives make such a difference. And I just. I love it that you talk about and have said that you love what you do and that you attribute some of that to your ability to positively influence people's Lives. So that's wonderful. I'm hoping that you will also share some details about how you've been asked to replicate your light duty program with other human resources divisions for the city of Los Angeles.

Tamisha Waters: I actually started this program off at the Department of Airports lax. So that was where this initially kind of took place. And then it kind of propelled further out into where I am now with the Department of Recreation and Parks.

My boss had actually reached out and said, hey, you know, we need help. Can you come and apply that same structure to our department where we are? They had had a number of individuals who were not being properly tracked being in a light duty assignment. Also in taking a look at the documentation that they were having the employees complete, I had created something that was more updated, I felt provides accountability for not only the supervisor, but also for the employee as well. With the contract, it outlines, you know, the restrictions of the employee and also having the employee to initial by each statement of hey, you know, I'm going to provide those work status notes to you in a timely fashion. When I'm aware if I'm not comfortable with the assignment or if I feel like things are just not working out or it may be exasperating my injury, I'm going to raise my hand and say, hey, I'm not okay with this. I think having it where you're having that two and three way feedback and that constant communication, it really makes for a more balanced workspace. Really just applying the resources and taking the library resources from the airports and also applying that here.

I've also been able to restructure what we have at Rec and Parks. I will say the striking difference of Rec and Parks is that we do have about 9,000 employees and within those 9,000 employees, only 3,000 are full time.

About six are part-time employees. So with that being said, I think it actually helped to apply the Gale courses because you know, you have employees who mostly only need about four to five hours a day of work, if that, and a lot of the employees are on an intermittent schedule.

We're able to provide these resources right off the bat. Having them go through the coursework if they are familiar with Microsoft Office Suite or they're proficient in that. We're training them on the leadership courses, business courses, how to be more effective in the workplace.

These are things that I feel are helpful tools in growing your employees as well. This is something they can proudly show in their interview when they have that in the future to say, hey, you know, I've done the work, I've went and bettered myself and in preparation for this opportunity that I have before me.

Heather Grimshaw: Thank you for sharing that. And, and again, your, your reference to the certificates, how they help employees grow, I think is a wonderful note and I appreciate you giving that perspective with 9,000 employees and a small fraction of that 3,000 being full time.

So that provides a really important context and especially with that intermittent leave, which I know can be challenging to accommodate. Thank you for that additional information. So one of the other things that certainly caught the attention of the review committee that was looking at the applicants for the Emerging Leader Award was some of the work that you've done updating and streamlining forms for the Family and Medical Leave act to help support employees in the field.

Will you talk a little bit about how you accomplished that work and some of the results you've already seen?

Tamisha Waters: We've actually created a QR code that has been placed in designated places throughout the field locations which are accessible to all of the Department of Recreation and park employees. This code has also been placed in the new hire orientation packets so that each employee will have access to those documents at the onset of their career with us as well during that onboarding process. So within the QR code, it provides the employees with the FMLA documents that are needed to process the request. This was important for us because unfortunately, I would get a lot of employees who were just not aware they had no information about the process, what forms they needed. There were employees who were already taking off without being approved for a leave thinking, hey, well, I told my supervisor I needed to be on leave, but that is not the process.

This kind of just like educates not only the employee, but also the supervisor as well. If they're not directly reaching out to us before the need for the leave or at the moment that they're made aware that, hey, I think I might need a leave so that they have what we're going to ask them for.

And so what we've done is also, since we have so many employees, when they reach out to us with the documents, or even if they're just saying, hey, I may have one form completed, but not all of them yet, we ask for their employee ID number to be listed in the subject so that we can easily track the conversation and continue the same thread for better communication purposes.

So the packet includes a FAQ that would have commonly asked questions that we've seen over time, as well as, of course, what, what the expectation is from us. So what we're seeking when the request is initiated, depending on the type of leave that the employee would need to take.

This essentially lessens the lag time between the time the employee requests the leave and the time that it actually gets approved so that we can have a more seamless transition.

So from that we have seen an increase in individuals becoming aware of the process and being able to educate other staff members who have expressed the need to apply for a leave request under the FMLA umbrella.

So I always tell them I'm available to speak to you at any time. I think too, other than me being the one who oversees this team, I have a special connection with people who are taking off due to pregnancy and I've had so many employees reach out to me.

I have a two year old myself and since I just went through the process, I think it's so relatable and sometimes people just need to hear that and I'm just like, I'm here if you need to call me.

You're going to be okay. We're going to get through this. I want to equip you with everything you need from the beginning, even if it's not in my court, if I'm going to send you to benefits or somewhere else that you need to go for information, but if I have the knowledge, the foundational knowledge, I will provide you with that so that you're well aware and you're at least starting that process so that you're not like, hey, well, why didn't anyone tell me?

Or I wish I knew this. So for all the things I wish I knew, I'm here to tell people, hey, this is what I wish I knew, but I want you to know it.

You know, since you're now going through this process, other employees are like, hey, this person referred me to you. Can you help me? I'm about to have a baby, or my wife's about to have a baby, or I need to be on caregiver leave.

What do I do? So I go out into the field now as well to give trainings, educate our employees on what needs to be done. I think it's great to have a more personable relationship with your employees.

For some reason, I find that HR has this stigma of we're always, you know, hammering that gavel down, but we want to kind of shed some light on the happier moments and the things that we are also here for you to help with.

I really love to have that open door policy and continue to be more inviting and have our employees feel like they can come to us in their times of need because that's what we're here for.

That's our job. That's what we're here to do. And I believe that we should always be doing our best, giving our best at any moment.

Heather Grimshaw: That's wonderful. And the fact that employees are referring other employees to you really is proof that that's working that open door policy. The more information is you've noted the shifting gears a little bit, but maybe not all that much.

I'm hoping you'll share some information about how you've encouraged team members to use the Employee Assistance Program services and what you'd encourage your colleagues to consider in terms of connecting employees with benefits to access treatment for mental health and substance use disorder issues.

Which pieces of the work that you've done would you encourage your colleagues to emulate?

Tamisha Waters: The pieces that I would encourage them to emulate would definitely be words of affirmation, constant encouragement. Unfortunately, Covid had took a toll on a lot of people in a lot of different ways.

Some of us were able to start new careers or turn our passions into a money making business, while some people became withdrawn and depressed due to the lack of social interaction.

This in turn led some of our employees to experience issues of substance abuse mental illness. I did have one of my team members confide in me that they had been dealing with issues in their home.

So I directed this employee to seek services through our EAP program. So our Employee Assistance program, which they do, offer counseling to our employees at no cost, as well as a free counseling session to family members that reside within the household.

After this interaction, I did go on to include the EAP services contact in my general email responses so that my team always had the information handy. Every week I would send words of affirmation or motivational quotes to remind them of how great they are and that we should take life day by day.

If we mess up, there is always another day waiting for us to try again.

So, you know, I will say I received great feedback from not only my team, but also from their family members who had expressed that they were grateful of the encouraging words because it has helped bring positivity back into their households.

You know, I always say let's just take it back to the basics. It's as simple as putting yourself in another person's shoes. I feel like we tend to overthink things when at most times we shouldn't be live and be in that moment and consider what what you would like to be done if you were in that situation.

The hope is that if you show compassion and lead by example, it will create a domino effect, Others will pay it forward and they will remember that pivotal moment in their lives when someone was kind to them in their darkest moments.

I definitely think leading by example and being the expectation we want to see in others is what we should do. We should work towards that.

Heather Grimshaw: That's wonderful advice and very touching. So thank you so much. And once again, congratulations to you on a very well-deserved award.

Tamisha Waters: Thank you so much, Heather. I appreciate it so much. Like, more than you guys even know. I will say that the moment I got the call, I was, like, in tears.

It was a moment of validation. It's so encouraging to have someone say, this is great. Tell me more. And I would love to tell you more. Till the cows come home.