New Employees

Welcome Letter from Bob Davis, County Administrator

On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, the County Administrative Office and your colleagues, welcome to Washington County. By joining the staff of Washington County, you become a vital part of an organization dedicated to directly influencing the long-term health and vibrancy of our community.

We value excellence in everything we do, and respect the essential balance between work and personal responsibilities. While we recognize and celebrate our accomplishments, we also seek to continually innovate and build on our success.

The wide variety of services that we provide is matched by our diverse employee and community populations. Our diversity is a source of strength, especially as the County recognizes the role, contribution, responsibility and interdependence of citizens and institutions. As a member of our team, we trust you will share the value we all place on mutual respect and collaboration.

Please know the work you do every day supports our vision of "being a model community for 21st Century America, reflecting the best of our community's resources, achievements, diversity, values, and pioneering spirit."

Program Components

As part of Washington County's Training and Development, we welcome you to Washington County. We have designed a comprehensive employee onboarding program to assist with your success in your new career.

There are four components to this program:

Employment Policies
Benefits Orientation*
Working Across Differences
Employee Orientation

All newly hired (full or part time, regular or temporary and extra-help) employees are required to complete all components within the timeframe indicated below.

Registration Process: All new employees are pre-registered for Benefits Orientation, Working Across Differences and Employee Orientation. You will receive an invitation card indicating when you are scheduled for each session. Please be sure to inform your supervisor of these dates, so you both can plan accordingly.

Employment Policies (complete within 7 days of hire date)

All employees are required to read the policies below, print the Employment Policy Acknowledgement Form, sign and return to Human Resources (MS 11) within seven (7) days of hire date.

Benefits Orientation* (complete within 30 days of hire date)

*For benefit eligible employees only.

Benefits Orientation provides benefit eligible employees with an overview of the various benefits offered by Washington County. For more information on benefits offered to eligible employees, visit Employee Coverage.

For Benefits Orientation dates, time and location, visit Training Calendar.

Diversity and Inclusion (complete within 60 days of hire date)

"Working Across Differences" focuses on your cultural interactions with co-workers and citizens.

In this 5-hour workshop, local trainer Lillian Tsai, focuses on the three less "obvious" or visible aspects of culture that are most critical to being effective in cross-cultural interactions with co-workers and citizens: non verbal behaviors, communication styles, and values.

This training includes experiential exercises, case studies and critical incidents customized to Washington County's specific business and work environments. Most of all, this training is highly interactive and fun!

Employees who participated in this workshop said:

"I really liked that it was interactive and interesting.
I was not expecting to learn very many new or useful things, yet I did".

"So glad to see diversity continues and has come along way since
it was originally put in place, I'm one of the original 12 members".

For "Working Across Differences" dates, time and location, visit Training Calendar.

Resources:

Power Point Slides - 4-11-12 Workshop
Values List

Glossary of Terms

Employee Orientation (complete within 90 days of hire date)

Human Resources has worked collaboratively with the County Administrative Office, Human Resources, Risk Management, Sustainability, Recycle at Work and Emergency Preparedness staff to designed a comprehensive program filled with valuable information all County employees should know.

All current employees are welcome and encouraged to attend.

What makes Washington County a high performing organization?

We operate ethically and fairly
We hire leaders, managers and employees that are passionate about their work
We support good communication in the workplace
We create an environment of mutual respect
We recognize and reward staff for their contribution to the success of the organization
We offer our employees a competitive wage and a comprehensive benefit package
We invest in the learning and development of our employees
We have family/life friendly workplace practices

For Employee Orientation dates, time and location, visit Training Calendar.