HealthTrip: Slip, Slap, Slop. Summer Sun Safety. (Say that five times fast)

CDC Protect the skin
by Liz Stovall, Division Manager- Fitness and Wellness

Some people think about sun protection only when they spend a day at the lake, beach or pool. But, sun exposure adds up day after day, and it happens every time a person is in the sun. While brief exposures to sunlight help the body make Vitamin D to stay healthy, too much sunlight can cause cancer. That’s why sun-safe habits should begin in childhood and last a lifetime. Everyone’s skin and eyes can be affected by the sun and other forms of ultraviolet (UV) rays. Tanning occurs when UV radiation is absorbed through the skin. It causes an increase in the activity and number of melanocytes, the cells that make the pigment melanin. Melanin gives the skin its color. It also helps to block out damaging UV rays up to a point. While sunburns are thought to increase a person’s risk of skin cancer, UV exposure, even without a sunburn, can raise skin cancer risk.

Take these steps to stay sun-safe:

  1. Slip on a shirt and sunglasses: When out in the sun, wear clothes that protect the skin as much as possible. Clothes provide different levels of UV protection. Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, or long skirts cover the most skin and are the most protective. Many companies now make clothing that is light-weight, comfortable, and protects against UV exposure, even when wet. These sun-protective clothes may have a label listing the UV protection factor (UPF). The higher the UPF, the higher the protection from UV rays. UV-blocking sunglasses are also important for protecting the delicate skin around the eyes. The ideal sunglasses should block 99% to 100% of UVA and UVB rays. Before you buy, check the label to make sure it reads “UV absorption up to 400nm.” Sunglasses labeled “cosmetic” block only 70% of UV rays. If there is no label, don’t assume the sunglasses provide any protection.
  2. Slap on a hat: A hat with a two to three-inch brim all around is ideal. It protects areas often exposed to the sun such as the neck, ears, eyes, forehead, nose and scalp. A shade cap (which looks like a baseball cap with about seven inches of fabric draping down the sides and back) is also good. A baseball cap protects the front and top of the head but not the back of the neck or ears, where skin cancers often grow. Straw hats are not recommended unless they are tightly woven.
  3. Slop on the sunscreen: Apply sunscreen to the skin to help protect against the sun’s UV rays. Sunscreens come in many forms – lotions, creams, ointments, gels, wipes, and lip balms, to name a few. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or higher (broad spectrum means that the sunscreen blocks both UVA and UVB rays). Be sure to use enough and re-apply every couple of hours while you’re in the sun. Best practice is to use sunscreen as one part of your skin care routine, especially if staying in the shade and wearing protective clothing aren’t available as your first options. Some cosmetics such as moisturizers, lipsticks, and foundations, are considered sunscreen products. Be sure to always check the label first.

Additional sun-smart ideas:

  • Protect children from the sun: Since they tend to spend more time outdoors, children need special attention as they can burn more easily than adults. Parents and caretakers should be sure their children wear clothes, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen to protect from harmful UV rays.
  • Limit midday sun exposure: UV rays are most intense during the middle of the day, usually between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. To check the sun’s intensity, use the shadow test. If a person’s shadow is shorter than they are, the sun’s rays are the strongest. If possible stay out of the sun during this time of day.
  • Avoid tanning beds and sun lamps: Tanning beds and sun lamps give out both UVA and UVB rays. These rays can cause serious long-term skin damage and can lead to skin cancer.

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Town Hall Thoughts

by Jennifer Montrose, Marketing & Technology Specialist- Human Resources

The semi-annual Town Hall meeting was held May 22nd at the Libbie Mill Library; this time with a slightly different format than ones in the past. This Town Hall had a panel of five employees, each with about 40 years of service for Henrico. Each person in attendance had the opportunity to ask questions, listen and learn about each of the panelists experiences and knowledge working for the County. In return, Demetria D. Edwards (Library Circulation Supervisor), Megan Ambrose (Business Supervisor Finance), and Brian Viscuso (IT Manager) were asked about their experience attending the Town Hall meeting.

  1. What were your overall thoughts on the Town Hall Meeting?
    • “I enjoyed the informal format of the meeting. The format allowed County leaders and employees the opportunity to connect and share information with one another. The panelists motivated several of the employees in attendance, including myself, to create a self-development plan and take advantage of career resources like the Emerging Leaders Certification Program, the Leadership Development Program, the Career Development Program, and other courses available through the County’s Human Resources Department.” –Demetria D. Edwards
    • “I loved the format of this meeting. It was focused more so on employee experiences than in the past. I enjoyed getting to hear about how each employee began their work with the County over 40 years ago, what has changed over time, and what they have enjoyed about their work.” –Megan Ambrose
  2. Did you learn anything new about Henrico County and the employees who currently work here?
    • “Interacting directly with other staff helps you gain perspective as well as build a network within the County, both are vital to sustaining “The Henrico Way.” The other thing that was reinforced was how dedicated to the County each panelist was. It was clearly visible they all see the County as being much more than just a job, but a sense of community as well. Many of the panelists have 40, or near 40, years of service. All of them could easily retire and move on. But their sense of dedication… to continue to contribute is what motivates them to keep coming to work every day.” –Brian Viscuso
    • “Yes. I learned that Henrico County has grown rapidly in a short period of time. Many of the panelists mentioned how several of the current commercial areas were rural farmland when they started working for the County. I also learned that several employees attending the meeting have worked for the County for twenty or more years. It’s very rare today to have such a high employee retention rate.” –Demetria D. Edwards
  3. How can what you learned at the Town Hall, help you in your current role?
    • “You should enjoy what you do, make friends, and build relationships with employees in other departments. We are all working towards the same goal, and that is to serve our citizens the “Henrico Way.” –Megan Ambrose
    • “It helped reinforce the need to always reach out to other staff when possible to help achieve the combined vision of service for the County. It also made me feel lucky to work at a place where my contributions do matter and that there is more to the job than just financial reward.” –Brian Viscuso
  4. What is something new you would like to see at an upcoming Town Hall?
    • “I think these meetings play an essential role in creating opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration. In the future, the County might try a Virtual Town Hall to accommodate those employees who cannot attend in person.” –Demetria D. Edwards
    • “Having a panel discussion was very enlightening. However, most of the discussion focused on the past to the present. There wasn’t much discussion about the present and into future. Having some shorter tenured and younger employees on the panel to hear their thoughts on the County’s future would have been great to compare against the past.” –Brian Viscuso
  5. Any additional thoughts or comments?
    • “It would be nice to see how our hard work, new initiatives and or outreach is realized either for Henrico citizens or internally. Having a citizen come in and speak to the value or impact of an interaction or service they received would be a great motivator and help personalize our everyday efforts.” –Brian Viscuso
    • “I have worked for two other localities, neither of which hosted Employee Town Halls. It was nice to have the opportunity to communicate directly with County leaders and with employees from different departments about the current and future goals of the County.” –Demetria D. Edwards

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Navigate Your Way Through FileNet

by Kenny Mitchell, Systems Developer for FileNet and Office 365- IT

IBM FileNet Content Manager (FileNet) has been in Henrico County for over 16 years. FileNet is an electronic document management repository where files are stored. It has nearly 13,000,000 documents of various formats (.pdf, .docx, .tif, .xlsx, etc.) from 24 departments/divisions. Each document has unique properties assigned to it, allows for document versioning, and provides access control security based on a department’s requirements.

Last year, the FileNet Support Team implemented a new web interface called IBM Content Navigator (Navigator). Navigator uses search templates where you can input the fields of the unique properties to search for the documents in FileNet. When the document is found, you can view, email, or download the document. You can also change the properties or update the document by checking it out and back in.

Finding documents in Navigator is much more efficient than finding the original in a file cabinet or in a box that had to be retrieved from a storage facility, but part of that efficiency is knowing how to use the application. Here are few examples of how to make Navigator work for you:

  • Many users have favorites or shortcuts to get access to Navigator. If you don’t, go to the Henrico County Intranet and click Document Management Access on the left navigation area. The link will open Navigator and log you in automatically by using your domain credentials.
  • Adding Favorites to your Navigator home screen makes for less clicks. To add Search Templates to your Favorites, right-click a search template, click ‘Add to Favorites’ and click ‘Add’. Then the next time you open Navigator, your favorite search template will be on the home screen.
  • A search template is defaulted to what is best for the criteria, but the condition may need to be changed sometimes. Adjust the condition by clicking on the arrow pointing down next to the property you want to search on and click the condition you need to use. Adjusting the conditions will help you either narrow or broaden your search.
  • Depending on the size of your monitor, you may need to scroll left and right to see all the result columns in Navigator. This can be adjusted by collapsing the left and right sections. Expand and collapse the left and right sections by clicking the 3 vertical dots. It may help with the left and right scrolling.
  • Many users think you have to close a search template and reopen it in order to complete another search, or maybe even close Navigator and reopen it. To avoid doing either of these tasks, click on ‘Search Criteria’ and ‘Search Results’ to expand and collapse the areas. You are now ready to perform another search.

To find out more about FileNet, please visit our SharePoint site or if you think FileNet would be a good solution for your department or division to improve customer service, please send the FileNet Support Team an email. We will work with you to find a solution.

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First ELCP Graduating Class

ELCP Group Picture
by Rebecca Slough, Sr. Human Resources Analyst- Organizational Learning and Talent Development

In Spring 2014, the Emerging Leaders Certification Program (ELCP) was unveiled as a new leadership program exclusively for non-supervisory employees, providing the framework, tools, and learning experiences to help participants strengthen their leadership skills, self-awareness, customer service delivery, and initiative. On May 3, 2018, the inaugural ELCP class completed their final Level IV assignment, and we are very excited to congratulate our first graduating class.
During their four years in the program, participants took several classes that focused on specific competencies, and engaged in projects that were geared to each level. In addition, they participated in numerous discussion groups that challenged them to stretch beyond their comfort zones and have honest discussions around different leadership topics. To give participants the opportunity to further network, participants were challenged, in Level IV, with putting their leadership skills and team formation concepts into practice. They were tasked with collectively designing a creative presentation and applying the lessons from their discussion groups within a dynamic, small-group experience.

Two groups presented on the topic of “Elements of Great Leadership.” Despite choosing the same topic, the presentations were totally different from one another. One group simulated leading blindfolded partners through an obstacle course and displaying the differences in how two different leaders coach an employee successfully. The other presentation was a cooking show, with the group explaining how all the ingredients related to important leadership qualities.

When asked what they learned from this process, they said:

  • “Networking was very important to me, not only during the presentation project but through the entire program. I have really enjoyed working with these other seven people from different agencies.”
  • “Clear communication is very important. We all communicate differently, but we needed to make sure we were all on the same page to understand what we were doing in this challenge.”
  • “Teamwork is very important to come together to reach a common goal.”
  • “As a leader, I have grown so much in ELCP, and I am still learning through this process.”
  • “It is important to identify each other’s strengths to determine how to reach the common goal.”

In addition to the presentation, Level IV participants needed to identify a leadership goal where they would focus on either “Improving a Process,” “Improving Self-Management,” or “Taking Leadership.” It was interesting to hear how they practiced self-management, improved personal communication, took leadership on a critical issue, managed themselves through a change process, streamlined a process at work, and took leadership roles. They described in depth how working on this leadership challenge helped them grow and give back to the organization.

Congratulations to the first graduating class of the Emerging Leaders Certification Program:

Teresa Boshak, Social Services
Parrish Brigham, Police
Tanya Harding, Manager’s Office
Rianne Klink, Police

Rachel Scott, Police
Rachel Sharpe, Library
Courtney Sims, MHDS
Holly Zinn, Manager’s Office

The Emerging Leaders Certification Program accepts applications twice a year in May and November. To learn more about the program and apply for future opportunities, please visit our website.

While ELCP was not created for the purpose of promoting employees into a supervisory position, we believe participation in the program supports leadership growth in any role. ELCP participants invest in their own development; they support and collaborate with others; and they make an impact at every level of the organization.

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