Henrico’s New Capability Model

May 31, 2022June 21, 2022 Christy Nealey

Henrico County continues to stretch the boundaries of what it means to be organizationally agile, flexible, and ready to meet our workforce and residents’ current and future demands. Our county is continuously evolving while major global, national, and social events have challenged us to rethink how we interact, conduct business and provide services to our customers, residents, and workforce in all service areas.

Recently, we introduced a new Capability Model that will go into effect in Fiscal Year 2022-2023. The new model replaces the current county competencies and highlights the capabilities needed to continue to reinforce performance management and how we hire, promote, train, and develop employees. In addition, each Capability is inclusive and applicable to all employees, in line with the county’s philosophy of leading at all levels in supporting the county and its residents.

What You Need to Know

The Capability Model is centered around seven capabilities. As highlighted in the model below, there are four capabilities outside the circle: Communication, Inclusion, Courage, and Customer Engagement. These capabilities are outside the circle because they are foundational to what you need to succeed in your role.

The four capabilities are core skills that create opportunities and space for you to excel in the three capabilities within the circle – Leading Self, Leading Others, and Leading the Organization – each represented by a different color. The bullet points are descriptors of what it takes to lead self, others, and the organization.

If you look closely at the seven capabilities, you will notice that the current competencies are woven throughout so that we are not losing anything. For example, Communication and Customer Engagement are highlighted in numbers 3 and 4 on the “Our Capabilities” model chart.

The Functional Expertise and Personal Accountability capabilities are highlighted under Leading Self, and Organization Awareness is listed under Leading the Organization, similar to Understanding the Business of Henrico County.

Resources for You

After the Fiscal Year begins, we will transition to using the Capability Model, and the current competency model will go away. To help you navigate the model, HR created a resource page that houses tools and guides, and we regularly update that page.

As we continue to move the needle forward with this project, HR will continue to share updates with employees to keep you informed about the new model and how it will impact you.

Please know that HR is your partner during this process. If you have questions, reach out to HR, and we are happy to guide you through that process.

Factoring Healthcare Costs Into Your Retirement Budget

May 31, 2022May 31, 2022 Christy Nealey

Creating a realistic budget for your post-work life is a critical part of a successful retirement strategy. According to one commonly used rule of thumb, we’ll need to replace roughly 70% of our working income in retirement to maintain a similar lifestyle. That means a person making the median annual 2020 income of $67,521 would need $47,265 of income each year of their retirement.¹

Another factor to keep in mind as you plan your retirement budget is your future healthcare expenses. We all know healthcare needs tend to increase as we age. So, it’s important to understand and budget for how much you may need to cover healthcare costs in your retirement.

No one can predict how much care they’ll need in the future. Everyone’s healthcare needs are different — and healthcare costs are always changing. But to give you a rough idea, one analysis by the Employee Benefits Research Institute found that, in order to have a 50% chance of having enough to cover premiums and median prescription drug expenses in retirement, a 65-year-old man would need $73,000 in savings and a 65-year-old woman would need $95,000 in savings. ² Another study found that a 65- year-old couple that retired in 2021 can expect to spend $300,000 on healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement.³

When you think about your retirement budget, you probably focus on the things you want to do with the time you’ll have after a career of hard work. And you should. But it’s also important to keep in mind the other expenses you’ll face. Knowledge is power. And knowing healthcare costs may significantly impact your financial well-being in retirement can empower you to make better-informed decisions about your future.

^{1 Census.gov, “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020,” 2021,}^{census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html.}

^{2 EBRI.org, “A Bit of Good News During the Pandemic: Savings Medicare Beneficiaries Need for Health Expenses Decrease in 2020,” 2020,}^{ebri.org/content/a-bit-of-good-news-during-the-pandemic-savings-medicarebeneficiaries-need-for-health-expenses-decrease-in-2020.}

^{3 Investopedia.com, “How to Plan for Medical Expenses in Retirement,” 2021,}^{investopedia.com/retirement/how-plan-medical-expenses-retirement/.}

Return of the Public Safety Games

May 31, 2022May 31, 2022 Christy Nealey

For the first time since the inception of the Public Safety Games, on Friday, May 6, 2022, over 50 employees, fans, and volunteers from many different departments contributed to the kick-off of the 6th anniversary Public Safety Games Kick-Off after a 2-year hiatus due to COVID-19.

Participants of varying fitness levels completed many different physically and mentally engaging challenges with the incentive to win both door prizes and potential votes for this year’s fan favorite. Fitness and Wellness chose specific challenges to help participants gain insight into the drills used to physically and mentally train our public safety heroes. These exercises included wall vaulting, window climbing, the Keiser sled, tire flips, the how-to or pull-up challenge, fit-tac-toe, stair climb word find, Echo Bike Jenga, and a 150-pound dummy drag. In addition, many other attractions like the K9 Unit, the Bomb Squad, a Fire Truck, and a Sheriff Recruit Vehicle were available to tour. Each successful challenge completed earned a Bucket Beirut toss to vote for the Fan Favorite. Congratulations to the Division of Police for winning the “Fan Favorite” and 50 points toward your divisional Public Safety Games score!

During the month-long competitions, eight teams of 2 and 35 individuals from Henrico’s Police, Fire, and Sheriff divisions are competing in Endurance, Work Capacity, Strength, and Mini Event challenges to determine who will win the title of the Fittest Public Safety Division of 2022. Currently, the Police Division is in the lead, with about 50% of the events still to be tallied. Stay tuned by following the leaderboard here: https://henricova.sharepoint.com/Fitness_Wellness/SitePages/PublicSafetyGames.aspx

We invite you to come to watch the explosive and entertaining final obstacle course team competition Friday, June 3 from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM at the Henrico Training Center.

Check out our kick-off recap video!