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OFM chief Kathleen Drew says employee suggestions have saved the state more than $11 million
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Summary
At a Productivity Board coffee klatch on April 9, Office of Financial Management Chief of Staff Kathleen Drew said employee suggestions have produced more than $11 million in savings, outlined common inefficiencies (paper processes, duplicate phones, end-of-biennium spending) and described OFM efforts to consolidate space and improve services.
Kathleen Drew, chief of staff for the state Office of Financial Management, told state employees at the Productivity Board’s virtual monthly coffee klatch on April 9 that ideas from workers have yielded more than $11,000,000 in savings to the state and more than $134,000 in cash awards to employees as a result of the suggestion program.
Drew said she reviewed “over 400 responses” to the governor’s call for cost-saving ideas and described common themes: more than 50 emails strongly supported continued teleworking; roughly 60 mentioned compensation or related concerns; about 150 were focused on individual agencies such as DSHS, DCYF and the Department of Corrections. “A lot of the responses included more than one suggestion,” she said.
Why it matters: Drew framed the employee-suggestion program as a source of practical, frontline ideas that can increase efficiency while preserving services. She urged leaders to listen to staff, involve middle managers in cross-agency problem solving and ground consolidation decisions in utilization and cost data.
Drew listed recurring inefficiencies employees flagged: outdated paper processes, provision of cell phones or retention of desk phones after migration to Teams, unnecessary booklet printing and routinely including return postage on mailings. “If you can think about ways to work on those, they might seem like the old ones, but some of them are still there,” she said.
On consolidation and facilities, Drew said OFM is working with facilities oversight and the Department of Enterprise Services to move agencies into state-owned space where possible to reduce costly leases. She cited an example where state parks relocated into space at Ecology as a practical, cooperative solution. Drew said successful consolidation requires aligning strategy and budget, good utilization data and treating agencies as partners in the process rather than recipients of top-down decisions.
Drew also highlighted units and work at OFM that attendees might not know about, including Serve Washington (the State Commission for National and Community Service), the state’s population-estimate work connected to federal funding allocation, and the Education Research and Data Center, which she noted had been featured on national media.
During audience exchanges, attendees pressed on how to build a culture that welcomes change. Drew recommended starting by asking staff why existing practices matter and identifying their value before proposing alternatives; she also suggested convening middle managers and practitioners across agencies because they are closest to operational realities. “If you really want to make lasting change, you have to take the time to include everybody,” she said.
The session closed with the moderator announcing the next Productivity Board guest — Amy Lenaker — on May 14 at 10 a.m. Organizers said they will send a follow-up survey and meeting invitation.
Key factual points: the Productivity Board’s introduction stated employee suggestion awards and savings totals ($11,000,000 and $134,000 respectively); Drew said she reviewed over 400 employee responses; attendees and staff listed recurring areas for savings and cited consolidation and better internal customer service as OFM priorities.
Next steps: OFM continues work with agencies and DES on consolidation planning, collection of utilization and cost data, and outreach to staff and middle managers as part of implementation planning.
