People - our most important asset

As with other organizations, school districts have a department that deals with all things relating to the people who work there. This department is typically called, Personnel or maybe Human Resources … HR, for short.

While HR is often a group satirized in media for being the bearer of bad news and pink slips, it's a necessary function in an organization. In the Clovis Municipal School district, this department is called “Employee Services.”

An opportunity arose to chat with the individual at the helm of this department, Joe Strickland, and the department name was a topic we discussed. The Clovis schools used to also use the names Personnel and HR, like many other organizations, but it seems not only the name, but also the perspective has evolved.

Strickland is the deputy superintendent of Employee Services at CMS and was happy to explain. “The view of Personnel focuses on rules and records, HR, the next step, views people as a resource. We have taken it a step further with the name and function change to Employee Services. We think of ourselves as a service department, providing services to those who work for the Clovis schools. Our task is to recruit, train and develop, and retain.”

Following the concept of servant leadership, the emphasis is the perspective of those being served. Strickland continued, “It's a view from the user side, so to speak.”

Shifting to this model (2019), an initial deep dive was taken to look at the tasks, responsibilities, processes, procedures, and activities in the department. Some things were outdated and no longer needed; some new things had to be added to remain in compliance with state or federal mandates or new needs.

“We're heavily involved in state and national related activities, and we tend to be early adopters of new ideas, new regulations, and so forth; always looking forward,” Strickland said. An early change was finding the right fit for folks already in the department and making adjustments accordingly.

Strickland: “It's amazing how placing people in their positions of strength has been so empowering, much more than we'd anticipated.”

There are formal means of evaluating results, but as a fun self-check, the “Jellybean Initiative” was instituted and has not only continued but taken on a life of its own. Positive feedback from outside the department is measured by a jellybean added to a giant jar for incoming kudos and compliments for services rendered.

After the Jellybean Initiative was underway, a bit of competitive spirit sprouted in “offering joyful and helpful service” (per poster), and one day the “Golden Jellybean” appeared — an oval, gold-painted rock with fancy letters. It was decided the GJB would reside on the desk of the employee receiving the most jellybeans, a coveted honor.

The thing is, I do find Employee Services a delight to deal with. Therefore, I herewith officially award 100 virtual jellybeans to our CMS Employee Services.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the Instructional Technology Coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools and can be reached at

[email protected]