The 2010 Annual Awards Ceremonies took place in each of the five divisions in the month of September. The ceremonies honored and recognized staff members for their service to the Court. Length-of-Service awards were presented to 34 Court personnel for their years of federal service, ranging from five years on. Special Service Awards were given out to 143 employees to recognize their dedication and outstanding achievements.
In December, the Court launched a new employee recognition program called Spot-on-Award for Recognition (SOAR). SOAR replaced the Court's previous program for employee recognition, "ePlause," but did not replace the Court's annual awards program or informal recognition of employees.
SOAR gives the Clerk's Office the opportunity to recognize an employee's contribution to the performance of a team, division, or the entire district. Awards are given based on contributions to the Court in the areas of customer service, outstanding performance, teamwork, suggestions, special acts, and special service. Awards are divided into three categories: monetary, non-monetary, and time off. There are also custom-minted coins that are awarded directly by the Clerk of Court or Chief Judge for significant contributions to the Court.
As part of the Court's "Moving Forward Together" efforts to implement operations improvements, a new Operations Support Team was selected in 2010 and will begin work in 2011. The team will handle both ECF and CIAO! Help Desk functions and work in partnership with all divisional offices. In addition to supporting both internal and external district-wide users of the Court's case management system, the team will handle high-volume processes for district-wide operations tasks, such as quality control of electronically filed petitions, discharges, dismissals, and closings of no asset cases. The new Operations Support Team enables divisional operations staff to focus primarily on case management and more complex duties within their scope of responsibility, instead of routine tasks. The team supports the Court's continuity of operations planning efforts by allowing members to telework up to three days a week.
Court staff grew by nearly 26 percent in response to the continued increase in filings throughout 2010. The Clerk's Office hired 63 new personnel and Chambers staff increased by six, bringing the Court's total number of employees to 365. In addition to the new personnel, Central District judges were aided by 77 judicial externs, who each spent one semester with the Court.
Despite the overall growth in staff, the number of filings per Clerk's Office staff member rose from 445 in 2009 to 481 in 2010. To help manage the increasing workload, the Clerk's Office hired 49 temporary generalist clerks, selected from an applicant pool of over 600 candidates, who have been assigned across the district. The Court also converted 43 temporary generalist clerks to permanent operations support clerks. Ten of the new operations support clerks relocated from other divisions to join the new Operations Support Team in Los Angeles. There were 69 promotions throughout the Court last year.
The Court hired a total of 79 people this year. Of the new hires, 34 employees (43 percent) were in the 21 to 30 age range, 21 employees (27 percent) were in the 31 to 40 age range, 17 employees (22 percent) were in the 41 to 50 age range, and seven employees (9 percent) were over age 51. Similar to prior years, the largest percentage of employees overall (34 percent) continues to cluster in the 41 to 50 age range. The number of total Court employees over age 51 rose from 103 employees (34 percent) in 2009 to 116 employees (32 percent) in 2010. However, 119 employees (33 percent) are age 40 and under. Seventy of these 119 employees are under 30, which helps position the Court for future retirements.
In 2010, the Court substantially increased its commitment to providing professional development opportunities to Court staff. Court staff attended 204 classes in 2010, a 38 percent increase over 2009. Court staff members participated in 5,635 hours of training, a 51 percent increase over the prior year.
From Chambers, 104 new law clerks and externs participated in training sessions conducted by bankruptcy judges and guest speakers in January, June, and September. The one-day course is designed to educate incoming law clerks and externs about the bankruptcy chapters and related topics. Overall, 76 percent of participants came from the Bankruptcy Court and the remaining participants from the District and Magistrate Courts. Upon the retirement of Judge Bufford in September, sponsorship of the program was transitioned to Judge Saltzman.
In the past year, many Court staff members had a chance to attend offsite training sponsored by the judiciary, including the National Conference of Bankruptcy Clerks, the Bankruptcy Operational Practices Forum, and CM/ECF Dictionary Training. District-wide training sessions were held in May and June to introduce and prepare staff for the Court's new Performance Management Program. All Clerk's Office staff completed the online course "Avoiding Ethics Pitfalls," which focuses on the judiciary's Code of Conduct. Operations staff used the Court's new Learning Management System to complete the online course, "Is It Legal Advice?"
On October 13, the Court offered two half-day seminars on retirement and benefits through Federal Benefit Solutions, an agency that specializes in providing benefits training to federal agencies. The seminars were held in the Los Angeles Roybal Building. Sponsored by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Clerks (NCBC) and Gallagher Benefits Services, Federal Benefit Solutions spoke with 38 employees from across the Central District who were eligible for retirement within the next five to 12 years. The participating employees learned more about the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, survivor benefit choices, continuation of federal employment health benefits, and other topics related to retirement and benefits.
The Central District expanded its staff development capability by welcoming four new team members in October, for a total of five specialists serving the district. The newly-formed Staff Development department met with staff across the district to introduce themselves and conduct focus groups regarding the Court's training needs. Based on what was learned from the focus groups and the Clerk's Office action plan, the team developed a training-related strategic plan. High-priority initiatives were identified and the team launched classes on communication, conflict management, and supervisory skills to address these initiatives. Classes in office automation, such as Adobe Acrobat fillable forms, also commenced.
In addition to rolling out new programs, the Staff Development department participated in the project planning and marketing of Court initiatives, such as Heritage Celebration Days, the Winter Education Seminar, the NCBC Program, and the Ninth Circuit Human Resources Conference, while simultaneously designing new classes to launch in 2011. Administratively, the team is responsible for communicating and tracking all upcoming and completed district-wide training. Doing so helps prevent scheduling conflicts, promote interest in professional development, and increase efficiency in measuring skill competencies.
On October 1, the Court implemented its new Performance Management Program. The program is designed to communicate and clarify responsibilities, priorities, and performance expectations. The goal is to ensure mutual understanding between supervisors and employees, thereby enabling Court staff to achieve the Court's mission and goals by effectively and efficiently serving the public. During the fiscal year, each employee will receive a performance plan, interim reviews, self-assessment reviews, performance appraisals, and, if applicable, step increases. This program applies to all employees covered under the Court Personnel System.