How state employees can make suggestions to make things more efficient

Imagine a giant suggestion box for state employees. Then imagine there was just one idea in it. 

That was the scenario the state’s Employee Suggestion Review Board faced at its quarterly meeting Monday. 

And the one suggestion had to be rejected. It had neither the approval of an agency head nor a required cost estimate. 

The Board meets quarterly to discuss the suggestions they have received and can approve their implementation into the process. Employees whose suggestions are approved can receive $1,000 or up to $5,000 in some rare cases.

The Board was created by the Legislature in 2000. It replaced an earlier program established in 1981 that gave employees up to $2,000 for saving money. 

Lexie SoloRio, legislative counsel, and Doryan Carlton, a state budget officer, go through the suggestions each quarter.

SoloRio said that last quarter they had approved a suggestion in the Department of Public Health from a nurse in the Tuscaloosa area that would create cards to go along with vaccines, to prevent mixing up different vaccinations. 

“And, then, it actually got distributed statewide to all of the county health departments to use as a resource, so they don’t, you know, waste vaccine doses,” she said. 

Carlton said that vaccine cards made the process more efficient and made it easier to ensure that errors didn’t occur.

“So, it seemed like a simple thing, but it was a huge impact to the agency,” she said. “So, I do feel like this group spurs some creative ideas from state employees that, you know, are in the trenches doing this work.”