The IFB Beat 11-11 Edition

A Message from the Editor

Attention IFB Employees,

In honor of Veterans Day, we’re dedicating a special moment to recognize and thank our veterans for their service during Monday’s general assembly at the Winston-Salem facility. We’ll also be celebrating our Employees of the Month, recognizing their dedication and hard work. Plus, don’t miss the opportunity to hear how your contributions through the IFB Annual Staff Giving Campaign is making a positive impact.

Thank you for reading the IFB Beat, and have a wonderful week!

Anastasia Powell

IFB Solutions Communications Manager
apowell@ifbsolutions.org | 336-245-5698

Quick Links:

New this Week

– Winston-Salem Facility: November 11 General Assembly
– Attention Veterans at the Winston-Salem Facility!
– Updated Bell System for Improved Efficiency at Winston-Salem Facility
– 2025 Award Nominations Now Open
– IFB Annual Staff Giving Campaign – 2025
– Reminder: New Winston-Salem Facility Breakroom Open!
– Reminder: IFB Annual Performance Reviews – Admin Self-Review Closes November 11
– See what S.E.E. is doing!
– Community Low Vision Center Updates

From Our Community

– Winston-Salem Transit Authority Updates
– Winston-Salem Facility Blood Drive Thursday, November 14

 

HR and Opportunities

– NEW (FREE) BENEFIT ALERT: Wellthy – Caregiving Support Services
– New Job Announcements

Support Group Zoom Meeting Links
Archived Editions of The IFB Beat

Winston-Salem Facility: November 11 General Assembly

There will be a General Assembly meeting held on the manufacturing floor on Monday, November 11 at 11:00am. We’re looking forward to presenting employee of the month awards for August, September and October, we will be kicking off our annual Staff Campaign, as well as honoring our Veterans and remarks from Dan Kelly, President, and CEO.

Supervisors, please be sure to shut down all equipment, fans and other things that contribute to noise on the manufacturing floor promptly at 11:00am. If your workspace is not close to the central offices (outside Travis Guerra and Edward Sykes’ doors), please move closer to ensure you can hear. Any office administration working in the building, your presence will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Attention Veterans at the Winston-Salem Facility!

Following the general assembly on November 11 at 11:00am, we invite you to join us for a special lunch in your honor at 11:30 am in the TADS room. Thank you for your service!

 

Coming Dec 2: Bell System for Improved Efficiency at the Winston-Salem Facility

To ensure a smooth, productive workday and maintain timely deliveries to our customers, we are reintroducing the bell system to help improve efficiency. This system will officially start on December 2, 2024, providing a month for practice prior to full enforcement in January.

Daily Bell Schedule

• 6:45 a.m. Bell: This signals that employees may clock in. Please note, clocking-in before this time is too early.
• 7:00 a.m. Bell: The start of the workday. All employees should be in their department and ready to begin when this bell rings.
• Breaks and Lunch Bells: Bells will signal the start and end of all breaks and lunch periods. Please remain in your department until each break or lunch bell rings and return promptly when the bell signals the end of break.
• End of Day Bells:
  • 5:25 p.m. Bell: Employees who are blind or visually impaired may begin lining up at the clocks.
  • 5:30 p.m. Bell: This indicates clock-out time for blind and visually impaired employees, followed by sighted employees. Sighted employees should line up behind blind and visually impaired employees with the courtesy of not cutting in line.

Points System Enforcement

Starting in January, clocking out early or clocking in late without prior scheduling will result in a ½ point. This standard practice is being reintroduced to reinforce timeliness and accountability.

Thank you for supporting this transition to ensure smooth operations.

Travis Guerra, Plant Manager, Winston-Salem Facility

 

2025 Award Nominations Open

IFB Solutions is excited to kick off our nomination process for the 2025 Employee of the Year, Career Achiever of the Year, and Delmer Wall Awards. IFB managers can nominate employees that demonstrate exceptional performance that drives our mission forward. Managers should submit all nominations to Brent Burkholder at bburkholder@ifbsolutions.org by Monday December 2; please reach out to him if you have any questions!

IFB employees, stay tuned as the new 2025 award winners are selected!

 

IFB Annual Staff Giving Campaign

The annual Staff Campaign 2025 sponsored by Allegacy Federal Credit Union kicks off on November 11, 2024. Your gifts support job training, employment, transportation, support groups, and programs for IFB employees and communities throughout North Carolina and beyond!

On November 11, all Winston-Salem employees who will be on-site are invited to attend a general assembly session on the production floor to learn more about what your gifts support.

For administrative folks, all IFB email users will receive two calendar invites – one for December 3 at 10 a.m. and another one for December 5 at 3:30 p.m. inviting you to attend a Zoom session dedicated to Staff Giving Campaign. Please accept only one calendar invitation for the session you want to attend. Please decline the other invitation. As always, everyone is invited to participate in staff campaign sessions, but giving is not mandatory.

There will be volunteers in the cafeteria during all breaks on November 12 and 13 to assist employees with completing donation forms.

All donors who donate $20 or more will receive a belt bag with the IFB logo, sponsored by Allegacy Federal Credit Union. We also encourage you to ask your family to participate in the Staff Giving Campaign, and your family member will get an IFB belt bag, and you will automatically be entered into the drawing to have a chance to win a holiday gift basket on December 19.

Supervisors: you will receive a separate email about help needed with filling out staff campaign donation forms.

If you would like to support today, here’s how you can do that:

• Fill out and sign a payroll deduction form (supervisors will have forms) before December 13, 2024.
• Donate with cash or check.
• Donate online at https://ifbsolutions.org/donate/

Questions ? Contact Naomi Venable at nvenable@ifbsolutions.org. Thank you for your support!

 

Reminder: Winston-Salem Facility New Breakroom Open!

Enjoy more seating and space to relax with coworkers during lunch! The new break area is located off the hallway on the right, just before the Low Vision area. It offers seating for up to twenty people and has two microwaves for your convenience. Come check it out!

 

Reminder: IFB Annual Performance Reviews – Self-Review DUE MONDAY, NOV 11

IFB Annual Performance Reviews were made available through your Paycom Employee Self-Service portal on Monday, October 28 for all admin and salaried employees. Please log in to your Paycom portal to complete your employee self-review as soon as possible. Comments are required to support ratings. Self-reviews will close out on November 11 and cannot be reopened.

Upon finishing your review, please be sure to type your name on the signature line, date the review, and click “Final Approve” for your manager/supervisor to complete their portion of the review. Managers/Supervisors must have ALL employee reviews completed in Paycom by Friday, November 22.

All hourly employees’ performance reviews will be handled by supervisors.

Please contact Luyann Ledesma at 336-245-5666, lledesma@ifbsolutions.org or Mary Hunter at 828-667-9778 ext. 5827, mhunter@ifbsolutions.org if you have any questions.

 

See what S.E.E. is doing!

Kaleideum in Winston-Salem, NC hosted a Ghoul Times trick or treat event on October 27 where Kim Shoffner represented IFB Programs. She was able to talk with over 1,200 children/youth and 500+ adults as she handed out bubble gum shaped like jack-o-lanterns. Braille books with tactile illustrations were spread out on the table for everyone to touch. This was often a conversation starter for Kim to teach about people who are blind or visually impaired. What a fun, spook-tacular event!

 

Community Low Vision Center Updates

CLVC Item of the Week:

Talking Keychain Clock (styles vary) for $11.95 and up! These talking keychains for the visually impaired feature both LCD and audio time report, alarm, and hourly time announcement, all on the convenience of a keychain.

If you have questions or are interested in any of the weekly items, please contact your local CLVC for assistance.

 

From Our Community

Winston-Salem Transit Authority Service Update

Submitted by WSTA

New service improvements, mobile ticketing, and other changes are coming soon as well as plans to discontinue routes 99, 100, and 110. We want to hear from you, your voice is very important to the vision of WSTA! Please take our survey by November 16, 2024 to learn more about these changes and provide your input.

Take the survey here: http://surveymonkey.com/r/S9XDSLR

For more information contact Kelly Garvin at (336) 747-6881 or kellym@cityofws.org

 

REMINDER: Winston-Salem Facility Blood Drive Thursday, November 14

Submitted by the AAA Committee at IFB

Winston-Salem Facility Red Cross Blood Drive Hosted by AAA Committee will be Thursday, November 14, 2024. Every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. Your donations assist with heart surgeries, revitalizing accident victims, organ transplant recipients, and patients needing lifesaving procedures. So, will you raise your sleeve and help someone have a second chance in life?

When: November 14, 2024
Where: Tad’s Room (Winston-Salem)
Time: 10:00 am-2:30 pm, Contact your supervisor to set up an appointment to donate.

Admin contact: Morgan Dugan at mdugan@ifbsolutions.org or 336-245-5612 or AAA President Marcia Harton at marcialharton2013@gmail.com.

 

HR & Opportunities

NEW (FREE) BENEFIT ALERT: Wellthy – Caregiving Support Services

For more information, reach out to Tammy Whitmire-Powers, IFB Solutions Benefits Administrator at twhitmire-powers@ifbsolutions.org.

Guardian has partnered with Wellthy to provide personalized care coordination and innovative technology for families, employees, and health plan members. This benefit is free for each employee. Services include:

• For aging parents or relatives: Help with coordinating transportation, moving a loved one into a assisted living facility and end-of-life preparations.
• For children and teens: Get support for things like vetting babysitters, evaluating nanny agencies, identifying counselors, and exploring alternative learning solutions like learning pods and tutors.
• For you or someone you love: Wellthy will design a care plan for situations including a new diagnosis, an ongoing health condition, a surgery, a sudden accident, routine care needs, and more.

Features of caregiving support services include:

• Care coordination – dedicated, hands-on support from specialists
• Care planning – Comprehensive care planning tools and resources in one centralized, accessible location
• Wellthy community – per-to-peer space where family caregivers can find support and exchange knowledge

For additional information click on the following link: http://ifbsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Caregiving-Support-Services-Member-One-Pager.pdf

Visit guardianwell.com to access self-service tools, resources, and dedicated support to help manage your caregiving responsibilities in a way that works for you and your family.

 

New Job Announcements

For all current openings, visit https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/jobs?clientkey=8B43E6E34C5D5C9AA3D07BB04DBEB909

For more information, please contact a member of the recruitment team at careers@ifbsolutions.org.

 

Zoom Meeting Links

Support Groups Zoom

https://ifbsolutions.zoom.us/j/99498078576?pwd=ODJzK0sxcXZrME9yN25YRTdiNXBSQT09
Meeting ID: 994 9807 8576
PASSWORD: 92638
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Meeting ID: 994 9807 8576