Secretary Henderson's April 17, 2001, Letter to potential providers.

Dear Potential Provider:

The new millennium is among us and Floridians are striving to build a more efficient and effective government that fully harnesses the power of technology. In order to bring the state of Florida into the arena of highly competitive corporations like Compaq, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola, technological advances must be made. In order to make this a successful endeavor, the Governor and I are inviting you to partner with the state of Florida and share your solution of how we can improve our personnel services.

Our current personnel system, Cooperative Employment Personnel System, commonly referred to as COPES, is no longer meeting the needs of today's workforce. We are aware that, in order to continue to be technologically sound and competitive with today's job market, our system (COPES) must be replaced. Our continual struggle with having good people trapped in bad systems has come to a head. Through the Integrated Financial Management System business case study, it has been estimated that it would take an estimated $65-90 million to replace this outdated system. The other alternative is an enterprise-wide solution that would eliminate the need for a $65-90 million technology infrastructure cost and further provide an additional potential savings of millions of dollars in salaries and benefits each year. By outsourcing this function, these funds can be redirected to meet the priority needs of the State and Florida's communities. Further, this will provide each agency with a greater ability to focus its efforts on its core mission while improving the value and efficiency of the services it provides.

The state of Florida's antiquated personnel services continually cripple some of the most valuable people in the world, our state employees. In an effort to better serve Floridians and provide better service for our state employees, we are looking to update and advance our personnel system. Our challenge to you is; how can you add value to what we are currently doing at the transactional level? We are seeking to outsource the transactional processes involved in payroll preparation and personnel operations. This includes advertisement of vacancies, timesheets, processing of new employee appointments, classification orientation, leave use and accrual, payroll, benefit enrollment, and maintenance of employee records, etc. We are not considering outsourcing the selection of qualified candidates, labor relations, discipline, grievances, or collective bargaining responsibilities. These functions will be retained by the agency.

Our vision is that government be run like some of the most successful and efficient businesses. We understand that our current system is obsolete and are looking for a partner to formulate a process of services that will allow us to continue to recruit and employ the best and brightest employees. The state of Florida, our Governor, and I are ready to make significant changes to the way we deliver services to our employees. We are personally committed to working to ensure the unqualified success of this effort and invite you to share your proposal for change with us. We look forward to being introduced to all you can do to help focus our efforts on the 21st century.

Sincerely,


Cynthia A. Henderson
Secretary