Staff in all OKDHS divisions provide a multitude of services to thousands of Oklahomans and help ensure the success of our programs, customers, partners and providers. As we continue our series of Employee Spotlight stories, we focus on Iyla Griffin, Administrative Officer II in Financial Services. Many of you may know Iyla because of her role in communicating information about payroll to staff across the agency.

Iyla joined OKDHS 11 years ago as a Social Services Specialist in Oklahoma County 55C. Before transferring to Financial Services in 2018, Iyla worked as a grant writer in the Office of Planning, Research and Statistics, forms specialist in the Office of Intergovernmental Relations and Policy, and Administrative Officer II in the Office of Performance Outcomes and Accountability. She holds an undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies and a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Oklahoma.

What do you do in Financial Services?

“I’m working on re-creating Financial Services and Support Services web content for Our InfoNet Home. I also review and revise policy for our division and provide communications services, especially for our payroll unit. I audit EBT card requests, print EBT cards and assist EBT specialists in county offices, and provide customer service for the Financial Services team on Teams and Yammer.”

How did moving more than 6,000 staff to biweekly payroll affect your work?

“Our payroll transition required a lot of teamwork from many, many people. Before the transition, Financial Services, OMES and Human Resource Management tested, tested, tested and tested the process. We asked lots of questions which led to more questions and we listened to important feedback from our test groups from every corner of the agency. Hundreds of people helped with the roll-out of biweekly payroll. HRM provided virtual training sessions for all staff and we continue to maintain communications channels on Teams and Yammer to help staff who may have questions. And everyone was transitioning to telework, too, which made communications a little more challenging. For me personally, I miss being able to quickly ask a question out loud to a group of colleagues without arranging for a Teams meeting! We

continue to implement improvements to the process, and I am very proud of how well people have responded and corrected problems to help make things better for staff.”

Why did you choose to work at OKDHS?

“I began working for OKDHS in Adult and Family Services as a Social Services Specialist in Oklahoma County 55C during the worst economic recession in my lifetime. I was having my own employment crisis when I was laid-off as a landscape designer fresh out of college. I always wanted to help people, whether that meant designing family friendly spaces or connecting people to resources and services. That desire to help improve people’s lives, and a sense of duty to give back to the community, led me to OKDHS.”

What do you like best about being part of Financial Services?

“Finance is such a great team! So many of my colleagues are the kindest, most thoughtful people. Everyone works hard and tries their best and keeps focused on the most important mission we have: to serve our customers and help them get the services our agency provides.”

What do you want staff in other divisions to know about Financial Services?

“We are a dynamic group that is here to help you meet your agency finance needs! We’ve had some changes and we continue to evolve to meet our new challenges. We will be sharing more information soon about new tips, procedures and guidelines and will post them on Our InfoNet Home. I’m so excited about these changes! It can be frustrating for agency staff to find the finance information and training easily and I’m hopeful the new changes will make people’s jobs easier!”

What do you do when you’re not working?

“I love to design and make things, sew, cook, organize, and spend time outdoors. I spend a fair amount of time working, reworking, and watering plants in my yard. I have not quite made a master plan for my own yard but can’t resist bringing home plants before I even know where to put them! In 2021, I plan to make a plan!”

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Do you have an Employee Spotlight story to share? Send us an email at HopeHeroes@okdhs.org.