About DRS

Mission

• We provide information, tools, expertise and services that ensure our members receive the retirement benefits they earn while in public service.

Vision

• Satisfied customers
• Valued team members

Values

• Customer focus
• Team member engagement
• Valued relationships
• Performance excellence
• Resource stewardship

Goals

• Reliable (Accurate/Timely/Responsive)
• Equitable (Respectful/Inclusive)
• Financial (Fiscal Accountability)

Strategies

1. Support team member growth through development.
2. Adopt secure, modern and flexible tools populated with accurate data.
3. Adopt a leadership development program.
4. Mature organizational governance.
5. Adopt a dynamic talent acquisition and management program.
6. Reduce risk of fraud by eliminating unnecessary access to agency held data.
7. Develop a holistic communications plan so partners, customers and employers have access to information and tools.
8. Monitor and adopt best practices related to increasing retirement savings.
9. Re-imagine retirement-related business processes.
10. Increase linkage of budgeted resources to projected mandatory workload.

Leadership Behaviors

• Listen: Lead with positive intent. Create psychological safety. Listen to understand. Be curious. Clarify with questions. Avoid assumptions.
• Equip: Communicate. Educate. Share the vision. Engage learning. Encourage practice. Build skill. Provide professional development.
• Empower: Say “Yes.” Share knowledge. Create opportunities that support team member’s goals, strengths and professional development.
• Challenge: Reach, stretch, explore and expand. Improve capabilities, processes and teams. Share problem-solving.
• Support: Coach. Appreciate failure as an important step toward success. Provide help, stability, and encouragement.

Cultural Objectives

• Broad collaboration and trust: Trust in mutual commitment to shared outcomes. Collaborate proactively. Expect tools to perform as designed.
• Strategic, data-driven work: Think big-picture for decision-making and customer service. Consider qualitative and quantitative data.
• Consistent processes: Value standardized processes that support consistent outcomes.
• Embrace change: Embrace change as a vital element of a thriving organization

Membership (as of quarter ending March 31, 2025)

• 369,489 active members – working and contributing to the plans
• 238,708 annuitants – retirees, beneficiaries and others who receive monthly payments
• 342,327 inactive members – left employment but are not yet receiving payments

Financial (as of fiscal year ending June 30, 2024)

• $196.8 billion held in retirement trust fund assets
• $5.5 billion collected annually in contributions from members and employers
• $8.1 billion paid annually in benefits and contribution refunds

Organizational

• 275 employees
• $90.6 million budget
• Created in 1976

The Department of Retirement Systems acknowledges and honors the land we are on today as the ancestorial and traditional territory of the Coast Salish people, including the Nisqually, Squaxin Island, and Puyallup Tribal Nations, under the Treaty of Medicine Creek, signed on December 26, 1854. We respect their tribal sovereignty and express deep gratitude for their stewardship of this land. We also seek to learn from and build authentic, meaningful relationships with the Indigenous Peoples of Washington State.