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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02062007 - SD.6 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA 0 FROM: John Cullen, County Administrato Lori Gentles, Director of Human Resources . °' COSTA --- `� COUNTY co' DATE: February 1, 2007 ux'{'1 SUBJECT: Contra Costa County Service Excellence — S D Employer of Choice Program SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: ACCEPT report from the County Administrator and Human Resources Director; to DIRECT and AUTHORIZE the establishment of criteria and institute practices for achieving Service Excellence and for becoming an Employer of Choice. BACKGROUND.: Contra Costa County is a complex, multi-service/multi-purpose government agency whom taxpayers rely on to maintain a high level of public service and to be accountable for fair and ethical public policy administration in over 100 separate public safety, public health and general service programs. We can maximize our effectiveness with the more than one million county residents through our most valuable resource — our employees. One strategy for improving our competitiveness is by providing the tools necessary to recruit, retain, and improve skill levels of the workforce —thus enabling Service Excellence. An Employer of Choice is defined as an organization whose culture, work environment and opportunities are competitive with leading enterprises, and there exists a conscious organization-wide employment strategy designed to solidify its human capital in order to provide effective services. To meet and exceed citizen expectations for Service Excellence, remain competitive, and sustain and enhance our level of service, we have to stay ahead of the curve by recruiting and retaining the best available talent. Unfortunately, changes in the nationwide demographic forecast indicate that the available talent pool is rapidly shrinking. To compound this issue, a significant percentage of current employees are approaching retirement eligibility. Also, recent college graduates are more inclined to target private sector organizations to begin their career, for higher pay, stock options, advancement opportunities, and empowerment. The concept of working for Government/Civil Service does not have the same appeal to the "new" generation as in past years. As a result, we need to become more competitive in obtaining and maintaining employee resources. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): / ACTION OF BOARD ON O LQ APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER S E.E. �bflEN t�tJM VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE AYES: NOES: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: SHOWN. / Orig. Dept: Human Resources Department ATTESTED ©�/ ° o cc: County Administrator JOHN B.CULLEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF County Counsel SUPERVISORS COU TY ADMINISTRATOR Auditor-Controller \ All County Departments BY DEPUTY M382(10/88) We will strive to be a place where people choose to work for the County when presented with other choices of employment; we will enjoy positive name recognition and branding for being a leading public service organization; we will maintain higher levels of performance accountability, responsibility, and service continuity; and be an organization where customer loyalty and public satisfaction are constantly improving. In striving for Service Excellence, and becoming an Employer of Choice, the following components would be developed: • Creating a clear and relevant County mission, vision, and values that will motivate employees to contribute and experience a sense of organizational ownership; • Developing professional, efficient work place settings that are respective of our employees and the public we serve; • Creating County-wide performance evaluation and accountability systems to identify staff strengths/weaknesses and develop plans for promoting positive careers; • Establishing a competitive performance-based compensation plan that rewards management and line employees for consistently exceeding performance standards; • Creating a Performance Incentive Program that provides departments with investment capital to make efficient and cost effective service delivery improvements; • Adopting an overall total compensation philosophy that provides for equity adjustments in order to stay competitive with relevant labor markets; • Promoting a continuous learning environment (training and education) to inspire innovation, creativity and employee development; • Identifying and providing the necessary tools for our workforce to efficiently and effectively meet the public's expectations; • Implementing a succession management plan and a path to career advancement that identifies and prepares employees for leadership roles within the organization; • Establishing a recruitment and selection processes that focus on specific organizational competencies, skills, and leadership traits; and, • Creating employee recognition programs (including celebratory events, meals and awards) that recognize our outstanding staff accomplishments. With the Board of Supervisors input, the County Administrator and Human Resources Director would begin developing the details, and implementing these various criteria/components of a Service Excellence Program. - 2 - ADDENDUM to SD.6 February 6, 2007 On this day,the Board of Supervisors considered accepting a report from the County Administrator and the Human Resources Director on the Contra Costa County Service Excellence/Employer of Choice Program and authorizing the County Administrator to develop criteria and to institute practices for achieving Service Excellence and becoming an Employer of Choice. John Cullen, County Administrator, presented the item to the Board, noting County employees are our most valuable resource. Chair Piepho referred to a bullet point in the material that sets the goal of"Implementing a succession management plan and a path to career advancement that identifies and prepares employees for leadership roles within the organization," suggesting adding an educational component to the support of career development and training. Supervisor Gioia asked about the timeline for the development of the proposed criteria/components. Mr. Cullen responded that some of the proposed components that will make Contra Costa an Employer of Choice are areas for continued ongoing development, and added that while some of the proposed components only need to be refined, others still need to be defined. He added that input from employees is still being sought, and he further added that the County's ability to finance certain components might be a factor in their implementation. Supervisor Glover asked if it would be possible to deliver a timeline for the definition and development of the proposed goals. Mr. Cullen responded that perhaps the bullet points in today's material could be expanded upon to better define each goal, and to provide a timeline for putting that goal into process. Supervisor Uilkema said she would like to emphasize the importance of the training of County employees and she suggested that Supervisors may also want to take some role in the training sessions for new employees. She commented that she would like to have any performance evaluation tools be clearly defined and easily understood, and noted that regular periodic meetings between employees and supervisors in which the clear evaluation tools are utilized will show equitability. Supervisor Gioia said it is important to note that a performance-based system is being sought to raise the standard for all employees, line staff and management. Supervisor Bonilla said that when organizations roll out slogans it does not necessarily initiate a change, and she suggested forming a task force that could work with input from SD.6 February 6, 2007 Page 2 of 2 the community on how to improve delivery of services so that the implementation of these new goals would not just be a"top down"process. The Chair called for public comment and the following person spoke: Rollie Katz, Public Employees Union Local 1, said that the Board currently has some serious credibility problems because of its own recent pay hike and the increased salary and benefits given to management. He added that many of the proposed components will require a union"meet and confer." By a unanimous vote with none absent, the Board of Supervisors took the following action: ACCEPTED a report from the County Administrator and Human Resources Director on the Contra Costa County Service Excellence/Employer of Choice Program; AUTHORIZED the County Administrator to develop criteria and to institute practices for achieving Service Excellence and becoming an Employer of Choice; and DIRECTED the County Administrator to return to the Board at a future date to be determined with more information on and timelines for the proposed Employer of Choice criteria.