The District of Sparwood has just been awarded an Honorable Mention for Community Excellence at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention for Excellence in Governance for the completion of a progressive undertaking called the Organizational Excellence Initiative (OEI). This unique process aimed to bring together all employees to collaboratively identify areas for improvement, develop solutions and proactively focus on the future of the organization, it’s people and the services the municipality provides.
Composed of several sessions over a number of months, facilitated by Gordon McIntosh, Local Government Leadership Facilitator, employees were empowered to provide ideas and insight on what works well and areas for improvement within their departments and across the organization. The results of these conversations provided Council a focused opportunity to gain insight and make decisions on how to support excellence within the organization, and thus, to the residents of Sparwood.
Feedback provided details on everything from targeted and timed public information messaging regarding seasonal operational changes, to reviewing timelines within interdepartmental referrals and everything in between. This approach not only confirmed best practices through the celebration of successes, but provided an opportunity for full organizational collaboration as multi-department processes were discussed in detail.
“The OEI process in itself focused on listening to employees and empowering their voices to have a meaningful impact on Council’s decision-making process,” says Sparwood Mayor David Wilks. “It is easy for Council to sit in Council Chambers and make decisions. However, it is far more important and valuable for us to learn and understand how those decisions could impact employees and the services they provide before they are made. While Council engages with the public, it is staff who are on the ground and interacting with people daily, facing the challenges, seeing the successes and hearing the feedback from the people of Sparwood.”
The OEI approach dove deep into improvements both within the organization, and in the services it provides, engraining the process into the culture, providing full circle feedback, and annual check in’s and target dates. Ideas and insight gained from employees then linked directly into Council’s strategic priorities which is the road map for the future investment of money and time.
“Council is dedicated to supporting this initiative, bringing forward ideas from the workforce up. There are efficiency and process improvements that a Public Works Operator may identify with ease that require a simple policy change from Council, or an idea brought forward by the Recreation Team, which would allow for improved programming for the public. It is these ideas that we want and need to hear about,” says Mayor Wilks. “We hope that this process, with the action that has already been made and Council’s support of ideas planned and for the future, that every employee of the District knows their input matters, and every person who lives, works or visits our community will be confident that they will be provided with the best services possible.”
For more information on the UBCM Community Excellence Awards visit https://www.ubcm.ca/sites/default/files/2023-09/UBCM%202023%20Awards.pdf.
Post Date: September 19, 2023 | Category: News & Updates Send Notification