HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-18-2014-13 (4)INFORMATION ITEM
February 27, 2014
To: Michael Talbert
From: Jim Groves
Re: Follow up to BOCC questions
Mr. Talbert,
During the OCES Strategic Plan presentation to the BOCC, Mr. Dorosin posed several questions
that required follow up after the meeting. Below are the questions along with my proposed
answers for the BOCC.
1. How are other organizations having success at balancing work/life challenges?
a. OCES is and will be using a variety of sources to help form and validate our
proposed solutions to employee work/life balance. These sources include the
North Carolina 911 Managers Listsery and the National Association of Public -
Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Open Forum Listsery and website that
provide a wealth of best practices and lessons learned. We also are looking into
studies /assessments such as the Oklahoma City employee satisfaction survey and
shift schedule, which is a very detailed assessment that we would like to model in
the near future. Finally, we are working with local programs that are high
performers such as Johnston County, Buncombe County, and Guilford County to
determine what works for them and what does not.
2. What are the priorities within the document?
a. Priorities are identified by their effect on life safety, customer service, and
employee support and satisfaction. I will revise the Strategic Plan to list highest
priorities and objectives first in each Division of the organization.
3. Do we hear reports back from customers /clients that the responding employees are surly?
(this referenced staff being tired from overtime) The Chair paraphrased the question, are
internal challenges reflected in service delivery?
a. Yes, we do hear back from customers about employee performance. These
reports range from areas that need improvement to kudos. Most of the feedback is
received by email or regular mail. We share both with our employees to help
them either improve their performance when it is lacking, or sustain and improve
their performance when they are doing something very good.
b. In one situation, a video was made through the UNC media group about a patient
that had one bad encounter with a single employee, but had several very positive
encounters with others. I would like to share this video with you and the BOCC
in support of an initiative in the Strategic Plan called Community Medicine (some
folks call it Community Paramedics). It is touching and really shows how we do
make a difference in people's day to day lives.
I hope that I've adequately answered the questions that were posed by the Board. Please do not
hesitate to request further information of clarification on any of these answers.
Best Regards,
Jim Groves