Organizational Excellence

Summary of objective implementation status (achievements or progress over last year; significant delays or issues, etc.)

By improving information and knowledge sharing within and between County departments, the County will increase its capacity for information dissemination, allow for greater transparency of cross-County department and agency activity, and promote organizational learning.

The County Administrator’s Office is currently piloting a variety of knowledge sharing activities, with the goal of developing strategies that can be shared countywide. These activities include proactive coordination and information-sharing across CAO divisions, every-other-week brown bag lunches to share lessons learned on past or current projects, particularly working more effectively and efficiently to support Board deliberations, supplementing professional development for employee growth by discussing specific topics of professional interest, establishing criteria for peer review and information sharing to improve team effectiveness when an individual is out of the office for vacation or other extended period.

Furthermore, the County Administrator’s Office launched a department Mentor Program in October 2023. The intention of the Program is to create opportunity for employees to connect with colleagues in other areas of the department, share their backgrounds, strengths, skills and more.  This is an opportunity not only to explore career paths and develop professional skills, but also to learn about a specific colleague or area of work, to broaden their understanding of the department as a whole and its impact on the County and community we serve.

The countywide employee engagement survey is scheduled for 2024 (Organizational Excellence objective 3.2). This survey will include questions about the current levels of internal information and knowledge sharing within and between County departments to determine where there are gaps in sharing and opportunities for improvement. Once this baseline is established, staff will conduct research on best practices and prepare recommendations for strategies to achieve this objective.

Key milestone update (include relevant metrics, if applicable)

• Launch County Administrator’s Office’s new department Mentor Program: LAUNCHED IN OCTOBER 2023
• The employee engagement survey was originally anticipated to take place in 2022. However, given funding availability and prioritization, the survey will be delayed until 2024. As a result, the following milestones have been adjusted to take place after the survey is conducted.
• Incorporate questions related to information/knowledge sharing in employee engagement survey (OE 3-2): June 2024
• Baseline assessment: 1) data from Employee Engagement Survey, 2) Department Head feedback: September 2024
• Project scoping: compile list of potential strategies: March 2025
• Stakeholder engagement: request feedback on list of strategies: April 2025
• Proposal and funding plan development: December 2025
• Implement new strategies and evaluate results: December 2026

Coordination and partnership update

This is an internally focused objective with strategies aiming to increase internal information and knowledge sharing. However, during the scoping project staff will consider whether there are opportunities to partner with cities and community partners to share resources related to information and knowledge exchanges.

Community, equity and climate update

As previously stated, staff will look for opportunities to engage the broader community as part of the implementation of this objective. The primary engagement will be with County staff. The strategies for this objective will be designed to maximize employee participation equitably and at all levels of the organization.

Funding narrative (If this objective received Strategic Plan funding in year 1 or year 2, please provide a status of expenditures to date.)

The baseline assessment, project scoping, and stakeholder engagement work will be incorporated within normal budget activities.

Once the knowledge and information sharing strategies have been selected for implementation, additional funding may be needed. The amount will depend on the selected strategies.