Organizational Excellence

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

The Human Resources Department (HR) continues to identify opportunities and implement strategies to support employee work-life balance and positive work culture. The primary achievements in 2024 include launching of the Employee Engagement Survey (OE-3-2) and holding the second annual Mental Health Matters event for County employees.

Employee Engagement Survey:

The employee engagement survey is a key strategic priority for the County of Sonoma to evaluate and improve employee engagement and the County’s performance and services to our community. The survey will help the County to better understand where we are doing well and identify areas for improvement.

Over the past year, Human Resources selected the Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement (a division of CPS-HR) to assist with the design, development, implementation, data collection, and analysis of an employee engagement survey. The survey was launched on November 4, 2024 to all permanent part-time and full-time employees. CPS-HR will provide reports at the Department level, as well as organization-wide metrics to inform future strategies.

Mental Health Matters:

Mental Health Matters is an event for County employees focusing on their well-being.  The theme for 2024 is “Mind-Body Connection” and will highlight the importance of mental health in relation to overall physical health and well-being. Multiple virtual presentations and interactive sessions were designed to support employees and provide a variety of wellness techniques and supports, including Chair Yoga, Mindfulness, and Creating Kindness in the Workplace, among others. Sessions will be recorded and made available to employees on-demand through the County learning management system.

Key milestone update (include relevant metrics, if applicable)

• Implementation of Countywide Telework Policy – Completed May 5, 2022.
• HR sponsored virtual mental health and well-being event for County employees – A total of 14 classes were offered which included topics such as: Maintaining Balance in Life, Self-Care – Small Changes for Positive Results, Maintaining Wellbeing Through Times of Uncertainty, and Relaxation Techniques. A total of 908 course completions were recorded. – Completed November 8, 2023.
• Engagement survey launch November 4, 2024 through November 25, 2024.
• Survey data will be reported and analyzed in late December 2024.
• Identify options for program enhancements – June 2025
• Communicate enhanced county programs and commitment to work/life balance and positive work culture in recruitment/marketing materials and internally – September 2025
• Second annual Mental Health Matters event November 6-7, 2024.

Coordination and partnership update

Intersection with Organizational Excellence Objective 3.2 (Conduct an employee engagement survey by mid-2022, and based on survey data, develop, and implement strategies to incorporate survey outcomes into future operational planning.) This survey will include questions about work/life balance and solicit employee suggestions.

Community, equity, and climate update

This goal has an internal focus on County employees. Engagement will be with the employees and the labor representatives. Outreach will include other agencies to identify potential additional programs. Specific to the telework policy, telework contributes to climate objectives because remote workers are not commuting, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Implementation lead will strive for diversity on the working group and set expectations for a focus on equity in consideration and communication of new and existing opportunities and programs. We will work with Office of Equity to ensure we are applying an equity lens to the development and implementation of programs and metrics.

If this objective received Strategic Plan funding, please provide amount spent to date for non-position related funding.

FINANCIAL UPDATE: N/A – The Telework Policy was approved by the Board of Supervisors in May 2022 and was developed in-house by Human Resources in partnership with the County Administrator’s Office and Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector (ACTTC). $50,000 was appropriated for the Employee Engagement Survey. There have been no expenditures to date, but the allocation will be fully spent at the end of Fiscal Year 2025. Additional details in Organizational Excellence Objective 3.2.