Municipal elected officials and staff members from across the province are meeting at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention (UBCM in Vancouver this week to network, attend workshops and put forward resolutions.
The UBCM is also an opportunity to recognize communities for what they are doing well, and the District of Sparwood has been awarded an Honourable Mention for Community Excellence.
The award recognizes Sparwood’s completion of the Organizational Excellence Initiative. This process brings employees together to identify areas for improvement, develop solutions and proactively focus on the future of the organization, its people and the services the municipality provides.
Gordon McIntosh, Local Government Leadership Facilitator, led several sessions, where employees provided ideas and insight on what works well and areas for improvement within their departments.
The results of these conversations provided Council with an opportunity to gain insight and make decisions on how to support excellence within the organization.
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.”
In addition to taking a deep dive into improvements within the municipality, annual check ins and target dates were implemented. Ideas from employees link directly into Council’s strategic priorities.
“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,” said 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.”