Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Kayla Barber-Perrotta, Deputy City Manager at the City of Albany, OR. Connect with Kayla on Linkedin and Instagram.
- What I’m reading: “Science, Submarines & Secrets: The Incredible Early Years of the Albany Research Center”
- What I’m watching: “Agatha All Along”
- What I’m eating: Squash — it’s one of the few things I managed to eke out of the garden after moving. 😊
Last week the City of Albany hosted its first City Hall-o-Ween. Over 300 kids and families visited City Hall to trick-or-treat with staff decked out in costumes and engaging games such as IT’s cleverly dubbed “Phishing” game, in which kids reeled in bags of candy and treats. As I looked out over the packed plaza at the joy of families and staff and felt the tremendous energy radiating off my team, I wished I could bottle these two hours and unleash that feeling every day.
When I joined local government 10 years ago, this was a regular feeling. Local government was seen as a calling where you could engage your neighbors and have positive impacts on your community. While people certainly had their gripes on service or how their taxes were being used, there was still a level of overarching trust that employees were providing needed community services and were hardworking honest people.
In the last decade, however, I have seen this growing shift of public perception from a public servant being someone who has dedicated their life to giving back to their community, to a public servant being someone almost less than a person — someone who doesn’t deserve the same quality of life as the residents they serve and who should be regarded with deep suspicion. I’ve seen employees afraid to wear their badges or any logos to lunch because they worried they would be harassed, and engagement events rolled back to protect employees from abuse and public vitriol.
As I write this on the eve of the next election (it’s Nov. 4), I only see this rift growing. Toxic rhetoric toward government, mudslinging, and questioning of democratic processes are rampant and acceptable. It makes me fear what the next year brings for government employees, particularly in organizations that have not invested in their human capital and building a culture of resiliency. It is a slow “othering” of government employees, stripping them of the unique, creative, and wonderful qualities that make them people and members of the community, and packaging them as “The City,” some overarching villain out to take from residents.
So how do we change course? How do we start reforming the narrative and rebuilding the identity of our employees? How do we remind the public that these are good people who care deeply and are invested in improving the quality of life in their communities? How do we support our teams through what is likely to be a long and arduous journey? We didn’t get here overnight and it is unlikely we are going to get out any faster.
Humanize our teams. Public perception of local government workers can be distant or impersonal. Rather than seeing people behind the work and programs, the public only sees “the city.” However, we can take intentional steps to change this dynamic and perception. One of the reasons I loved City Hall-o-ween so much was it allowed the public to see the people behind finance, public works, etc. These are caring people who took time out of their day to bring joy to families, not some enigma shrouded in mystery. Highlighting employees through spotlights that share their backgrounds, goals, and why they joined the organization can also be used to tell this story. Open houses and more casual community meetings can also be used to soften public perception and remind the public that many of the staff in local government are their fellow community members. Here in Albany, we’re lucky enough to have 52% of our employees live in the community.
Speak regularly about the value added by engaged employees. Investing in people is not a kumbaya thing; it is an investment in your organization’s future, and I would argue one of the best ways you can be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. There are hard numbers, real cost savings, and cost avoidances that all stem from engaging and retaining good people. It costs 50%-150% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them, not including lost productivity. Furthermore, once you get someone in the door, it still takes 2-3 years on average before you start seeing a return on your investment in a new employee. The first several years require heavy investment in time and training to bring an employee up to speed on a new position, and it is only after they have become confident in their role that they begin moving their position forward and enhancing the organization. Finally, organizations that boast highly engaged workforces see 59% less turnover, 41% less absenteeism, 37% fewer safety incidents, and 18% increased productivity.
Normalize investment in professional development and employee engagement. Investing in professional development and engagement not only shows employees they are valued, but it also benefits the community as highly trained and engaged employees are more likely to process improve, and work more efficiently. This is the old, yet often true adage, that a highly trained employee can do the work of three lesser-trained employees. Yet, professional development and employee engagement budgets are frequently first on the chopping block during hard times or when public spending is being questioned. This is despite all the aforementioned monetary impacts I highlighted in the opening of this article. One way to start making this shift is to start normalizing the cost of professional development and engagement, rather than speaking about it as something separate from hiring an employee. We often talk about salaries and benefits when calculating the addition of new employees or trending out expected spend for our existing staff, and then we talk about training and engagement separately. By combining these into one discussion, however, we can begin to transform the narrative. Instead of the total cost of an employee being $80,000 (salary and benefits) talk about it as $86,000 (salary, benefits, training). This simple change reframes it as a cost of doing business rather than a luxury or add-on.
Recognize and celebrate achievements. Employee recognition and appreciation are two key elements of engagement. Not only do they improve employee trust and morale, but they reinforce culture and help shape the direction the organization moves. Monthly or quarterly awards, employee appreciation events, and even handwritten thank-you notes all work toward making employees feel valued and improving morale. Good appreciation and recognition are immediate, specific, often, sincere, and it is also tailored to the person being appreciated. Some people enjoy public recognition, while others may prefer a good job behind closed doors. Celebrating achievements can also be used to tell your story to the public and educate them on the value add of good employees. Did employees implement a program that saved taxpayer dollars or improved the quality of service? Share it! Share the why, share the innovation, share the results, and (this is one we often forget) share the role that staff played.