5.4 ERMUSR 03-10-2020UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
ERMU Commission Troy Adams, P.E. –General Manager
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
March10, 2020 5.4
SUBJECT:
Workplace Culture
ACTION REQUESTED:
Approve reallocation of $5,000 commission budget toward organizationwide training.
BACKGROUND:
During the December17 special commission meeting, Chair Dietz shareda concern about
morale and workplace culture following the 2020 budget cost of living adjustment (COLA)
discussion, where the lineworker group received a different market adjustment from the other
pay groups. The concern was that lineworkers were perceived to be treated differently than
others within the organization. The commission directed the leadership team to further discuss
the issue and follow up with the commission with some analysis and possible solutions that
could be implemented to improve workplace culture.
DISCUSSION:
The leadership team held initial discussions withstaff immediately followingthe December
commission meeting. The leadership team then evaluatedthat initial feedback and analyzed
those comments. The leadership team also considered the feedback received during the 2019
organizational effectiveness survey.
Feedback confirmed that compensation market corrections that are applied differently for
different paygroups does cause stress in workplace culture. Employees may have perceived that
there are inequities in process due to incomplete knowledge of the process.
The organizational effectiveness survey was conducted on employees in January 2019 by a
third-party to determine areas of opportunity for improvement, working from good to great.
This was a voluntary, internal initiative by the leadership team to create a culture of continual
improvement and to identify opportunities to make ERMU a better community asset through a
stronger and united workforce.
The survey did ask questions regarding compensation and benefits. Neither of these categories
indicated concern according to the consultant. The fact that there was not strongemployee
concern expressed in January 2019 regarding compensation fairness between paygroups may
be related to that year’s COLA and market adjustments. In 2019 the manager, office, and field
paygroups received a larger COLA than the lineworkers. Additionally, there were several office
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positionsthat received significant mid-year market adjustment in addition to the COLA
following benchmarking conducted by the Wage & Benefits Committee (W&BC). In 2020, the
roles were reversed and the lineworkers paygroup receiveda higher COLA and market
adjustmentthan theother paygroups. This higheradjustment was based on the evaluated
market data. The data from the survey and from recent morale concerns does indicate divide
between the paygroups, specifically that the office and field employees have concern regarding
the compensation process for the lineworkers. Conversely, there doesn’t appear to be the same
level of concern from the lineworkers over the process and compensation of others.
Although the 2019 organizational effectiveness survey did not indicate compensation or
benefits were a concern, the survey did illuminate other opportunitiesfor improvement. The
consultant communicated eight areas for the leadership team to address:
1.Implement an effective cross-organizational recognition program
2.Improve process and procedures; seek employee input and provide resources for
success
3.Improve the safety training; training specific and relevant to roles; improve delivery
4.Improve performance feedback process
5.Increase employee level development training
6.Leadership development; clear direction and accountability; for all employees
7.Increase teamwork and accountability within departments
8.Work environment; stress levels
Throughout 2019, the leadership team has been working through the action items identified by
the survey. To address items one through three, workgroups were created from within
departments of the organization. These groups of employees worked to provide input and
investedin thedevelopmentof solutions addressingtheir ownconcerns tocreate positive
outcomes.
The performancefeedback process wasupdated for 2019,yet still received less thanstellar
employee feedback as the process seemed tocumbersomeand lacked consistent follow-up
on development plans. This process is again under review by leadershipwith theintention of
additional processimprovements for this year’semployeeperformance feedbackand
evaluations.
Items 7 and 8 were specific to departments and were addressed within those departments
through communication and training.
Items 5 and 6 are yet to be addressed. These items were intended to be addressed through
training included in the 2020 budget. After the workplace culture concern was voiced by the
commission in December, a follow up conversation was conducted with the organizational
effectiveness survey consultant. These two items were interconnected. We have spent a lot of
time over the years training employees to perform tasks or “hard skills,” which they all do very
well. However, apart from the leadership team, we have not invested in “soft skills” trainings
for all employees. Soft skills include integrity and effective communication, which are two of
ERMU’s organizational values. Soft skills would also include teamwork, problem-solving,
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willingness to learn, willingness to compromise individual goals to achieveteam goals, ability to
find positive solutions for negative situations, creativity and critical thinking,strategic vision,
etc.According to the online job siteindeed, “soft skills are personal habits and traits that shape
how youwork, on your own and with others.” These are the skills that typically determinethe
success of a leader, rather than hard skills. Our consultant recommended that in addition to
addressing the action items from the organizational effectiveness survey, providing soft skills
training will help to build better workplace culture and develop future leaders.
Workplace culture is not a problem to solve; rather, it is an issue to manage. This means
ongoing commitment from all involved: commission, leadership team, and employees. It takes
intention and effort from all involved to build a strong team. When one or all groups are looking
at “what’s in it for me” rather than “what is beneficial for all concerned,” the foundation of that
team is not solid.It will take effort from the employees to improve workplace culture, as well as
that of the leadershipteam. Additionally, it will take the support from the commission. One
way that the commission can support the efforts of building good workplace culture and
contributing the foundation of a strong team is to support employee development and training.
The amount budgeted to address this specific soft skills training in 2020 was $5,000. The scope
for this training was mid-organization leaders like leads, specialists, and forepersons. After
discussion with another consultant, the budget scope is too narrow. The scope needs to be
expanded to include all employees providing level-specific soft skills trainings. Staff requests
that the commission approve reallocating the $5,000 budgeted for commission contingency
toward employee soft skill training and improving workplace culture.
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