1. NEW EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION the County as a learning organization
January 8, 2015

2. Our Cornerstone - Service
We are fundamentally a service organization, and achieving good outcomes and results for our customers is our bottom line.

3. Our Aim
The mission of the County of Santa Clara is to plan for the needs of a dynamic community, provide quality services, and promote a healthy, safe and prosperous community for all.
This is the official mission of Santa Clara County.

4. Our Focus Vision Elements Customer Focus
Performance Measurement and Results
Reduce Cost of Service
Employee Empowerment and Engagement
Utilize Latent Talent
Build Bench Strength
Consolidate Where Needed
These seven Vision Elements have been in place since The first three are the major priorities, and the next four are methods by which we can move in the direction of our top priorities.

5. ELEMENTS OF THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION
What makes up a Learning Organization? The County is incorporating several methods to increase the capacity of our employees to engage with their work and deliver optimal results to customers, clients and patients. Through training, team projects, and the fostering of a Just Culture, there are tools available to them in an environment which supports employee contributions.

6. BASELINE Countywide Organizational Survey*
Strengths
Employees are sensitive to customer needs and want to respond to those needs
80% nearly always or often understand the performance goals for their job
Many employees feel good about the trust level among co-workers
Where there are specific programs for employee engagement, employees enjoy participating in those efforts
Employees express desire for more collaboration
Opportunities
Many employees (53%) do not know the organizational goals
Communication is uneven up, down and around the organization
Opportunities to participate in change efforts are uneven
Many employees perceive executives as far-removed from where they are
Executives and employees score things differently from one another
Just Culture elements rank at (addressing mistakes), and 2.9 (preventing mistakes)
59% receive feedback sometimes, rarely, or never
To establish a relative baseline of how employees view the County culture, communication, and engagement, we administered an online survey last February. Here are some of the results. Discuss some of the results. We plan to administer another survey no earlier than the fall of 2015.
*February 2014

7. How Managing Work is Changing
Traditional Management
Client-focused Management
Produce goods and services
Work is to be done by individuals reporting to bosses
Comprehensive plans and past practices drive work
Communications on a “need to know” basis
Tell people what to do
“Fixing” is a top-down task
Focus on the client
Work through self- organizing teams
Continuous improvement based on experiences with clients, with front-line input
Be open about improvements required for progress
Communicate interactively through stories, questions, conversations
High-performance teams solve problems
Many factors today affect how the County is approaching work, including an aging workforce that will need to be replaced, modern technology and the pace of life itself and the need for work/life balance.

8. Collaborating to learn
Retention of information is longer than where employees work independently or in an isolated environment.
Real Life Experiences – It allows employees to learn and capitalize on actual experiences of others.
Sharing Ideas – It provides an environment where employees can share their own ideas, which can increase interest among the participants and promote critical thinking.
Ownership – Collaborative learning gives employees an opportunity to engage in discussion when needed and allows them to take some of the responsibility for their own learning and development required to become critical thinkers.
Learning Communities – Collaboration naturally develops learning communities around specific subject areas.
Reduced Anxiety – Given the less formal environment, employees may feel less overall anxiety and more willingness to engage with others through the normal process of communication. (1)
Like any large and traditional organization, the County has been used to doing business via the expertise which rested in specialized fields, such as “law enforcement,” “social work,” or “technology.” In the modern era, employees have to work ACROSS fields to achieve the maximum benefit for the client at the lowest cost. Working in teams toward shared goals is gratifying and increases efficiency. (ReEntry Center, CLT Flow team, etc.)
(1) The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations through Social Media, Marci Conner

9. County Executive Vision and 10-Year Plan
Each employee contributes their unique talents and abilities and uses lessons-learned to improve the customer/client experience and future outcomes.
When our County Executive, Jeff Smith, arrived in 2009, he shared his vision for a 10 year plan with the Board of Supervisors, and we are in the process of implementing it now. Through our employees, our clients situations are improved.

10. Center for Leadership and Transformation
Core Framework
Give employees ways to think about organizational improvements and tools to implement change.
Empower employees with permission, support, and tools to use their knowledge, skills, and experience to make the organization better.
Just Culture
2013
Center for Leadership and Transformation
2009
Vision Elements
(7 Samurai)
2012
This slide shows the progression of the major cultural initiatives that we have been working on since 2009.

11. Phases of the 10-year plan
Phase 1: 3 – 4 years, making progress on recognition of the need to change, early adoption, and foundation building.
Phase 2: years, “middle adoption,” involves “heavy lifting” and the elimination of impediments.
Phase 3: 2 – 3 years, as current improvement efforts are operationalized, a greater proportion of the County and its clients will both recognize and benefit from the effects of employee-led, leadership-supported change efforts.
In 2015, we are in the middle of the 5th year of this plan, and we have spent the first few years on foundation building and readying the organization for change. Now, we are taking more proactive steps to make sure that the majority of our employees know what the County priorities are.

12. The Center for Leadership and Transformation
The CLT was borne out of a desire to solve problems with input from middle managers and front line staff who are closest to the action, but who may not have had the opportunity to make their viewpoint known. We started with a study of the wide variation of security software licenses in the County, and the information technology staff from multiple departments who participated on the study team went on to implement Office 365, a cloud-based solution for MicroSoft and other products. Give additional examples.

13. Strategic lenses and vision elements
The seven vision elements can be nested within three strategic lenses of customer focus, operational excellence, and innovation. Employee participation is crucial to the success of the County in these endeavors.

14. Just Culture
A culture of trust and fairness where each employee is accountable for their actions.
An environment that learns from its mistakes and errors, allowing for improvements in the organization.
Just Culture
Just Culture origins are from aviation, healthcare and transportation industries. Errors were not communicated, usually due to fear or the hierarchy structure and public/patient safety was at risk and in some cases resulted in death(s).
Our objective at the County, is to apply the “Just” principles and to have candid conversations.
The result will be a “Just” organization that is fair and consistent which allows for continuous improvements throughout the County.

15. Benefits of Just Culture
Improved Customer Service and Client Outcomes
Improved Decision Making and Problem Solving
Greater Adaptability and Acceptance of Organizational Change
Create a common language
Improve communication in the workplace to promote trust and reduce fear among staff
Foster a culture of shared purpose
Promote transparency in work processes and interactions
Link job responsibilities to desired outcomes for both the customer and the employee, as appropriate for the job.
Enhanced Innovation
Greater Self-Awareness
Greater Self-Confidence, Openness, Flexibility
Better Listening and Communication
Better Conflict Management
Greater Understanding and Skills in Organizational and Political Realities
Stronger Commitment to Learn and Develop
Stronger Leadership
Organizational
Individual

16. Systems change and process change contribute to removing impediments
WORKPLACE EFFORTS
CLT Action Learning Projects,
Unit Based Teams (UBTs)
Employees take knowledge from CLT courses and Unit Based Team formulations to apply new skills to specific “action learning” projects in & across departments
Commitment of Executive Leaders to cross-boundary and Departmental team-led improvement efforts
Systems change and process change contribute to removing impediments
The concept of the County as a Learning Organization is built into County culture.
Just Culture provides the backdrop for engaging in re-examination of work
Communication
Case Studies
- Surveys & other vehicles