HomeMy WebLinkAbout13 Values ResolutionTRUCKEE DONNER
Public Utility District
MEETING DATE
To:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
September 2, 2020
Board of Directors
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Revise District Values
APPROVED BY
AGENDA ITEM# 13
Shanna D. Kuhlemier, CMC, District Clerk
RECOMMENDATION:
The Board of Director's Adopt Resolution 2020-21, revising the District's values.
BACKGROUND:
The District's Mission is to provide reliable, high quality water and electrical power services
while meeting customer demand, and to manage the District resources in a safe, open,
responsible, environmentally sound manner at the lowest practical cost. Part of meeting
this mission is the recruitment and retention of quality employees, to meet the demand of a
highly professional workforce. In achieving these goals, the District has periodically hired
consultants for management/leadership related activities.
In 2018, the District had the opportunity to hire and retain Pamela Hurt Associates to
embark on leadership development and training. Through the first part of this training, the
Executive Leadership Team (ELT) with Board support identified a desire to memorialize the
customs and behaviors of District employees in our values. Having thoughtful discussions
over a few months on how District employees exhibited and achieved the mission, the ELT
identified accountability, integrity, safety, timeliness, and work -life -balance as the core
values. The Board of Directors supported and adopted these values on June 5, 2019.
Throughout this time, the ELT started to build on the District's fundamental value system to
create positive cultural change. Values are the core of any culture. Using fundamental
components of innovative culture to create a positive and diverse environment of
professionals that can persevere through adversity and change to meet the community's
needs has become a priority of the District.
In parallel, the Board launched a process for succession/transition planning encompassing
the retirement of the existing General Manager and the hiring of our new General Manager.
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Pamela Hurt Associates was engaged in May of 2019 to do this work. This process was
innovative while being highly collaborative with the Board, staff, and community in shaping
the future for the District.
The Board selected Remleh "Rem" Scherzinger, MBA, CSDM, and P.E. as the District's
General Manager / CEO on June 3, 2020. Rem's onboarding has been met with extreme
enthusiasm. In his first few weeks, Rem and Pam met with staff throughout the District to
brainstorm concepts of focusing on the future. These meetings brainstormed a common
theme of "Painting the Landscape". This is an innovative and creative thought process
focused on the future of the District from the ground up. In addition, all departments
brainstormed with employees the District's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
Threats (SWOT). These rich discussions have been most advantageous. The SWOT
analysis will be used as one of the first steps in our strategic planning process.
A common theme emerged from these meetings. There was a desire by employees to
update the values. Employees voiced they would like to recommend safety be first and
foremost on the value list. They also requested adding "communication" to our value list.
Staff concurred and decided to conduct an all employee survey to verify these
recommendations. The participation of that survey was over 95%. The results, as the graph
depicts, validated a strong sentiment for safety to be our number one value with
communication being added as number two.
Safetv 6ft
Communication +_57
Integrity 3.98
Accountability 3.48
Timeliness 2.06
Work Life 1.67
Balance
At this point, staff is exploring new visual aids encompassing the revised values and will
implement should the Board approve Resolution 2020-21 on September 2, 2020.
The District Values guide every process of the District and are at the core of our culture.
This includes; staff relationships, the District's hiring process, how we work, coaching and
evaluation of employees, and our community/public processes and outreach.
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Our Values:
Safety — Safety is our way
Safety is our first priority. We are committed to the health and safety of our employees,
customers, and community through the continuous practice of prevention, education, and
awareness.
Communication — Send and receive
Foster positive engagement by creating a strong communicative environment that includes;
active listening, transparency, clear, concise, and the timely transmission of information,
with empathy and respect. This also includes providing and receiving honest feedback.
Integrity — Honest and ethical
Highest quality service to the public and employees, utilizing honest and ethics as our base
principles.
Accountability — Own it
A strong performing team with the obligation and willingness to accept responsibility for our
actions, maintaining a sense of humility and inclusiveness.
Timeliness — Meet our goals and commitments
A highly effective agency and responsive organization meeting goals and expectations in a
timely manner.
Work Life Balance — Work hard, play hard
We value every employee and foster a healthy work life balance culture, allowing
employees to bring their best selves to work every day.
This Resolution suaaorts the followina District Obiectives and Goals:
1. Responsibly serve the public.
2. Provide a healthy and safe work environment for all District employees.
3. Provide reliable and high -quality water supply and distribution system to meet
current and future needs.
4. Provide reliable and high -quality electric supply and distribution system to meet
current and future needs.
5. Manage the District in an environmentally sound manner
6. Manager the District in an effective, efficient, and fiscally responsible manner.
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FISCAL IMPACT:
There is not a material fiscal impact associated with this item.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution 2020-21
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