How A Dedicated Team Drives Values

A great team defines organizational values and helps others understand the goals and mission. The City of Southlake works diligently to implement the City’s goals and objectives with a commitment to integrity, innovation, accountability, commitment to excellence and teamwork!

So how does the City of Southlake approach the development of a great team to drive those values? Through proper training and recruitment, of course! The City wants their employees to make an impact. The culture is values-driven and the team is committed and dedicated to quality work and helping customers.

The City recruits top talent and encourages the current workforce to continue to develop their skill set.

“The heart of any successful organization is the staff,” Director of Human Resources Stacey Black said. “We want our employees to connect to the public and reinforce our values. A well-trained team will help us get there.”

The quality of service provided by the City to the customer depends upon the quality of the workforce; a well trained staff produces a more efficient workforce and improves customer satisfaction.

“The City’s goal is to “Serve Our Customers” and of course a team effort will go a long way,” said Black. “When you have a well-trained workforce of innovative thinkers with a commitment to excellence, it helps us solve problems efficiently and proactively.”

The City works diligently to implement new processes to help achieve these goals and has received notoriety for it.

Earlier this year, the City received a Laserfiche Run Smarter Award for restructuring the hiring process for police. By implementing the use of this software, the City reduced the testing notification wait time from 2-3 weeks to one day, saved 6.25 hours of staff time per testing cycle on administrative tasks and saved a total of $7,000 a year.

“The City was chosen based on creativity, operational improvements, use of Laserfiche software and resources and inspirational potential for other Laserfiche clients,” said Black. “We invite the use of any technology that may help us better serve our customers while making processes more efficient.”

The City also received the Tree City USA Award by the Arbor Day Foundation which also recertified the City as a designated 2018 Tree City USA community.

In order to receive such an honor the City had to meet the core standards of sound urban forestry management, which includes maintaining a tree board or department, establishing a tree ordinance  and spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry in addition to celebrating Arbor Day.

“The City’s Planning and Development Department goes above and beyond to ensure that the City manages urban forestry and upholds sustainable tree management. The City of Southlake has taken this award home 22 years in row and it’s all thanks to our dedicated employees,” Black said.

The City also enhances the sense of community by providing exceptional customer service and citizen engagement opportunities. This was the first year for the City to receive the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Silver Anvil Award for the most effective campaign $5,000 or less, in government.

“Southlake Department of Public Safety has an excellent way of using social media as a tool of community engagement with citizens. Their Facebook page is inviting, conversational and entertaining,” Black said. “The PRSA Sliver Anvil Award was a reminder that we are moving in the right direction and have the right people in place.”

The recognition the City has received is proof that hiring high-quality employees is leading the City to success.

“The quality of service provided by the City to the people of Southlake depends upon the quality of the City’s workforce. The City advocates for a highly-trained staff and promotes delivery of excellent customer service. In turn, this has created a dedicated culture to serve our community and also enhances service delivery and drives production,” Black said.