Creating a Living Culture of High Performance

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Henrico County embarked on an initiative to enhance its culture so that all employees become “leaders at all levels”, customer service is refocused to emphasize the customer experience, departments develop teams of thought leaders to tackle issues, and leaders become “employee engagement managers”. This was accomplished by delivering a series of training sessions for all levels of management, followed by discussion groups exploring concepts of high performing organizations (HPOs). The first strategy began with three days of training with top county leaders facilitated by an external vendor followed by training for other levels of managers by internal staff. The second strategy involved the same group of top leaders meeting on a regular basis to discuss ways to become a higher performing organization. Some sessions were facilitated by the county manager himself, and others by community leaders as guest speakers. The final strategy involved discussion groups of middle managers strategizing on ways to implement selected HPO concepts in their areas of influence. Results show clear evidence of employee engagement strategies throughout the county, increased use of thought leader groups in several agencies, and employees at all levels taking on key decision making roles and providing suggestions on ways to improve services.