Institute of Organizational Excellence

About the Program

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

Year: 2009

In a time when everyone is being asked to tighten their budgets and counties are facing revenue shortfalls while attempting to maintain the same levels of service expected by the community, oftentimes the budget cuts come first from areas directed toward employee education, training, salary increases, and programs. Because Camden County’s budget constraints were forcing the county to make difficult decisions regarding its employees, morale amongst the staff was low, and many believed they were not valued members of the county. The Institute of Organizational Excellence was established to identify and implement programs to boost employee morale and education, demonstrating to them that they truly are invaluable assets to the government. This program was also established to incorporate new and innovative resources to provide the employees with the tools necessary to supply the community with the most efficient and effective services. The Institute of Organizational Excellence provides in-house computer training to county employees, offering courses in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Access. Additionally, the program mandates in-house employee training in customer service. The program also partnered with National Seminars Training to provide audio and webinar conference workshops for employees to attend. Lastly, in recognizing the importance of higher education, the county has taken steps to assist its employees’ academic development through a Tuition Reimbursement Program. The county provides a certain percentage of reimbursement to an employee’s tuition at an accredited college or university based upon the grade they receive in the class (50% for a C, 80% for a B, 100% for an A). In total, these programs have been a successful way for the county to educate and train its employees while keeping within the rigid constraints of the county’s budget. Camden County estimated that they saved upwards of $500 per person for training their employees in their Institute of Organizational Excellence programs rather than outsourcing the training to offsite computer schools. The program has estimated its annual savings at over $10,000,