The Planning Process:
Progressive City Management

The Progressive City Management planning committee was challenged by the City Manager, Greg Burris, to develop suggestions to move the City toward a goal of becoming the best employer in the region. The idea was to look inward at how City government operates. This is the first time this topic has been addressed in a strategic plan for Springfield. Yet we felt it was vital — how could we ask citizens to imagine a better future and not include ourselves in that process?

The committee was comprised of employees representing multiple departments City-wide. We identified three, high-level areas on which we wanted to focus our efforts to improve: Employees, Organizational Culture, and Technology.

The committee also recognized the need to capture ideas from our fellow employees, which we did through a comprehensive survey developed by the committee and distributed to all City employees. The committee took a great deal of care in surveying employees. The survey results, along with verbal feedback from employee meetings, had a great influence on our chapter of the strategic plan.

The committee's goals focus our efforts on what we can do in the next ten years. Some of the objectives are already underway because they just make sense to do now. We recognize the need to change the culture of, and the perceptions about, local government. Our City workforce includes employees receiving recognition locally, nationally, and internationally for exhibiting exceptional work and commitment.

Our goals include ideas to increase our level of connectedness with the community. We also welcome the community to be involved and take ownership of the pieces of the plan that they believe add value to our City. We want to build upon strong partnerships with community leaders, professional organizations, schools, civic organizations, neighborhood associations and businesses.

City employees want better communication between co-workers and with the community. We encourage employee development, career planning and mentoring. We want to raise the bar for the health and well being of our City employees. We will challenge ourselves to use best practices in our operations and use technology to be more efficient. Springfield must be business-friendly and earn that reputation locally, regionally, and nationally. We anticipate these initiatives will collectively raise the value of what we do for the City and, in turn, make Springfield an even better place to live, work, and play.

The Progressive City Management committee believes that our City's employees are committed to making the City one of the premier employers in the region. We are very appreciative of the opportunity to "have a voice at the table" during this important planning process, and we recognize that developing these goals is only the beginning of our work.

We would also like to thank all of the volunteers that have taken part in the development of the strategic plan. Their relentless effort and willingness to set the future direction of our wonderful community will be recognized for years to come.

By: Collin Quigley – Assistant City Manager and Jeff Coiner – Director, Information Systems
4.23.2011