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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, May 11, 2015 <br /> Page 21 <br /> Councilmember McGehee expressed appreciation for this part of the presentation, <br /> opining that she was unaware of any opportunities in the past to conduct a satis- <br /> faction survey for employees, which she found to be a good idea and providing an <br /> opportunity for employees to see if their job descriptions resemble the job they <br /> were actually doing. <br /> Regarding collaboration opportunities, Councilmember Willmus noted in the past <br /> discussion had been held regarding looking to other local government units (e.g. <br /> Ramsey County, MnDOT, and others) on a broader basis. Councilmember <br /> Willmus expressed his concern also that, initially starting from Retreat discus- <br /> sions as what was desired over the next few years, had now expanded to 5-6 <br /> years, and suggested being cognizant of how to bring that all together and tie it <br /> up. <br /> Regarding an employee satisfaction survey, Councilmember Willmus admitted he <br /> wasn't quite sold on how that tied to other items being proposed as initiatives, <br /> opining that it could take him a while to get to that. <br /> Councilmember Etten suggested a different KOI for this priority entitled `Build- <br /> ing Organizational Strength," and several targets, one of which could be "em- <br /> ployee satisfaction." Councilmember Etten noted the value and importance of the <br /> City Council listening to those performing the City's work day-to-day, but not <br /> necessarily as a separate KOI, but in order to develop and nurture succession <br /> planning and develop staff skills. As an example, Councilmember Etten noted <br /> there should be more than one staff person skilled to serve as a liaison to an advi- <br /> sory commission, addressing development of more depth and strength for em- <br /> ployee skills moving forward. Councilmember Etten stated that he could support <br /> including another KOI for staff development in a different format, or remove <br /> "employee satisfaction" and add his suggestion, allowing initiatives to flow from <br /> that and include additions. <br /> Mayor Roe opined that sounded familiar to him from Retreat discussions as well. <br /> Councilmember McGehee disagreed, opining that she found it important to have <br /> an employee satisfaction survey to find out if they had sufficient training for the <br /> jobs they were performing and if they felt they were in a safe environment to <br /> work, and there was enough flexibility for them to grow within based on the <br /> strength of the organization from their perspective. Councilmember McGehee <br /> opined that, in many ways, the City's employees were customers, and if they felt <br /> they had no advancement opportunities or no succession planning was in place, or <br /> not enough depth was available in their jobs, or if they felt unable to respond to <br /> certain situations, she thought those were important things for the City Council to <br /> be aware of. As the City Manager became aware of those issues as well, Coun- <br /> cilmember McGehee opined that it would provide a pool of information to build a <br /> more effective organization. <br />