CC_Minutes_2010_0301S - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March O1, 2010 Page 5 those duties; advantages in improved productivity with reinstatement of that position, with the City Council support function requiring significant time; lack of resources available to effectively and efficiently handle in- creasing record management responsibilities; and anticipated increases as performance measurement applications are implemented. Additional discussion included impacts of the 2010 budget that may have negatively impacted the department, with City Manager Malinen noting that, since the 2010 budget was basically a continuation of the 2009 budg- et, the department experienced a fair amount of cuts in the Human Re- sources area, with significant reductions or elimination of on-line training (for diversity, customer service, harassment) that had previously been a cost-effective way to provide training for participation by all employees. City Manager Malinen reviewed metropolitan area and out-of--state train- ing options for specific department employees, offering insight into the training he thought was most necessary to keep employees up-to-date with their jobs, based on required training, optional training, legislative man- dates, and interaction with industry peers. City Manager Malinen opined that, as the City's most expensive resource was its employees, it was pru- dent to keep them up-to-date and knowledgeable, as well as providing them continuing education as an expression of appreciation for the work they performed on a daily basis. City Manager Malinen advised that as training opportunities were presented, they would be presented to Coun- cilmembers for their approval. Councilmember Pust questioned what measurable outcomes were availa- ble for the department in terms of the BFO process; and whether there were items that could be identified for reduction that could be reallocated for training budgets. Mr. Malinen advised that all departments had been tasked with identifying outputs and outcomes, as previously discussed, and while output could be measured, it was more challenging for his department as there were few of those types of specific activities (i.e., quantifying customer contact, while being unable to identify whether it was a positive or negative contact); in- dustry standards for the recycling portion; and broader measures for over- all management and support of other departments. Councilmember Pust expressed interest in seeing performance measures from administrative staff related to managing staff, not interaction with residents (i.e., the number of grievances filed; compliance with Human Resource training and number of staff signed up for those training oppor- tunities or difficulties in getting employees to sign up for training, and how they are presented and timelines for them); and whether employee health insurance questions are answered and their needs met sufficiently -