No one was quite prepared for the flood of stories that emerged. City leaders expressed pleasant surprise over both the volume and the quality of the improvement efforts that had taken place. The exciting news was that Wichita had been undergoing a “quiet transformation,” with initiatives within the different departments already making a difference for citizens.
To further its quick wins strategy, PSG then proposed turning these departmental submissions, largely expounding about projects and activities, into stories that would focus on the results that had been achieved. In this way, there would be learning about what it meant to focus on results, as well as further recognition of the positive work in which the City had been engaged. City leaders agreed.
The process used is itself cool and replicable within any setting. (Feel free to steal it!) – That is, PSGers Albert Munoz and Peter Beck collected the stories through interviews. They were given the submittals as background information and used the interview questions contained in this sidebar. (Peter: Insert sidebar with the Interview Questions contained in Appendix A.) They wrote the stories, highlighting the results achieved.
We encouraged the Leadership Team to “shine the light” on these successes and celebrate those who made them happen. We also encouraged the Leadership Team to continue to collect, publicize and recognize new stories that exemplify the success of City staff in delivering outstanding results for Wichita’s citizens.
Here are a few of the stories…
Police Department: Gang-related Crime
Results That Matter: By responding to neighborhood concerns, the Wichita Police Department reduced drive-by shootings by 48% from the first to the second half of 2005. Gang-related homicides also declined.
In February 2005, gang-related crimes in Wichita took center stage. There were 17 drive-by shootings in the city. This high incidence continued through March and April. Being a community-oriented organization, the Department reached out to affected neighborhoods to obtain their input on the situation. By June, the Department responded to the concerns of the community by modifying the mission of the Top Offender Program (TOPS) to include gang-related crimes. This allowed TOPS detectives to assist parole officers in monitoring the curfew, employment and other restrictions on gang-related offenders. An initial result was the revocation of the probation, parole or bond of 145 gang members since June 2005.
The reorientation of TOPS by the department to include gang-related offenders led to a 48% decline in drive-by shootings, from 7.3 per month in the first half of the year to 3.75 in the second half. September and October were the best months with only 2 and 1 incidents, respectively.
Gang-related homicide rates also drastically improved. In addition, the arrest/ clearance rate made by the Department following a crime was 123% as of October 2005, as compared to the national clearance rate of 59%.
Finance Department: Health Insurance
Results That Matter: Reverse auction bidding process for health insurance procurement results in City savings of over $3 million, as well as lower employee contributions and improved employee satisfaction.
Wichita’s Department of Finance (DOF) is achieving outcomes our Federal and State Governments have only dreamed of. DOF squared off against the health insurance industry and walked away with savings in excess of $3 million.
As is true in many cities across the county, Wichita’s health insurance costs rose by double-digit percentages in recent years. In 2004, the City of Wichita struggled to bear the financial burden of a 22% increase in insurance costs citywide. Rather than submitting to yet another annual premium increase, DOF took action. This year, DOF re-bid the City contract for health insurance using a reverse auction. Insurance companies were allowed to view the status of their bids on-line, alongside the bidding price of their competitors. Using this information, companies were allowed to reduce their asking price. The winning bid was then awarded to the lowest bidder. In Wichita, the winning bid was awarded to a new insurance provider, Coventry Health of Kansas. Ultimately, health insurance contract costs decreased by 3%, saving the City $3.5 million dollars.
Taxpayers weren’t the only winners. City employees experienced reductions in their contributions toward coverage. For example, an employee with a dependent health care plan saved $63. When asked to rate their medical benefits, 83% of respondents reported their satisfaction as Average to Very Satisfied. Employee satisfaction levels in 2004 show a modest improvement over results of a similar satisfaction survey conducted the previous year.
Human Resources Department: Pre-Qualified Laborer Hiring Pool
Results That Matter: City managers experience reductions in hiring time for laborers from 2 months to 2 weeks.
This year, the Wichita’s Department of Human Resources (HR) is making it easier to fill laborer positions throughout City government. Historically, laborer positions experience a higher rate of turnover than for most other City jobs. To better meet the steady demand for new laborers, HR created a hiring pool of laborer applicants.
Applications are accepted on a first-come first-served basis. When the department has a vacancy they let their HR Specialist know that they need a laborer hired. The HR Specialist will call the first person that applied and make a contingent offer of employment based on satisfactorily passing a drug test, physical and background check and having a valid driver's license (if applicable). If the first person on the list declines the offer because they are not interested in the current open position, the HR Specialist will go to the next person on the list and so forth until a successful hiring is completed. By having a large group of applicants at one time, HR is able to fill and maintain a pool of individuals ready at a moments notice to begin work.
Now, City departments such as Parks and Recreation and Water and Sewer, which depend on laborer positions to staff much of their operations, can skip the time consuming process of advertising and interviewing each time they need a laborer position filled. Rather than waiting an average of two months to fill a laborer position, departments can expect to hire a new worker in one to two weeks. Directors have noted that the hiring pool has reduced the time they spend interviewing and hiring new laborers by 75%. One City Director commented, "I think it's great! [The hiring pool] saved us a bunch of time and we have had good results so far." Another department estimated, “We have probably saved 28 man-hours per laborer position filled."
Wichita Public Library: Re-prioritized Spending
Results That Matter: Wichita Public Library delivered more than $31 million worth of books and service to its customers, with a budget of $5.8 million. This represents a return on investment of 5:1.
Realizing that the demand for books and other library services was growing at a faster rate than their budget, the Wichita Public Library conducted a review of its service delivery system. With their limited funds, they decided to prioritize spending based upon which services were most valuable to their customers.
Their first step was to identify the needs and wants of their customers via the feedback form on their website, library help desk and customer service teams. They also derived customer demand from data on usage of various library services. The City Library then prioritized their services based on this customer feedback – and spent their budget accordingly. The final step was to “put a dollar value” on the service provided to the public based on the estimated market price (ex. 93,000 DVDs circulated x $3 average rental per DVD = $279,000). As a result, the public received service worth $31,177,387 from its $5,797,861 investment of tax dollars.
Other “Results that Matter” Headlines
E-Permitting enabled the Office of Central Inspection to guarantee permit processing within four hours.
The Wichita Law Department improved customer service by reducing the median turn-around time for requests for legal services from 26 days to 7 days (or less) via database changes.
The Municipal Court of Wichita saved the City over $150,000 in collection agency fees through the creation of its Court Compliance Unit (CCU).
Airport parking congestion was reduced by 15% through establishment of a new Shuttle Lot that allowed customers to use an e-payment system and shuttle service to the terminal.
The Water & Sewer Administration established an Internet-based and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) credit card payment system that makes it easier for customers to pay and collects an average monthly revenue of $100,000 for the City.
On-line applications make it easier for job seekers to obtain City employment and help the City process applications more efficiently. In 2004, the use of the on-line applications reduced the number of applicants traveling downtown to fill out an application by more than 50%.
By giving Agency Directors more control over hiring and salary negotiations, vacant positions are being filled more quickly and managers have a greater ability to match the right people to the right job.
Speed and ease of vendor transactions markedly improved with advent of City’s e-procurement system.
I’m sure you noticed woven through these headlines the frequent use of technology to improve results. So it is only fitting that I close with this final story -
Information Technology and Information Services Department: MyWichita.gov makes doing business with City government easier, delighting citizens and winning a National Award.
The City of Wichita’s Information Technology and Information Services Department (IT/IS) has been busy improving online services, and delighting Wichita’s citizens with world-class web support. If you visit MyWichita.gov (http://www.wichita.gov/mywichita/) you’ll understand why. Wichita citizens have reason to be pleased. Beginning with the launch of MyWichita in 2004, Citizens have been able to sign up for online payment of water bills, access accident reports, apply for city jobs and register to receive city updates. MyWichita allows citizens to create a personalized profile that includes subscriptions for areas/topics of interest, a personalized appearance of information and also account information that makes doing business with the City of Wichita much easier.
What’s even better, the website solicits feedback from citizens, monitors citizen satisfaction, and responds to citizens’ requests. In June 2005, IT/IS began collecting satisfaction data from visitors of the website. On a scale of 1to 10, with10 being perfectly satisfied, the average satisfaction experienced by visitors is 7.5. Suggestions for improvement are also collected. If the suggestions make sense, they are implemented. In one instance, a request was made for adding the capability to accept electronic checks. Working with Water/Sewer and Finance, IT responded by adding this feature.
Earlier this year, the Center for Digital Government announced MyWichita as a winner of the 2005 Digital Government Achievement Award. This national program recognizes outstanding agency and department web sites and applications that enhance information interactions, transactions and/or services. The City of Wichita was an award winner in the Government to Citizen category because the website provides impressive access to many payment and informational subscription services.
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Appendix A
Results that Matter: Interview Questions
Introduction: Tell them who you are and say that you have read about the customer service/business process improvements that their Department has made in the recent past. Clarify that you are here to find examples where those improvements can be translated into a few really great stories that highlight the measurable results that were achieved for their customers.
Open with: Let’s talk about how your Department improved “x” customer service, or “y” business process…
- Who were the customers of that service or process?
- What results/outcomes did your customers expect from that service or process?
- What about your service or process was most important to your customers, or did they most value? How do you know?
- Do you have any data that tells you what impact your improvement had on your customer or what difference it made for them? What was that data before and after the improvement?
- What about this data makes you most proud?
- If you could share two stories about your department with the entire city, what would those stories be? Do you have results data to support these success stories?
- What are your plans to improve on these results, and better track your progress?
- May we share this information with other city employees and citizens?
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