News

New processes in place to help improve Ohio
State officials introduce Governor’s Efficiency Review and Continuous Improvement Initiative

Nov. 9, 2007 - Union and management quality advocates from around the state gathered at the Nov. 7 Pathways to Excellence event to explore what continuous improvement processes look like today—and beyond—for state agencies under the leadership of Gov. Ted Strickland.

DAS Administrator Hugh Quill said of the need for Ohio's revamped efforts, "There are two things government does:  It is a check and balance system and it makes peoples lives better."

"Government is nothing more than a set of processes and systems, and this initiative is a way to improve our systems," Quill said of the Governor’s Efficiency Review and Continuous Improvement Initiative.

 suggestion process   Mitchell Bailey, Initiative Coordinator, and Steve Wall, DAS Resource Team Coordinator, described the new Employee and Stakeholder Suggestion Program which encourages state employees to go to a website and make recommendations on improving government processes. 

• Mitchell Bailey, DAS, reviews submissions and forwards them to the appropriate agency for review.

• Agency Review Teams, consisting of equal management and labor representatives, thoroughly and thoughtfully review suggestions and make implementation recommendations. 

• Finally, the suggestions are forwarded to the appropriate department, office, institution, district, etc. to be implemented.

Employees are encouraged to read the directions carefully and provide detailed information so that their suggestion can be forwarded on without delay. 

The website is live at http://efficiency.ohio.gov/

 UNION INVOLVEMENT   OCSEA leadership acknowledged that the employee suggestion program follows the same quality principles that union activists have worked to preserve since our involvement in the Voinovich administration.

"Our goal is to help assure that all state employees have a voice in making improvements in the work they perform and in the services we provide Ohioans," OCSEA Operations Director Bruce Wyngaard said.

"All state employee union members are stakeholders and we want to be prepared to assist our union with the follow up that is required in the implementation of improvement ideas."

The Union Quality Network gathered at OCSEA headquarters on Friday, Nov. 2, to discuss the union's role in the new administration's process improvement program.

 implementation   State and union officials explored the details of the new initiative, and how it might translate into results for Ohio's customers and employees.

The guiding principles include:

• Customer Focus: Emphasize and value the needs and wants of internal and external customers.

• Continuous Improvement: Understand a process is never perfect and continue to build a culture where everyone believes everything can be improved and works to make it so.

• Employee Empowerment/Accountability: Those who do the work know the work best. Partner with employee Unions to better serve customers, engage all of Ohio’s workers, and make everyone accountable for results.

• Manage/Decide with Data: Rely on data to make improvements, and make performance matter by focusing on measurable, regularly
  reported results.

• Efficiency /Agility: Rapidly respond to issues affecting the ability of government to accomplish its priorities with a flexible, common sense approach to streamlining inefficiencies.

Also, participants heard about how the State of Iowa is achieving results and improving government, incorporating a "lean process” theory and techniques for continuous improvement.

For more details, review the event presentations of:

• Steve Wall, Office of (PDF)
• Teresa Hay McMahon, State of Iowa (PDF)

 pilot agencies   Governor Strickland mandated his 23 cabinet agencies to participate in this initiative. Other agencies, boards and commissions, however, will be invited to participate.

Four agencies have been identified as pilot agencies: DAS, ODJFS, ODOT and Public Safety. 

It is hoped that by piloting four agencies, problems and barriers can be identified and solved before the process is rolled out to the remaining 23 cabinet agencies. 

See Related

Photo Album - Pathways to Excellence Nov. 7 Event

Pathways participants explore new initiative, agency roles

Union quality leaders meet to discuss the governor's new initiative

Resources

Presentation Slides of Steve Wall, Office of (PDF)

Presentation Slides of Teresa Hay McMahon, State of Iowa (PDF)

Efficiency Website - Governor’s Efficiency Review and Continuous Improvement Initiative Employee and Stakeholder Feedback Program State Employee Suggestion Form