The City uses proven continuous improvement (CI) tools and methods to tackle process problems and engage staff in problem solving. Learn more by searching ‘continuous improvement’ at StJohns.ca
Continuous Improvement Success
C.I.
The Challenge We are working and living in a time of constant change and competing priorities. Now more than ever, it is important that cities assess how they work to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the public. It is often said that the key to an organization’s effectiveness lies in improving its work processes. So how does a City improve its many processes, to ensure they bring more value to customers?
The Solution At the City of St. John’s, the solution lies in training and empowering its employees to apply Continuous Improvement tools and techniques to affect change. Here’s what our employees have been doing since 2018: • 60% of all City employees have received at least introductory level training in Continuous Improvement (CI). • 56 employees have achieved either Green Belt or Yellow Belt certification in CI, providing them with the skills required to identify challenges in processes, trial, and then implement improvements that get to the root of an issue. • More than 300 employees have participated in multi-departmental project teams, working together to solve process problems and implement solutions. • Employees have undertaken more than 55 process improvement projects to date ranging from permit processes to fire inspections and property assessment to non-profit housing move-in/move-out.
How You Benefit Every process improvement focuses on what is important to the customer and adding value for them. Whether large or small in scope our process improvements create clarity for customers simply by improving forms and applications, providing guides and checklists, setting standards that reduce variation and errors in processes and streamlining steps in a process. Improvements also help reduce administration time. For example, a simple improvement in the Office of the City Clerk saw the implementation of Microsoft Office 360 electronic forms for conducting Council e-polls (used to collect Council votes on matters with tight deadlines between meetings). Over the course of one year, this improvement alone will save 70 hours of administration time; time that can be reinvested into other work that serves our valued customers. The City of St. John’s is committed to continuously looking at what we do and how we do it to ensure we are performing effectively and achieving results. Through continuous improvement, we are making our processes more efficient to deliver more value to our citizens. 16
CITY GUIDE | SUMMER 2022
