How a Citywide Initative Helped the City of Tempe Fleet Improve its Processes

At a Glance

The City of Tempe fleet took methodical steps to achieve its goals: Trained staff on the program's message and process. Met to come up with and agree to the goals. Called other agencies to obtain standard baselines. Meet every week to review progress.

Every Monday, the entire staff at the City of Tempe, Ariz., Fleet Services Division of the Public Works Department gets together in front of multiple scoreboards for a 21-minute meeting, with a few staff members calling in via phone. They go over how far they’ve progressed on their goals, and everyone leaves knowing how he or she contributed to the percentage of achievement and how far they still have to go.

Through a citywide initiative designed to promote leadership and expand accountability, the Tempe fleet has been able to change its operating structure and its entire culture. Using the 100 Best Fleets criteria as improvement goals for its operations, Fleet Services improved operations, gave staff an opportunity to step into leadership goals, and increased training.

Joining the Program

The Leadership Development Program at the City of Tempe was developed as a way to transform the culture of City operations from a “reactive environment,” or crisis management, to a proactive environment where “people understand how to take a systems approach to continuously improve their performance,” said Gretchen Maynard, organizational development administrator with the Tempe Learning Center (TLC). TLC supports this cultural change initiative by coaching teams within City departments in adopting the “4 Disciplines of Execution Operating System” throughout their organizations.

In 2010, Fleet Services, with a 32-­member staff who manage and maintain approximately 1,200 vehicles, enrolled in the program. Aaron Alvarado, fleet manager, said one of the program’s most important aspects is that it is not a top-down approach to change.

One staff member suggested using some of the 100 Best Fleets criteria as goals. These criteria are: accountability, use of technology and information, collaboration, creativity, celebration, evidence of a high-trust culture, performance recognition, doing it right the first time, quick and efficient turnaround, competitive pricing, staff development, and resources stewardship. After agreement, the staff split up into three teams based on where each thought he or she could contribute: Accountability, Quick and Efficient Turnaround, and Doing It Right the First Time.

“I didn’t drive the teams. I wasn’t even the team lead,” Alvarado said. “It was [the] guys from the shop floor, those who did not traditionally have leadership roles here at the shop. They were able to sit on these teams and say, ‘How can we improve these turnaround times?’”

Maynard said employees came up with area-specific industry standards by doing their own research, such as calling other public fleets in Arizona to gain baseline performance comparisons. Each team identified specific lead measures that would influence the completion of their goal. At weekly team meetings, members held each other accountable for making weekly commitments that pushed those lead measures forward. Teams tracked their progress using team-designed ­scoreboards, ­Maynard said. As an example, staff set a goal to turn around scheduled preventive maintenance (PM) jobs within 1.5 hours. The scoreboard reflects the percentage of vehicles that have achieved this goal. (See sidebar “How They’re Doing: Fleet’s Wildly Important Goals” on the next page.)

“That’s the piece that is the accountability mechanism, so every week, when they would meet for these meetings, you would hear them say things such as, ‘Hey, did we move the scoreboard? Are we in the green or are we in the red?’ ” Alvarado said.

[PAGEBREAK]

Some of the greatest ideas come from technicians who were, at first, skeptical of the whole process. A technician might suddenly ask why staff had been filling out a form for 20 years that didn’t have any use or benefits. “Everyone was just doing a lot of things that we could have improved upon, and [there] are guys who have been here for many, many years and have seen the workflow and [can see] how to change it,” Alvarado said.

And as a final incentive for accountability, technicians’ performance measures are tied to WIGs.

Overcoming Challenges

The fleet has been able to take one obstacle and turn it into an opportunity for training. Some staff members didn’t have strong computer skills, and some hadn’t checked their e-mail in so long, the system had locked them out. These challenges made tasks such as e-mail communication and setting up recurring meetings in Outlook difficult. While Alvarado acknowledges that technicians aren’t hired to do these tasks, having everybody capable of e-mailing updated information rather than designating one  person is more efficient. As a result, technicians enrolled in training courses on computer use.

Another consideration when implementing the program was the time investment. The Leadership Development Program consists of three elements: formal leadership education courses, clarifying team purpose and defining WIGs, and executing the WIGs. The three elements take approximately four months and culminate with teams presenting their progress quarterly to the city manager, Maynard said.

At first, fleet had to sort out shift coordination for the weekly meetings (the City fleet runs two shifts and has two shops). The fleet settled on meetings at the North Shop, where most employees work, usually in the overlap time between the first and second shifts. Fleet staff at the South Shop are now able to call in to the meeting.

The Next Steps

The most important goal, Alvarado said, is to surpass other Phoenix metropolitan area fleets in the 100 Best Fleets, which means it’s in competition with the nearby City of Mesa, Ariz., ranked in the Top 20. Alvarado hopes that the process of achieving Certified Fleet Management Operation (CFMO) designation will help improve the fleet’s ranking by identifying additional potential savings and efficiency measures. In September, the city manager ratified the certification, and the fleet is beginning the process.

[PAGEBREAK]

How They're Doing: Fleet's Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)

Accountability Team:

● WIG: Raise and maintain overall collective shop productivity from 64% to 70% by June 30, 2012
● September 2012 productivity: 83%
● WIG: Increase from an average of 30 hours to 60 hours of relevant fleet training for each employee by June 30, 2012 (inclusive of 24 hours of emissions certifications)
● 2011-2012 training average: 57 hours
● WIG: Achieve an 85% PM compliance rate by March 1, 2012
● September 2012 PM compliance: 94%

Quick and Efficient Turnaround Team:

● WIG: Complete 95% of scheduled PM jobs within 1.5 hours by June 30, 2012
● September 2012 Success Rate: 85%

Doing It Right the First Time Team:

● WIG: Reduce total number of repeat repairs on jobs per fiscal year from 5% to less than 2%
● Yearly average repeat repair rate: 1.95%

Goals and Accomplishments Citywide

Gretchen Maynard, organizational development administrator with the Tempe Learning Center, said that as more departments show success, others are more readily joining the City’s Leadership Development Program.

“Fleet was a tremendous influencer for the rest of the [Public Works] department, and when you get several real strong teams consistently upping the bar and producing extraordinary results…then you start seeing other people clamoring to get on board,” she said.

According to Maynard, some accomplishments in other departments across the City are:

1. Water Department

Reduced overall water rates by 9.7%.

2. Water Utilities

Reduced Water Environmental Division operating expenses from $1.4 million to $900,000 per year.

3. JGM Water Plant

Reduced energy consumption within the plant by 8.8% to date, surpassing its goal of 5% by the end of 2010.

4. New Community Relations Center (Ongoing)

WIG: Increase its single point of contact call resolution at its new municipal call center from 0% to 85% by 2013 — it was at 79% at the end of August 2012.

5. Fire Department Fleet Maintenance Team (Ongoing)

WIG: Increase the fleet readiness level from 1.6% to 4% by Oct. 31, 2013. Within two months, the team, maintaining 25 vehicles, has raised its readiness level 2.4% — it is on track for completion.

---

SOURCES:

• Aaron Alvarado, fleet manager, City of Tempe, Ariz.
• Gretchen Maynard, organizational development administrator, Tempe Learning Center, City of Tempe, Ariz.