County employees
Published september 30, 2011
Very recently I had occasion to attend the retirement of a long serving, highly valued member of a County department. This employee did not have much contact with the public. At the gathering, I pondered on the large number of County employees we have and how many toil behind the scenes of which the public is never aware of. Conversely, we have many that are in the public eye often.
Having served in a public service environment before becoming a Councillor, I became acutely aware of the immense value that these employees made to the organization. I quickly came to realize that without them the work of policing would be drastically impacted and not for the positive; and the same holds true for the County.
I believe that employees are employees regardless of the organization they serve. One common link I did find though from my past experience is that regardless of what government body people work for, the public expect far more from them because they are paid with tax-payer dollars. Many times I would ask myself why that is. For some reason people expect government employees, at any level, to work harder, know all the answers, attend to every detail, bend over backwards and pull off miracles to resolve issues. When we go shopping to a major store we do not, at least I think we do not, impose that same burden on those employees. Let me qualify my comments by saying that I expect a certain level of service from all persons, regardless of their employ and most certainly, County employees should be no different.
As a Councillor, I hear many stories about County employees, mostly negative. The County is like any other organization, be they doctors, teachers, lawyers, police personnel, clergy, the business sector, the retail sector and many others. Are all people in those groups outstanding people, with absolutely perfect records? The answer is absolutely not and I could rightly assume the County is no different.
The natures of my duties require me to come in contact with many many County employees. Like any other organization, we are not perfect and that is why we are doing an organization review so that we can enhance customer service. Yet, my observations have clearly shown me that Strathcona County has dedicated staff willing to go that extra mile and do those extra things. Will you get perfect service every time you call? I would say not every time. When that one time happens, we apply that judgement to all County employees and tar them with the same brush. Why do we do that and is it fair? It is my opinion that the County and its residents are extremely well served by our Administration. By and large our employees are committed and dedicated public servants trying to provide our residents with as great a level of service as possible yet hamstrung by budgets, demands, circumstances and events.
When you call a County staff member for service, please remember that even though they are paid by tax dollars, they are no different than you. They have bad days and they have ongoing events in their lives that create challenges, just like we all do. Expect service from them for sure and if the service is genuinely bad, please let us know. Our staff is more than willing to try to resolve any and all issues. Sometimes they can, sometimes they cannot. Years ago, Glen Campbell sang a song, “Try a Little Kindness”. Might I ask the next time you are dealing with a County employee, think of the song and offer that kindness up. It works every time.
Peter Wlodarczak
Councillor, Ward 4
780-464-8146
wlodarczak@strathcona.ab.ca.
Last updated: Thursday, September 29, 2011
Page ID: 8396