New Standards Clarify Expectations for City Staff
Marshfield, WI (OnFocus) The City of Marshfield is looking to implement Core Values and Standards of Behavior for its employees as part of efforts to revamp its Performance Management program.
Though the City currently has a Rules of Conduct policy, the updated document removes ambiguity regarding standards of behavior. The document was shared with staff for additional feedback and presented to the Finance, Budget, and Personnel Committee on Tuesday.
“We’d like to start and implement with staff not because there’s any type of problem or issue going on but ultimately because we’d want to be able to set this expectation for all of our employees going forward,” said Jen Rachu, Human Resources Director.
The Core Values include Professionalism, Integrity, Customer Service, Respect, Teamwork, and Accountability with specific examples of behavior relating to these values. The standards apply to all employees with exceptions of police, fire, and library as their values are determined separately. The document would be included in orientation packets for new employees.
Listed standards include general items like “I feel a sense of ownership and take pride in the job that I do,” with more specific items such as, “I refrain from personal conversations among employees within earshot of citizens.”
Aldermen suggested changes such as changing the pronoun to “we” and adding language that clarifies that the standards are not limited to the behaviors listed in the document.
Alderman Steve Mac Swain inquired whether there could be standards for elected officials as well.
“We laugh, but we have talked at staff level how we think it would be good for elected officials to have some basic rules of decorum,” said City Administrative Steve Barg. “I’m not sure if it would look quite like this list but that might not be a bad idea to follow up with.”
The committee postponed approval of the document until next meeting so the adjustments could be made.
Author: News Desk
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