Tips for effective public sector change management from Memphis Light, Gas and Water

This viewpoint is a guest post created by Tim Bishop. Bishop is a Safety Training Specialist at Memphis Light, Gas and Water, the largest three-service municipal utility in the U.S., serving 420,000 customers. He is an experienced instructor with more than 20 years of experience working in the utilities industry.

Many people believe that government agencies are slow to change, a view that's shared even by those within the industry. In fact, a recent surveyfound that nearly half (47%) of public sector employees believe their organizations are slow to respond to changing business conditions.

The good news is that many public sector employees are eager to adapt and drive transformation within their agencies. It's a feeling that's reflected in data; that same survey found that majorities of public sector leaders are taking action to improve processes and technologies. It's also something I see every day in my work as a Safety Trainer Specialist at Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), the nation's largest three-service municipal utility.

I've been in the public sector for almost 25 years, and I've never been more excited about the potential for industry-wide change. There are more technologies to make public sector employees, and the citizens we serve, safer than ever before. At MLGW, we've begun making many of those changes-such as deploying cameras in our vehicles and implementing advanced coaching tools-to enable our employees to do their jobs as safely as possible.

However, safety isn't just an effort that starts and stops when an employee is in a MLGW vehicle. We've worked closely with a variety of stakeholders-the executive team, union representatives, and employee champions-to change the way we think about safety and the tools we use. Here are four strategies public sector leaders can use to manage change effectively and make deploying new technologies successful.

1. Listen to employees to understand, not just respond.

We have monthly safety meetings at MLGW, and talking about new technologies is always a priority topic. In our experience, employees push back on using new solutions when they have fears about how they're going to be used in day-to-day operations. That's why we make it a point to listen to concerns and thoughtfully address each one.

In practice, that means we explain what our safety goals are and how new technology will help us achieve them. We also show real-life examples of how solutions can help protect employees. For example, we share dash cam footage that can help exonerate a driver who is not at fault for an incident.

Taking the time up front to listen to employees, understand their concerns, and addressing them with concrete examples helps make technology adoption much faster and straightforward.

2. Work with unions to find common ground.

There's a perception that unions are always a roadblock to change. In my experience, however, that isn't true, especially when it comes to safety. When MLGW deployed dash cams, for example, we sat down with our union to explain why that footage would be used to coach drivers instead of disciplining them.

3. Always be honest about how you're using technology.

One keyway to make employees comfortable with new technology is to be completely transparent about what it's being used for. For drivers, be upfront and explain what's visible to cameras, what triggers coaching events, and if you use driver scores, what influences them.

Even with full transparency, people may still have questions, and it's important to communicate often and keep the lines of communication open. Once rumors start they can be hard to stop, and they can become a source of both incorrect information and negative feelings about change initiatives.

4. Use technology to motivate and reward.

Our focus at MLGW is to coach employees to be safer, not to punish them for making mistakes. A key part of our safety culture is incentivizing our employees and rewarding them for a job well done. For example, for the past three years we've hosted a breakfast where our executives recognize our best-performing drivers. When leadership is there to thank employees in person, by name, it's huge.

Another example is our Celebrate Your Spark program, where managers can recognize employees and reward them with a dollar amount that they can save and use to buy items. When you recognize and reward drivers early and often, it motivates them and delivers better outcomes for your organization. Public sector agencies may face rules and limits on how they can reward employees, but finding a way to do so in a meaningful way should be a top priority for your organization.

Change always takes effort and investment, but you can lower barriers and manage change more effectively when you listen to your employees and use trust as the foundation of your efforts. For some, new technology may always cause uncertainty, but with a clear goal in mind-such as better safety for employees and citizens-it can become a catalyst for positive change for public sector organizations.

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