January 8, 2015
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The mission of the County of Santa Clara is to
plan for the needs of a dynamic community, provide
quality services, and promote a healthy, safe and
prosperous community for all.
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 Vision
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Elements
Customer Focus
Performance Measurement and Results
Reduce Cost of Service
Employee Empowerment and Engagement
Utilize Latent Talent
Build Bench Strength
Consolidate Where Needed
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Strengths
Opportunities
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Many employees (53%) do not know the
organizational goals
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80% nearly always or often
understand the performance goals
for their job
Communication is uneven up, down and
around the organization
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Opportunities to participate in change
efforts are uneven
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Many employees feel good about the
trust level among co-workers
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Many employees perceive executives as
far-removed from where they are
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Where there are specific programs
for employee engagement,
employees enjoy participating in
those efforts
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Executives and employees score things
differently from one another
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Just Culture elements rank at 3.0
(addressing mistakes), and 2.9 (preventing
mistakes)
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59% receive feedback sometimes, rarely, or
never
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Employees are sensitive to customer
needs and want to respond to those
needs
Employees express desire for more
collaboration
*February 2014
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Traditional Management
Produce goods and
services
 Work is to be done by
individuals reporting to
bosses
 Comprehensive plans and
past practices drive work
 Communications on a
“need to know” basis
 Tell people what to do
 “Fixing” is a top-down
task
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Client-focused Management
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Focus on the client
Work through selforganizing teams
Continuous improvement
based on experiences with
clients, with front-line input
Be open about
improvements required for
progress
Communicate interactively
through stories, questions,
conversations
High-performance teams
solve problems
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Retention of information is longer than where employees
work independently or in an isolated environment.
Real Life Experiences – It allows employees to learn and
capitalize on actual experiences of others.
Sharing Ideas – It provides an environment where
employees can share their own ideas, which can increase
interest among the participants and promote critical
thinking.
Ownership – Collaborative learning gives employees an
opportunity to engage in discussion when needed and
allows them to take some of the responsibility for their
own learning and development required to become
critical thinkers.
Learning Communities – Collaboration naturally develops
learning communities around specific subject areas.
Reduced Anxiety – Given the less formal environment,
employees may feel less overall anxiety and more
willingness to engage with others through the normal
process of communication. (1)
(1) The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations through Social Media, Marci Conner
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 Each
employee contributes their unique
talents and abilities and uses lessons-learned
to improve the customer/client experience
and future outcomes.
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 Give
employees ways to think about
organizational improvements and tools to
implement change.
 Empower employees with permission,
support, and tools to use their knowledge,
skills, and experience to make the
organization better.
Center for
Leadership and
Transformation
2009
Vision
Elements
(7 Samurai)
2012
Just
Culture
2013
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Phase 1: 3 – 4 years, making progress on
recognition of the need to change, early
adoption, and foundation building.
 Phase 2: 3 - 4 years, “middle adoption,”
involves “heavy lifting” and the
elimination of impediments.
 Phase 3: 2 – 3 years, as current improvement
efforts are operationalized, a greater
proportion of the County and its clients will
both recognize and benefit from the effects
of employee-led, leadership-supported
change efforts.
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Center for
Leadership
and
Transformation
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Just
Culture
 A culture of trust and
fairness where each
employee is accountable
for their actions.
 An environment that
learns from its mistakes
and errors, allowing for
improvements in the
organization.
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Improved Customer Service and
Client Outcomes
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Improved Decision Making and
Problem Solving
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Greater Adaptability and
Acceptance of Organizational
Change
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Create a common language
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Improve communication in the
workplace to promote trust and
reduce fear among staff
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Foster a culture of shared purpose
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Promote transparency in work
processes and interactions
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Link job responsibilities to desired
outcomes for both the customer
and the employee, as appropriate
for the job.
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Greater Self-Awareness
Greater Self-Confidence,
Openness, Flexibility
Better Listening and
Communication
Better Conflict
Management
Greater Understanding
and Skills in
Organizational and
Political Realities
Stronger Commitment to
Learn and Develop
Stronger Leadership
Enhanced Innovation
Organizational
Individual
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CLT Action Learning Projects,
Unit Based Teams (UBTs)
Employees take knowledge from
CLT courses and Unit Based
Team formulations to apply new
skills to specific “action learning”
projects in & across departments
Communication
- Case Studies
- Surveys &
other vehicles
Commitment of
Executive Leaders to
cross-boundary and
Departmental teamled improvement
efforts
The concept of
the County as a
Learning
Organization is
built into County
culture.
Just Culture
provides the
backdrop for
engaging in reexamination of
work
Systems change
and process
change contribute
to removing
impediments
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