NEWPORT, RI – The need to balance increasing customer expectations with limited available resources certainly is nothing new for most employees these days. The City of Newport is no exception, although the workers’ “customers” are the citizens. Continuous improvement to the quality of service with the resources at hand is gaining momentum with Newport’s municipal workers, thanks to help from a local leadership development program.
BUILDING BRIDGES IN PAWTUCKET’S MUNICIPAL WORKPLACE
PAVES THE WAY FOR LASTING IMPROVEMENTS
Investments in Leadership Practices and Workplace Culture are Paying Dividends to the City
PAWTUCKET — Leveraging new leadership tools and problem-solving skills, city leaders are seeing improvements in process efficiencies, smarter use of budgets, and even improved interdepartmental relationships.
In an era when leaders are constantly challenged to “think outside the box,” insights from experts on how to better understand important decisions and the best ways to make them can help show the way. That’s what brought Mayor Donald R. Grebien, accompanied by Finance Director Joanna L’Heureux, to a recent two-day leadership session conducted at the Pell Center at Salve Regina University in Newport.
The weekend session, called “Leadership Matters” and part of the Systems Thinking for Public Leaders Program, was co-sponsored by the Pell Center and the nonprofit Public Sector Consortium, whose stated purpose is “to support leaders in their efforts to create and sustain high performing public organizations that serve the public good.”
