{"id":1928,"date":"2019-09-13T14:45:39","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T21:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/?p=1928"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:34:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:34:55","slug":"survey-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2019\/09\/13\/survey-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey says….."},"content":{"rendered":"

Two key surveys have recently been fielded to a couple of very important groups: our employees and our residents.\u00a0 The results have been compiled, and I want to let you know what we heard.<\/p>\n

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) survey was sent to County employees so that we could learn more about your thoughts on this important initiative.\u00a0 We had a tremendous response!<\/p>\n

We received nearly 1,000 responses and thousands of written comments \u2013 in fact, there was a total of 153 pages.\u00a0 You clearly had a lot on your mind. I\u2019m grateful to all of you who took the time to respond and provide your thoughts \u2013 I personally read each and every one of them.<\/p>\n

I was especially impressed \u00a0that when we asked you to define \u201cdiversity\u201d that you offered 979 different definitions!\u00a0 The most commonly used words were \u201ceverybody,\u201d \u201cwelcome,\u201d \u201crespect,\u201d and \u201cbackground.\u201d<\/p>\n

As you can see from the charts in the report (linked here<\/a> at our intranet for employees), 60% of you are aware of the DEI initiative we launched earlier this year.\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty good but I\u2019m confident that we will improve that number.\u00a0 We plan to send a toolkit to all managers with the expectation they will lead their staff in a conversation using the presentation, discussion guide and video provided to them.\u00a0 So, stay tuned for that.<\/p>\n

There was a wide range of responses as to where you believe Pierce County ranks as a diverse workplace.\u00a0 The largest responses \u2013 tied at 17% \u2013 were a \u201c7\u201d or \u201c8\u201d ranking, with 10 being the highest score.\u00a0 The next largest response was a \u201c5\u201d at 16%.\u00a0 So, clearly, we have some work to do.<\/p>\n

Folks gave some nice shout outs to a few areas in the County.\u00a0 The Juvenile Court team, Assessor-Treasurer\u2019s team and the Story Corps program in Human Services were all singled out for praise!<\/p>\n

Almost one quarter of you had concerns about the focus we are placing on creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place to work, and I want to thank each of you for sharing your criticism or fears.\u00a0 The survey truly was anonymous so I don\u2019t have a way to follow up with you, but you can trust that I heard you.<\/p>\n

For example, some of you think there\u2019s an \u201cold boys\u2019 club\u201d at the County. I also heard from people who believe we are not accommodating enough for employees with disabilities. Thank you for speaking out on these and other concerns.<\/p>\n

Thanks, also, to the hundreds of you that provided suggestions and ideas for what we can do to make Pierce County an employer of choice and great place to work. You had some creative ideas so don\u2019t be surprised to see yours implemented in the future!<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I want to acknowledge the encouragement for managers to \u201cwalk the talk\u201d and model leadership in this area. I\u2019ve been very intentional in building my Executive team to include representation of people of color, gender, age, geography, politics and perspective.\u00a0 This diverse team leads to constructive, and sometimes spirited, discussions regarding what is best for all of Pierce County.\u00a0 I expect other leaders to follow suit.<\/p>\n

Earlier this summer we asked our residents to comment on how they feel about living and working in Pierce County.\u00a0 You can view the survey results here.<\/a><\/p>\n

We report two of these benchmarks on Open Pierce County.\u00a0 We include the responses as to how safe<\/a> residents feel in their community (less than they used to), and how they feel about Pierce County as a place to work or own a business<\/a> (that number has slipped a bit). Again, we have some work to do.<\/p>\n

A few other key takeaways:<\/p>\n