Great Work

I just wanted to share this with everyone.  As I noted earleir in the week, things had been not going well comment-wise.  Well, since that posting, things have turned around.  I have been routed three forms with compliments on service by staff.  This is a big achievement.  Even when offering outstanding service, it is standard to get one compliment for about every ten complaints.   So, as I suspected and despite last week's complaints, most of our staff is delivering outstanding service.   

In addition to this, I was at a function a few nights ago with about 40 or 50 people.  After I shared with a few folks where I worked, I started receiving compliments (at least 6) on the service people have received here at Central since we re-opened.  Areas highlighted were the Kids area, Telephone Reference, laptop desk, and the Welcome Desk/lobby.   

I was quite proud.  Keep up the outstanding work.

mvc

Scheduling Guidelines

Greetings,

Here are some important reminders/tips on scheduling requests that will assist the schedulers:

• All calendar items (meetings, trainings, off days, etc.) must be sent to the Outlook Calendar at least 48 hours in advanced – preferably much sooner than that. This has been increased to 48 hours unless there is an emergency.

• If last minutes changes come up, send the change to the Outlook Calendar, but you MUST ALSO notify the schedulers in person (Do not email or leave voicemail as they may not get the information in a timely manner). If the week’s schedulers are not available, please talk to Paty or Mary Frances. If they are not available, this is the list approved schedulers: Sara Borders, Linda Breaker, Darcy Casavant, Marcia Chapman, Velma Freudenthal, Saima Kadir, Joe McDonald, Katy Tomfohrde, and Sondee Weiss.

• Please remember to initial the Subject portion of your request (i.e.: SB – Meeting)
  

• Your supervisors or managers should be aware of all additions, changes, updates, etc. that are submitted to the Outlook Calendar
  

Thanks,

mvc

Meeting Rooms

Greetings,

A reminder on how calls for meeting rooms will be handled in Martha's absence. If you receive any call at all in TR about meeting rooms, please refer the call to Martha's former number (31367). Folks can leave information at that number and someone will return the customer's call in a timely fashion to confirm meeting rooms.

Thanks,
Mike VC

Martha's Duties

Greetings,

As most of you know, Martha has left HPL and joined Municipal Courts.  We will soon be recruiting a replacement.  Until then, there are some major jobs that Martha did that have been taken over temporarily by other staff.  Here is a quick breakdown of who is doing what:

• Meeting Rooms - will be handled by Jennifer Schwartz and her group.  For the time being, continue to refer calls to Martha's number (31367).  We are working on a simplification of internal meeting room booking for Central; stay tuned.
  
• Sprocket Requests and Follow-up - Rachel and Adam will handle these.  When they are gone, as before, these should be completed by Person-in-charge.
• Training Liaison - Daniel Pillow (CLST) will take on the role of coordinating training for all CSV staff.
• Purchases and Travel Approvals and Reimbursements - For the time being, I will be handling and checking all of these. 

These are the major areas that impact Central Services staff.  If you have any questions about another duty, let me know.  And if you know someone who is efficient, organized, customer-service-oriented and looking for an Administrative Assistant position, be sure to encourage them to apply; the position should post this week or next.

Thanks,

Mike VC

Customer Service Reminder

Greetings,

As much as I would prefer not to write this post, I feel it is needeed.  We have had a number of complaints recently highlighting poor customer service delivered by staff at the Central Library.  All of the complaints identify the same issue: unhelpful and unfriendly staff.  To give you an example. words such as "unsmiling", "unwilling to help", "grumpy", "lack of interest", "in a bad mood" have been used in these complaints.  While I know part of this is subjective, I feel there have been far too many similar complaints for this to be the sole issue.  One long time customer, who I talked to at length, had interactions with no fewer than 7 employees (library and security) and all of them, according to her description, demonstrated unacceptable levels of customer service.   

I know that the vast majority of staff here at CEN are delivering exceptional customer service but this rash of complaints concerns me.  I do want to remind everyone that Customer Service is our number one priority and is the heaviest-weighted item in all of our EPEs.  To quote from our EPE, here are some of the expectations: "welcomes customers and staff in a friendly manner", "positive", "treats all persons with respect and courtesy".  My concern is how different these words are from the words in the complaints.  

I want to sincerely apologize for posting this on an all staff blog to those folks who are consistently meeting these expectations (which I think is the majority of staff).  However, given the number and broadness of recent complaints, I feel that it needed to be shared.  I also need to remind everyone that delivering service as laid out in our EPEs and in Customer Service training is the fundamental part of all of our jobs and as expected as showing up to work.   

I am confident that we can deliver exceptional service to all of our customers.    Let's work together to make this happen.

Thanks,

Mike VC

All Staff Meetings, Job Duties, and Working Smarter Group

Greetings,

I regret to say that the all staff meetings for this week will have to be cancelled.  With Thanksgiving on the horizon, there have been a number of meetings, trainings, etc. that are scheduled for this week and holding the all staff meetings and having everyone attend is impossible.  I will share important information on the blog and in out meetings by classification.

I am reviewing what everyone sent about their job duties.  I think there are definite ways in which we can shift and change some duties to help lighten the load on staff.  

Also, I will be convening a meeting of the Central Working Smarter group, the group that will look for ways to streamline our processes and scheduling,  after Thanksgiving.  I am still working on who will participate in this group.  I would like the group to represent all levels of staff and to not grow to large.  I have heard from several folks interested in serving on this group.  If you are interested and have not let me know, please do so by this Friday.

Thanks,

Mike VC

Fire Warden

Greetings,

It occurs to me that the current list of fire wardens does not reflect our reorg.  So, I am reuqesting that we add more than one person to this list.  As I see it, we will need to add one person from the following groups: CPRO, CCOL, and CYOU - one from each room for a grand total of four people.  Please let me know if you are interested by tomorrow or we will have to select some folks to attend the meeting. 

Thanks,

Mike VC