Building on Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s belief that our staff is our greatest asset, WorkSmart utilizes the power of every unique staff person and their passion to have the best library location in the system. We wanted them to brainstorm solutions to create efficient best practices for their locations. Because both our location staff and the communities they serve are quite diverse, defining one way to accomplish objectives or create systemwide best practices is challenging. WorkSmart’s innovative approach is to ask branch staff to define goals that would make their location work more efficiently and/or improve services while earning group certification for their work. These goals are submitted for discussion/approval to the WorkSmart Advisory Committee. WorkSmart encourages every location to incorporate innovation and efficiencies that can be shared and tweaked with other Locations while also rewarding staff for these efforts. The intention is to have a better trained and informed staff, to reward creativity and innovation, and to acknowledge the sharing of best practices within all departments and locations. In the end we want our customers to be power users and our staff to feel empowered to create happier customers and staff with the ultimate goal of exceptional library service.

The WorkSmart applications included: description of goals, list of actions, timeframe needed for completion, measures used to determine success/completion, outcomes, and a list of all staff participating. Teamwork was an important component of WorkSmart so the expectation was that every branch would have full involvement of everyone on staff in order to obtain certification. Each branch manager was asked to name a WorkSmart Champion(s) for their location. These were staff who would be responsible for submitting applications, documenting progress and providing the overall supervision of the process. In many cases, these staff were hidden gems who had opportunities for leadership and personal development. In the first phase (Bronze), many branches chose goals/processes they had already identified and had plans to work on, but for the first time they would be sharing their successes and sometimes failures with each other. Approved applications (examples attached) were then posted on the Library Intranet in the WorkSmart service area for everyone to review. In this way locations could see how other locations were making improvements, and if these were changes that aligned with their needs, they now had another location to mentor them through the process. This cross-branch mentoring encouraged a different type of teamwork and resulted in improved communication between branches. As each plaque was earned, it was proudly displayed at the branch for staff and customers to see. This started many staff/customer conversations about the Library’s efforts to look for efficiencies and best practices to make customer experiences the best possible. The program has been picked up by local media to highlight how the Library is continuously looking for ways to improve customer service.

WorkSmart created staff teamwork and collaboration for every location and a feeling of being more connected to the system as a whole. WorkSmart broke down silos between workgroups and instilled the need to work as one to accomplish their goals. Some of the overall benefits of WorkSmart included staff development and sustainability of better relationships with customers, fellow staff and volunteers. Staff took the initiative to practice library processes, explore library databases, and experiment with new technologies in order to better serve customers. Staff were able to better understand the need for flexibility in scheduling to provide the best possible service during periods of high demand and were willing to help at desks even when not scheduled. One of the most positive results the Library system was that staff felt empowered to offer suggestions for best practices knowing that these are seriously considered. Staff were encouraged and rewarded for being problem-solvers and innovators for the system as a whole. Staff felt more appreciated which resulted in more innovation and a happier staff. This has been a win-win for the Library, our Staff and the communities we serve. With all 20 branches earning their Bronze certification within the first year, many branches are now well on their way to Silver Certification. We are excited about the possibilities that await the Library as we continue to grow, change and Work Smarter!