AWWA JOINT53364

AWWA JOINT53364 Taking Action to Stay Competitive: Employee Driven Change in a Major Sanitary District Achieves Results
Conference Proceeding by American Water Works Association, 01/01/2001

Theerman, Jeff;Atherton, Terry;Hicks, Gloria;Williams, Helen;Patton, Chris;Merli, Mike;Smith, Lamont

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In January of 2000, the employees of the Metropolitan St. LouisSewer District (MSD) launched a highly participative process aimed at improving the organization's operations. They named the process Taking Action to Stay Competitive (TASC). Over the next six months, 24 teams committed themselves to an in-depth analysis of every aspect of the District's operations. These improvement teams generated over 900 recommendations focused on five key elements: quality of work; commitment of employees; customer focus; thinking like a business; and, world class methods. This paper provides an overview of MSD's TASC program and summarizes the recommendations made. Lessons learned throughout the process are also discussed.