Peter Auger

By Karrie Marsh, Executive Assistant and Guest Blogger,

How can the Senior Services Department possibly add another program or event to their already busy schedule? Well, they have and this time the focus is on honoring a loved one. 

This September the City of Auburn Hills will be holding the 1^st annual Celebration of Life Memorial Planting.  A live plant or tree will be planted in memory of family or friends who are no longer with us.  The name of the person will be written on a bio-degradable piece of paper and added to the soil along with the plant or tree. What a special way to honor and remember a loved one. 

The staff at the Community Center will be glad to give more details about the event. You may contact them at 248-370-9353.

By Karen Adcock, Senior Services Director and Guest Blogger,

The 2012 Volunteer Appreciation Dinner took place on Tuesday, April 24^th at the Auburn Hills Community Center. The theme of ‘Volunteers are Shining Stars’ was repeated on tabletops and centerpieces, stage décor, invitations and programs. Over 120 volunteers were honored this year, with 25 awards given for distinctive achievements, specifically Jim Mian who won the Director’s Award for all the wonderful deeds he does for our city.

The Senior Services Department utilized 7,840 hours of volunteer hours in 2011, contributing to the many programs that couldn’t thrive without that help.

An interesting question was brought up by one of our employees. “It seems that that we continue to change how we do things and we keep cutting, we are cutting to what end?”

That is a great question.

First and foremost we, as an organization are not just cutting to cut. We have resisted this, mostly because good bumper stickers don’t normally make good management practices. We also don’t replace a body with another body (e.g. if a person retires we do not just hire another person to fill the “spot.”) We take all our processes very seriously. If an employee leaves us after three decades of service, what has changed in those thirty years? Think about any profession in the early decade of 1980. These are some of the professionals that are looking at retirement options now. Expectations have changed, levels of service have changed, and the laws in which we operate have also changed, and the tools for the jobs have changed, shouldn’t we?

Organizations that operate as a sub servant set to a sovereign, as in the relationship of city to State, has to be agile enough to adapt to these ever changing rules that are put upon us to remain successful. Many communities struggle, yet do not implement the necessary changes that need to occur to place them in a better position to compete.

We were recently talked about for not hiring employees in one department after losing several employees to retirement, due a contract not being ratified. We cannot, in good conscience, agree to buy something without knowing the cost. Hiring of an employee is a 60 year decision; it is not a one year budget decision, nor a three year budget decision. Ramifications of an employee can last until said employee expires. This, in some circumstances under older agreements, would mean our obligations to said employee would be longer while this employee was not working (providing services) than when they did work for us.

We, in government services, did not get here over night, so it does take some time to get to a place where an employee and an employer can reach that mutual beneficial relationship.

Ah, but to what end?

My goal has always been to run the best organization that that organization can be. If we are the best there is, a lot of issues take care of themselves. One of my favorite lines in the Optimist Creed;

“Promise yourself to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.”

Ever had an Ah Ha! moment. This is the moment when you could say, “Now I get it”, or “Yes, it’s working.”

We still spend some of our resources in training staff.  I like Derek Bok’s quote:                                

 “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

Keeping people sharp in their chosen profession helps keep us on the cutting edge. Many of our positions require certification or a credential. An example would be the city manager as a credentialed city manager by the International City Manager Association. I have been a Credentialed CM through ICMA since 2004 which requires I partake in at least 40 hours of continued education every year.

So our employees continue to hone their skills, or as Steven Covey says “sharpen your saw.”  As a matter of fact we have many employees who teach or instruct in their fields, which is the cost of being an organization that leads.

So keeping up to date with the latest technology and techniques is one reason to continue to send people to training. The other reason is to see how we are doing against other organizations. Last week we had one of our leaders come back and report at our department head meeting an Ah Ha! moment. They reported that through several discussions with their peers that they realized that we have already implemented and are operating as a High Performance Organization and within the dimensions of the Great Workplace environments.

Ah… music to my ears.

You see sometime we are so close to all the action we are unable to see what others are doing or how far we have moved. This is what Harvard Professor Marty Linsky referred to as having one foot on the balcony and one foot on the dance floor. As someone exercising leadership in any organization you have to be close enough to where the work is getting done (on the dance floor), and the ability to see how everything interacts (on the balcony).

It is very rewarding when someone has that Ah Ha! moment, and even greater when they are willing to share it with their peers. OK, I have to get back to the dance floor…

Life is sometimes like a balancing act. Whether it is family time versus time at work; could be leisure time versus time to be productive, time doing versus time learning.  This is why we stress it is important that we still make things. Adam Smith wrote in A Wealth of Nations;

“A man grows rich by employing a multitude of manufacturers: he grows poor by maintaining a multitude of menial servants.”

Please don’t misunderstand; we are very proud of the companies that make things in our city, and our region. As a modern industrial city our forefathers would not recognize the city as such just by looking at us. No ominous looking smoke stacks bellowing dark smoke. No hideous smells and smog that makes it hard to breath. Innovators have learned and systems have changed. Diversity means different things to different people. Some people focus on gender, some at skin color, and yet others look at religion or ethnicity. We focus on a diverse range of economic engines that hopefully play with and build off of each other.

To see the connections between the threads and then the synergies between the disciplines and different companies is out right energizing. So yes we (the companies in Auburn Hills) still make things and others design things, still others educate people, and still some more provide services, and others sell things, yes this is economics in action.

I had an interesting morning yesterday with the new crop of Leadership Oakland Class members and we explored what is next for them as they take what they have gained through this nine month process and figure out how to exercise leadership in all their endeavors.

I always enjoy telling the Auburn Hills story. More specifically explaining how our team exercises leadership on a daily basis. Hopefully I touched on the key points tying Professional Leadership, Personal Leadership and Public Leadership together.

All three areas are tied together and it is a conscious choice to exercise leadership. Programs like Leadership Oakland are important for several reasons. First, it is a fantastic way to learn about our region, people who have lived here most of their life learn about some great assets and resources that we have available for use. Secondly, you get to meet about 50 other people, your LO class, in all walks of life who are at all at different stages of their own careers creating more value. Then, once you are a LO Alumni you have great access to over 1,000 alumni and some great networks, speakers series and access to leadership throughout Oakland County.

I am looking forward to what this LO class is going to add to our community.

Over the past week and a half I have been approached 3 times from people recommending that we slow down on broadcasting the good news that has been coming out of Auburn Hills. Companies located here are doing better this year than last. Companies growing, new companies arriving, new construction, etc…

Well I guess I won’t tell you about the two new companies that were given the go ahead last night, nor the couple hundred new jobs that these companies are going to provide. See, in all fairness we are team players and want to help where we can, and it is never our intention to make others not feel good.

Therefore I won’t explain about the new technology that one of these companies is working on in the new Research and  Development facility, after all it’s just research and actual development of something that could change how things are made (Reardon Metal comes to mind). I also won’t expand on a state of the art paint facility that will create about 120 new jobs by the end of the year and utilize a facility that has been vacant for about five years. But I hope some of the residents of neighboring communities find out about it, especially if they know someone that wants to go to work, and better yet if someone wants to move back to Michigan and get to work (I’ve seen some pretty good deals on housing units).

But you won’t find me boasting about these new developments. I do want to be considerate to others. Ahhh….now I feel better.

By Karrie Marsh, Executive Assistant and Guest Blogger

Have you ever read something that for some reason sticks with you? I came across this quote by Conrad Hilton and it has stayed with me for a while.

Success… seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t give up.

I began to analyze business practices, different situations throughout life and stories of successful people.  It is interesting how people can read a quote and understand it in so many different ways.  Perception is a funny thing. 

While reviewing some information from the City Manager’s past blogs, I saw a common thread in the titles and the information in the blogs. For example, Not Giving Up posted on April 30^th, Keep Moving posted on April 13^th, Here We Grow Again posted on April 2^nd, Optimistic About the Future posted on March 16^th, and Continuing Journey posted on March 5^th just to name a few.  They all focus on action or the future.

Now is an interesting time for the City of Auburn Hills for so many reasons. If you look at the website, visit the other blogs posted by other department heads or read the Auburn Hills Review, you will learn about the many programs and events occurring, not to mention what is being planned for the future.

Coincidence? I think not. If the blogs are any indication as to the success that lies ahead, the future for the City looks good.

There is a Mother’s Day brunch buffet will be served on Sunday, May 13^th at the Vista Grille, located on the scenic grounds of Fieldstone Golf Club. What a neat way to say “Thanks mom.”

There will be seating’s for brunch at 11:00 am, 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. The cost is $18.95 per person; $9.95 for children under 12 and complimentary for children 5 and under.

Looking over the menu that features Dearborn honey baked ham; top round bordelaise, herb roasted chicken, scrambled eggs, sliced bacon and sausage links, French toast, biscuits and gravy, potatoes O’Brien, twice baked mashed potatoes, antipasto salad, Fieldstone salad, green beans almondine, rolls and butter, fondue river dessert station, fresh fruit and coffee and soft drinks is getting me hungry. 

I would recommend reservations by calling 248.370.9354 ext #3.

If you haven’t seen the new look of the Vista Grille, this could be the perfect opportunity.

As we position and market our community for those who are from outside our community to understand our community is very challenging and I am having a hard time developing an elevator speech, that is unless we are in an elevator to the new World Trade Center. Over the past two weeks I have been in several meetings where I was asked to describe why we are different.

It’s hard to explain and easy at the same time.

We have a small town atmosphere where many residents and their offspring stay put.

We are a business community with about a dozen of the Fortune 500 companies with a major footprint within the city and 22 business parks.

We are a World Headquarters community with many World or North American Headquarters located here.

We are a shopping Mecca with over 2 million square feet of retail shopping in our shopping district alone.

We are a modern industrial city with the 3^rd largest amount of industrial employees in the State of Michigan.

We are an international city with companies from over 30 different countries.

We are a sports town with one of the finest municipal golf courses in the Midwest and home of one of the 30 NBA teams in one of the nicest entertainment facilities in the country.

We are a college town with 5 colleges or universities and over 35,000 college kids coming into our community to learn on any given day.

We are still an evolving community that continues to adapt to new technologies and innovation.

We are a commuter town where 4 times our population can come to work every day.

We are a service providing organization where some of the most talented and dedicated public employees deliver services at a very high level every day.

Hmmmm…guess with all that going on we are not such a hidden gem any longer but maybe we are some of the fuel for Michigan’s economic engine.