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Judy Davis arrived at EPA from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As the deputy director of the contracting office (she was later appointed director), she took the lead on an initiative to rebuild the shop from the ground up. Her idea, which prompted an improvement in customer attitudes about EPA, involved two simple steps: Give the staff more power, and have the management team spend more time devising new services for customers.
"We give employees the autonomy to make decisions, and we hold them accountable," says Davis. By freeing managers from the burden of clearing everything through multiple layers of bureaucracy, contracts are approved much faster. Regular customer surveys provide an incentive to boost the quality of services. Davis also encourages employees to take rotational assignments in other parts of the agency to get a better feel for customer needs. "Walking a mile in the customers' shoes makes a big difference," she says.
For many years, it was difficult for EPA contracting employees to feel connected to the agency's broader mission, Davis says. But by empowering her staff, Davis has focused on upending that problem. Among the results are a new governmentwide contract that will allow any agency to work with small businesses to recycle old computers. Another innovative contract allows EPA employees to purchase office supplies from environmentally friendly companies.
"Four or five years ago, we were just trying to keep our nose above water in keeping up with agency requests," says Davis. "That kind of creative thinking wasn't part of our culture."
And the results show. In the most recent survey, EPA employees indicated that on every measure of employee morale, they top government averages.