A Training Module for SCCCC employees

1. OVERVIEW OF PDM HISTORY………………………………….….. 10 mins

2. OVERVIEW OF PDM ……………………………………………….. 30 mins

3. BREAK………………………………………………………………….

10 mins

4. QUESTIONS……………………………………….…………………… 10 mins

SCCCC’s commitment to PDM is supported by the notion that participative practices

lead to better organizational productivity, encourage

innovation, and empower all employees as problem

solvers. It also strengthens the role of leaders who

facilitate progress rather than dominate the

organization.

Mission

Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center builds on the strength of people working together to

create healthy change in their lives and community. We deliver quality human services guided by the values of diversity, partnership,

and the power of workplace democracy.

Throughout our history there have been long and impassioned conversations about

“democracy.” What does it mean in our agency? How is it practiced in our everyday

work lives? What we have ended up embracing is this: PDM and an affirmative work environment comprise our version of

“democracy.” These two practices describe our collective life in a workplace we can

shape. In its most basic form, democracy is the simple act of recognizing our

interconnectedness, listening to and considering other’s ideas and perspectives,

accepting compromise, and agreeing on what the majority believes is in the best interest of

all.

Board of Board of TrusteesTrustees

Personnel Personnel

CommitteeCommittee

LeadershipLeadership

CouncilCouncil

Component Decision-Making Component Decision-Making

Guides (Trees)Guides (Trees)

PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE

Board of Trustees

The Counseling Center is governed by a Board of Trustees committed to the agency’s mission. The Board is comprised of two types of members: Community Members and Staff Advisors.

Up to thirteen Community Members can serve; five members are nominated by the individual components and eight are directly nominated by the Board as at-large members. Members are a diverse group with representatives from funding and referral agencies, the business community, clients and client advocates, and community residents.

Staff Advisors are elected by their component staff to a two-year term as the staff representative to the Board of Trustees. The Staff Advisor is responsible for keeping the Board informed about component news and issues, keeping staff informed about the work of the Board, and attending Board and Committee meetings. The Staff Advisor collaborates with the component PC Representative in educating staff about proposed personnel policy changes and assists in obtaining staff feedback.

Personnel Committee

The Personnel Committee is comprised of staff elected from each of the four components—Youth Services, Community Recovery Services, Child and Family Development Services, and Community Support Services—as well as Admin Services, SCCCC’s administrative unit. Each these components has one vote.

The Personnel Committee Representative is empowered to decide the voting mechanism (representative or referendum) to be used to decide a particular issue, educating staff about personnel proposals, and receiving and considering their feedback. The PC assigns a Representative to attend Leadership Council meetings to report on PC issues and present items requiring LC’s vote. A Rep is also assigned to attend Board of Trustees Meetings to provide a report on PC business. In the event of an impasse between LC and PC, PC can vote to send an issue to the Board of Trustees.

Personnel Committee Mission Statement

To advocate for and express the wishes of staff regarding policy; to mediate and vote for staff’s interests through the

Participatory Decision Making process.

Leadership Council

Leadership Council is composed of four Component Directors and the Executive Director. The Leadership Council votes on issues referred by the Personnel Committee or the Board of Trustees, and may also introduce proposals for PDM. The LC may vote to send a proposal to the Board if there is an impasse with PC.

Component Decision-Making Guides or Trees describe operational decision-making or the “everyday” part of PDM. These include: types of operational decisions to be made, levels of inclusion that may be required to make each decision, who makes the final decision, and when voting is required, quorum agreements, impasse breakers, and other such rules are established.

PDM Policy Decisions PDM is used to make such policy decisions as:

Rate of mileage reimbursement

Establishing a time bank

Exchanging holidays (Columbus Day for Cesar Chavez Day)

Change of eligibility for benefits from .5 FTE to .75 FTE

Bilingual pay policy

Health benefits decision

PDM Operational DecisionsPDM is used to make operational decisions at the component level such as:

PDM rules for component

COLA implementation date

Clinical decisions

Programmatic changes

1. 1. Decision-MakingDecision-Making

Voting process---2 types of decision-making: Referendum & Representative

Empowered Personnel Committee Representatives

Education

Health Carrier Decision

COLA Contribution

Ad Hoc Committees

Component Decision-Making Guides

Major Features:Major Features:

VOTING PROCESS

Policy Starts

Author, PC Rep and HR meet to discuss wording

of policy

Preliminary fiscal and legal analysis

1

2PC Meeting

Feedback; Only Author can change proposal or not. PC

votes to move proposal on or not.

PC Rep informs LC/ Final analysis (HR)

3PC takes issue to

staff for education/

information via email, printed

info, straw poll, etc.

Either LC or PC can request a joint meeting. Only author can change proposal. Joint

straw poll on proposed changes to proposal

conducted for feedback purposes. PC Reps can

decide whether to or not to take changed proposal back

to staff

4

PC Meeting (rep. or ref.)

Referendum Vote* +

(60%)

PC Votes (if

Rep)

Leadership Council Vote

Impasse process: either LC or PC can vote to send an issue to the Board with

a vote of 80% of voting members if there is an

impasse between LC and PC in either the referendum or

representative process

Board of Trustees Vote

*LC members (ED & Directors) do not vote in referendum vote.

+ Clarify that referendum vote is not the final vote—LC votes too.

5

1. 1. Decision-MakingDecision-Making

Month-long process; component-specific to reach staff

PC utilizes email, printed materials, site visits, the SCCCC web site, and all staff meetings to educate and inform staff about policy proposals

PC uses all of the above methods to gather feedback from staff on policy proposals

EducationEducation

1. 1. Decision-MakingDecision-Making

Health Carrier Decision

COLA Contribution

Ad Hoc Committees

Additional Decision-Additional Decision-Making ProcessesMaking Processes

2. 2. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUALMANUAL

Manual divided into 3 sections:

PDM-defined Policies

Legal Policies

Administrative Policies

PDM Defined Policies…

• are those policies in which the Personnel Committee and/or staff use the PDM process to propose changes and make decisions.

• address employee compensation, benefits, working conditions and guidelines.

The Legal Policies

section is comprised of those policies that must meet legal requirements, but can be enhanced via staff proposals.

The HR Department regularly updates policies in this section to ensure compliance with State and Federal law.

The Administrative/ Introductory Section contains descriptions of the agency’s history and current services. It also contains policies that are not primarily legally-based and do not affect employee compensation, benefits, working conditions and guidelines.

All Sections of the Policies and Procedures Manual

In order to keep the Policies and Procedures Manual current, edits to names, dates, agency tag lines, grammatical errors and typos can be corrected by the Operations Director (or designee) in any of the 3 sections.

THE END