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Coral Springs Relocation
2007
Award Recipient
City of Coral Springs
Chartered in 1963 and once known as the “City in the Country,” Coral Springs is located in Broward County in southern Florida. During the 1980s, the city was one of the fastest growing in the nation and now is home to about 132,000 people, making it the 13th largest city in the state.
With an annual budget of $135 million, the city of Coral Springs has a council-manager form of government with the City Commission serving as the board of directors and the City Manager as chief executive officer, with input from citizens and businesses.
The city has a workforce of about 770 full-time employees and about 300 part-time and temporary employees as well as a large pool of more than 800 people who volunteer asneeded for emergencies, special events, or other activities. The city delivers a broad array of products and services, including police patrol, crime investigation, fire prevention and suppression, emergency medical services, parks maintenance, and economic development. Facilities include city hall, a public safety training and technology center, five fire stations, four police substations, regional and neighborhood parks, several sports and recreational centers, and a center for the arts.
The City of Coral Springs is the first state or local government agency to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. In 2007, the Baldrige Award was expanded to include nonprofit organizations such as government agencies, charities, and trade and professional organizations.
A Municipal Corporation
In 1993, the City of Coral Springs began its journey to be a high-performing “municipal corporation,” a city government following a corporate management model. And, much like a business, Coral Springs is customer focused and data driven. The city’s organizational culture is reflected in its four core values: customer focus—demonstrate a passion for customer service; leadership—establish an inspiring vision that creates a government that works better and costs less; empowered employees—empower the people closest to the customer to continuously improve the organization’s quality and services; and continuous improvement—commit every day, in every way to getting better and better. The city relies heavily on input from its two key customer groups, residents and businesses, and on data analysis to develop priorities and make strategic and business decisions. Included are results from neighborhood “Slice of the Springs” meetings; 27 advisory committees and boards comprising of residents and business people; customer surveys; trends in demographics; information on local, state, and national economic conditions; an overview of technological developments; and an analysis of current strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
National Institute of Standards and Technology • U.S. Department of Commerce Baldrige National Quality Program
What is the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award? Named after the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987 to promote excellence in organizational performance, recognize the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicize successful performance strategies. For more information, see http://baldrige.nist.gov.
Baldrige 20th Anniversary Highlight:
The Quest for Excellence Conference Held each April in Washington, D.C., the Quest for Excellence Conference provides a forum for the most recent Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients to showcase their exceptional performance practices and share their journeys to excellence with interested organizations. The Quest for Excellence gives participants the opportunity to learn about the tools used by business, education, health care, and nonprofit leaders to evaluate and focus their efforts on performance results, leadership effectiveness, strategic thinking, customer loyalty, employee engagement, and process management. Attendees include CEOs, senior managers, government executives, education and health care professionals, directors of staff functions, heads of operating units, quality/performance improvement practitioners, and others seeking to implement the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence (Criteria) and organizational best practices.
The city’s strategic plan, which is reviewed and updated annually, represents a shared vision for the future of the community and spells out its priorities: customer-involved government; financial health and economic development; excellence in education; neighborhood and environmental vitality; youth development and family values; strength in diversity; and traffic, mobility and connectivity.
• Annually, city leaders hold neighborhood meetings— known as “Slice of the Springs.”
• For the past seven years, Coral Springs has attained a
AAA credit rating from all three of the nation’s largest bond rating agencies—Moody’s Investor Services, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch.
• The city has received the Government Financial
Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget award for the past 16 years and zero findings on external audits for the past 11 years.
• In 1997 and 2003, the city received the Florida Governor’s Sterling Award, Florida’s highest honor for organizational performance and management excellence.
• The strategic planning process has been cited by a number of organizations, including the American Productivity and Quality Center, as a “best practice” and is a case study in Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance
Management
The Nation’s Premier Community With citizen involvement, a low crime rate, and an abundance of parks and cultural and community activities, the city is achieving its mission “to be the nation’s premier community in which to live, work, and raise a family.” A number of mechanisms make it as convenient as possible for customers to get information on services, conduct business, and communicate with city officials and employees. They include the city’s Web site, podcasts and streaming video, e-mail, the CityHelpDesk (automated comment and complaint system), and the City Hall in the Mall, which offers services such as paying cable and water bills and applying for a passport and permits.
The city has taken a leadership role in minimizing adverse impacts on the environment, including using environmentally safe cleaning products and bio-diesel fuel to run all of its large trucks. To protect native plants and animals, the city has purchased and placed in trust 66 acres of environmentally sensitive land. In 1995, Coral Springs became a model in Broward County by establishing a Multi-Cultural Advisory Committee to promote appreciation, acceptance, and respect for the city’s diverse cultural community.
• Since 1999, the percentage of residents who are satisfied with city services has been in the mid- to upper 90s.
• For the past three years, business satisfaction has risen from 76 percent in 2004 to 97 percent in 2008; 90 percent of businesses would recommend the city to others, up from 82 percent in 2004.
• In 2006, Money magazine named Coral Springs as one of the Best Places to Live. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, the city was named as one of the 100 best communities for young people by America’s Promise Alliance.
• Over the last 10 years, the crime rate per 100,000 people has decreased by nearly half. For cities with populations between 100,000-499,999, Coral Springs has the lowest crime rate in the stae and the fourth lowest crime rate in the nation.
Empowered Employees
A motivated, empowered, and high-performing workforce is vital to Coral Springs achieving its mission and priorities, and the city strives to retain its top-notch staff through job security, competitive pay and benefits, a safe and positive work environment, and recognition. The city’s flat organizational structure, training, and recognition encourage employees to be innovative in addressing customer concerns and make on-the-spot improvements. Teams of employees from across the organization work together to solve problems and review processes, promoting cooperation and driving organizational innovation. The city actively identifies and develops its future leaders through training; participation in meetings, workshops, and other events; and mentoring by senior managers.
• Employees are recognized and rewarded in a variety of ways ranging from “Applause Cards,” given by an employee to a co-worker for exemplary customer service, to restaurant certificates and movie tickets for employees who display outstanding initiative, to bonuses for employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
• In 2006, employees received 1,325 applause cards.
• For the past 10 years, more than 90 percent of employees have been satisfied with their jobs and are willing to recommend the city as a place to work, outperforming a comparison group of federal government employees.
• Employee turnover rate has declined from 7.5 percent in 1997 to 4.5 percent in 2006.
• In 2006, 93 percent of employees agreed that the organization is highly ethical, and 94 percent agreed that the city’s commitment to integrity has been clearly communicated to all employees. For more information:
City of Coral Springs
9551 West Sample Road
Coral Springs, FL 33065
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