Linn County Customer Centered Culture - LC3

Linn County is creating a Customer-Centered Culture that places our external and internal customers at the center of everything we do.

As part of our transformation, we are approaching our work in terms of "products." Departments Countywide are identifying and prioritizing products, identifying customers of those products, and using the Voice of the Customer to improve a product's effectiveness or to discontinue products that do not meet our customers' needs.

But LC3 isn't just about products. It's also about workplace culture. LC3 is transforming the way we work and the way we deliver our products and services here at Linn County.

We are investing in employee training through Customer-Centered Culture workshops with Robin Lawton, LC3 Leadership University with Ted Garnett, Learning Institutes with Terry Whitson, our Core Values Academy and ongoing training with many other experts in the field all focused on personal accountability and customer satisfaction.

We are guided by our five-year strategic plan (PDF) that focuses on three key areas:

Customer Satisfaction
Quality of Life
Maintaining Financial Health

This type of enterprise-wide transformation will take an ongoing commitment by elected officials, managers, and staff. It will require a culture of empowered and engaged employees who understand what customers want or expect and use information from customer interactions to improve Linn County products. And it will require leadership that embraces this culture, welcomes the risk of ideas, and allows employees the freedom to exceed customer expectations. A positive culture begins with us.

A Case for Culture

Why is Linn County creating a Customer-Centered Culture? We get that question a lot. After all, we're not selling a product in competition with another provider. Our customers can't go to another county to receive the services they need from us. So why are we investing time and resources in this Countywide effort focusing on customer satisfaction? The answer is simple: We want our customers to have a positive customer experience.

Benefits of a Customer Centered Culture

A workplace environment that fosters accountability and increased productivity
Engaged employees who see the connection between their jobs and Linn County's Core Values, Strategic Plan, and Customer-Centered Desired Outcomes
Spending taxpayer money wisely
Investing savings in innovative products
14–17% more likely to experience positive financial performance*. Even though Linn County is not profit-based, we do have a responsibility to be good stewards with our revenue/expenses and obtain cost savings or efficiency wherever possible. (*Source: Human Capital Institute and PS Culture Matters (2013), "Connecting Organizational Culture to Performance, p. 16)
Lower voluntary turnover, especially among highly talented employees
Easier ability to attract top talent lowering recruiting cycle time/cost as well as improving teamwork and ultimately customer satisfaction
Satisfied customers

What Do We Mean by Culture?

It's the way we work around here. It's our words, our actions, our beliefs, and our Core Values.

Linn County's Core Values

Communicate openly and effectively
Demonstrate personal integrity and respect for others
Be accountable for our actions and decisions
Recognize valued contributions
Create a supportive, positive work environment

Our Key Messages

Linn County embraces a Customer-Centered Culture that provides excellent services for all.
Culture starts at the top. Elected officials, department heads and managers are expected to embrace the Customer-Centered Culture opportunities and encourage their employees to be engaged as well.
All employees have a role in – and are individually accountable for – creating a Customer-Centered Culture.
Our co-workers are our customers too.
Exceptional internal customer satisfaction leads to exceptional customer satisfaction for the public.
A Customer-Centered Culture benefits both the public and Linn County employees.