By definition, airports and harbors are busy places, with planes, trains and automobiles (and ships) coming and going around the clock. People and machinery move at fevered paces, and the hustle and bustle becomes almost palpable. When things work as they should, when the planes run on time in other words, the busy airport and harbor resemble carefully orchestrated chaos. It’s madness with a method.
As the nation’s 41st most populous city, home to nearly 500,000 people, Cleveland, Ohio, operates a major international airport, Cleveland Hopkins International, as well as Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport, which caters primarily to private planes and smaller jets. Both of those airports (Cleveland Airport System) are managed by the City of Cleveland’s Department of Port Control, which also oversees the Cleveland harbor properties and operations on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River.
Jeanette Saunders is Acting Chief of the Division of Administration and Performance Management for the City of Cleveland’s Department of Port Control. Starting as a senior organizational development manager in September 2007, Saunders has advanced quickly, taking over the acting chief responsibilities at the start of 2010. In her role, Saunders is responsible for HR operations, performance management, organizational development, administrative services and safety & risk management. It’s a busy role.
“Our primary goal with our integrated programs is to openly and effectively communicate our performance expectations to our entire workforce, empower them with the tools and resources to meet the expectations, continuously provide feedback on their progress, and reward them for performance excellence” Saunders said. “It is a continuous cycle annually with the beginning of the year work-planning & individual development plans, quarterly monitoring reviews throughout the year, and annual performance reviews at the end of the year.”
Saunders role directly impacts 450 people working at the airports and harbors, but she also touches another 9,000 people in an extended learning network that includes providing training to airport tenants and airlines, focusing largely on security training and transportation/movement, with customer service modules starting soon. What makes it all exciting, she said, is that with the division less than three years old, it’s all fresh.
“Everything we’re doing is new,” Saunders said. “It’s all connected. We’re trying to approach it all from all these different aspects so it all comes together and it’s sustainable.”
Working under the Department’s first strategic plan, put together for 2007-2010, Saunders and her team are also working on department-wide performance appraisals, competency models, and new hiring/selection processes. She’s also tackling a strategic plan to cover 2011-2014. But that’s now and in the future.
Saunders’ first mission when she took the reins was to begin the process of centralizing training for the division. Previously, she said, training was rolled-out in various places with no real records of what was being done. She’s also stepped-up leadership training in the Department.
“Trying to understand the needs of the whole organization and capture and provide that to the organization has been a challenge in itself,” Saunders said.
Technology has been an ally in the mission though. Saunders invested in a learning management system, from Cornerstone OnDemand, to help integrate training efforts across the organization. She’s also in the process of purchasing some standalone computer consoles loaded with training modules to take training to the worksites as needed. She’s also looking at a driving simulator, to help those employees in mobile roles safely navigate around the runways and taxiways safely.
Saunders has coalesced all this training under three new programs, designed for specific levels in the organization. The Take-Off programs will cover employee onboarding to ensure everyone is properly trained during their first six months of work. The next level is Success-Tech, where everyone is enrolled a “business class” level that encourages job proficiency and rewards performance. Those who truly excel advance to “first class” level, where they can participate in a larger range of classes, even some outside current job duties.
The third level is the LEAD Academy – Leadership Enhancement and Accelerated Development. The “leadership enhancement” level there is for all leaders, and the “accelerated development” level, also new this year, is designed for those top performers ready to advance either to or further in their leadership careers. Fourteen employees (out of 30 candidates) were selected for that program in 2010, a journey that will take a year to complete.
“In introducing the program to the organization we want to meet the employees where they are, but we also want to encourage them to grow,” Saunders said. “Once you’re in the program it doesn’t just stop with the curriculum. Continuous learning & development is what we’re building in the culture here. We want to prepare and provide opportunities for people to advance.”
That training is taking place throughout the workplace, but the Department of Port Control is also converting a building into a new training center that will have a simulator room, multiple classrooms, computer training room, and testing rooms, as well as a training library all employees will have access to. Training will also be provided in dedicated centers at both airports.
Saunders expects to see continued growth and demand for the new training initiatives.
“Our employees are very hungry for it. The investment in employees hasn’t been as strong as it is now, so they’re starting to really feel that,” she said. “People are getting excited about this and they’re believing. They want the training. We’re trying to increase employee engagement as well as productivity and performance.”
That may seem a large goal, but it’s not as large as the one Saunders really has her eye on. The organization’s vision, she said, is to make the Division of Port Control for the City of Cleveland be the best-performing organization in the entire aviation industry. That’s a grandiose goal, but it starts with increasing engagement and managing responsibility and safety. Since Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was voted the most improved airport in North America for 2009 by the Airports Council International, Saunders believes that goal is attainable.
“We have a great foundation,” she said. “We have great employees with a lot of skills and a lot of things to build on. I think with the investment in them, we’re able to accomplish our vision. We’re currently moving in the right direction.”
