To foster a sense of community within the assessor’s office at Lancaster County in Nebraska, Chief Field Deputy Derrick D. Niederklein did what anyone would do – he tasked five employees who didn’t get along to create the culture they’d want to have.
Not everyone was up for the idea.
“I wasn’t happy,” said Appraiser Jared Patterson, one of the selected five. “I didn’t want to have to go to what I’d say is a stupid meeting where we’d talk about our feelings and stuff.”
Six months later, the five – and the office overall – are singing a different tune.
“I was so skeptical,” Patterson said. “I’m not the kind of guy who likes to brag, say his organization is the best. But it’s really become a great place to work.”
“That’s the difference,” fellow appraiser Sue Bartek said. “It’s a place I want to belong, I want to come to work each day.”
What happened in those six months.
In November of 2019, with a need to build digital fluency, the Lancaster County Assessor’s Office bought LinkedIn Learning licenses for their employees. Originally, Niederklein and the management team assigned courses on email and other digital tools.
That went well enough, but Niederklein had another idea. Five of his employees all asked to be part of the county’s leadership program. Instead, he suggested something else – work together to build a leadership program for the entire office, by focusing on five core skills and using LinkedIn Learning to teach them.
Patterson, in particular, wasn’t happy about not getting into the leadership program and then being offered this instead.
“It felt like a slap in the face,” he said. “As if management didn’t fully think I was a good leader or had the potential to be one.”
It was a risk. The five employees weren’t exactly friends and there was no guarantee it would work.
The first meeting was… awkward.
“Within the first five minutes, I just called it out,” Bartek said. “That none of us really have anything in common with each other. And we all just laughed.”
Over time, the ice began to melt. And it wasn’t because they found common ground. In fact, just the opposite – the five agreed that they were different. And that was a good thing.
“We were all so diverse, but we realized that would be a strength,” fellow appraiser and member of the five Iveta Kaizere said. “We became more open to each other.”
The five agreed on five topics to focus on – EQ, teamwork, DIBS (diversity, inclusion and belonging), time management and managing your strengths. From that, they viewed LinkedIn Learning courses on each one, selecting the absolute best videos on the platform and then built presentations around it.
They sent out the LinkedIn Learning videos to the rest of the appraisers in the office to watch beforehand and then held hour-long meetings with the team to talk through each topic. As Niederklein puts it, the first discussion on the first topic was decent. The second was better.
And, by the third, they knew they were onto something.
“It really picked up steam from there,” Niederklein said. “By the third one, you could feel the whole energy in the office change.”
What it’s like today in Lancaster County – a “family.”
Speaking to the employees at the Lancaster County Assessor’s Office is like talking to people who had an awakening. Everyone interviewed gushed about the learning program installed and spoke glowingly about the change that happened in the office.
“Everyone is so different,” Bartek said. “Now, I feel like everyone is valued. Every one of us is included and embraced.”
“I feel as though my voice is stronger,” she continued. “I realized the responsibility lies on me to ensure I am heard. And that was… that was very powerful to me.”
“What it did is get the judgement out,” Kaizere said. “I think now we really see each other for who we are. And we see that diversity is a strength, not a weakness. It’s just so refreshing.”
“People were limited by their own perspectives,” Niederklein added. “One thing we’ve learned is empathy and seeing other perspectives.”
Even Patterson, initially among the most resistant of the bunch, seemed almost in awe of the change that had taken place.
“When I first started, I didn’t want to go to work each day,” he said. ““Then it was fun, because the communication doors flooded opened and then I would say I was very enthusiastic about coming into work.”
Keep in mind, this transformation happened despite employees being forced to work remotely because of COVID-19, and the county building they work in being vandalized during the #BlackLivesMatter protests. Despite all the uncertainty and change in the world, the appraisers in Lancaster County now know they all have one thing they can count on each day – each other.
“It’s been absolutely fantastic,” Kaizere said. “I’m part of a family now.”
Topics: Culture of learning Government Learning and development
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