A 20-year pin... five years in the making ;)

On April 15th, Kevin Wylie  and John Manconi presented Barbara Callinan with her long over-due 20 year Long Service pin!  In fact Barbara is actually due for her 25 year pin this coming September!  I think this calls for another party!

Barbara first started working for the City back in 1985 and is currently working with the OETS staff as a Business Analyst.   Over the past 25 years Barbara has used her talents to help streamline business processes and implement further SAP MMS processes in numerous areas of Public Works such as Roads, Parks, Forestry, and Traffic Operations and she has most recently been working with the former RPAM group.  Barbara was also part of the original SAP IBS launch team. 

Barbara’s interests do not solely lie within the City, our Irish Lass is most fond of world travelling (and tennis!) and has travelled to every continent in the world except for Antarctica!  Where are you off to next Barbara?

Filing is exciting? When people take the initiative, follow through with ideas that create significant efficiencies (not to mention save paper) … you betcha!

It’s early 2008 and the Parks Sr. Operations Clerks are staring down the barrel of having to create 900 + folders, one for each park in the City.  Christine Adams knew that they could do better.  She along with Christine Wilson, a fellow Parks Senior Operations Clerk, had the innovation to follow through with a new initiative, which resulted in a significant savings of time and money. 

You see, the former records management process required a folder (containing inspections and notifications) for each park, each year.  Understanding the number of Parks in the City it’s not difficult to imagine the amount of time required to properly manage files.

As many of you know, altering a file management system - paper or electronic - is often much more challenging than anticipated.  However, with the support of managers, staff started to tackle the project. 

Fast-forward through a couple of years, a number of meetings, many challenging moments and a resolve to stick with a good idea and voila, a new records management system!  One that - annually - saves time, money and trees. 

The initiative was so successful, a similar process is currently underway for Roads Operations and Forestry Services.  If you’d like to know more, please feel free to contact Jonathan Hamilton, Program Mgr, Administrative Services at x21145.

Hats off to all of the Senior and Operations Clerks who were involved with this initiative, your work is a clear example of the power of innovation and new ideas.