AWWA ACE54396

To accomplish the goal of the City of Phoenix Water Services Department to be recognized by its customers, peers and employees as a national leader in providing water services, an assessment was done that identified key areas that needed to be changed to provide a multi-skilled work force, more efficient practices, and a team driven competitive organization to accomplish this goal. A key driver and tool to accomplish these changes is a continuous commitment to the education of all its employees. Once organizational and operational performance optimization is achieved within a utility, this paper discusses how essential it is that the utility continually increase the knowledge and skills of its empolyees to sustain these changes and the corresponding results. Includes figures.