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Council reviews city mission, vision and core values; staff to gather employee input before strategic planning
Summary
Staff presented the city’s mission, vision and REACT core values, summarized employee survey responses and asked the council for direction ahead of an upcoming strategic planning session. Councilmembers requested advance questions and broader employee engagement.
Jeffrey Ross, director of human resources, led a discussion with Farmers Branch City Council about the city’s mission, vision, values and organizational culture ahead of a scheduled strategic planning session.
Ross reviewed the current documents: a mission statement that appears on city materials and that staff traced back to a recorded document from 2005, a vision statement adopted in 2018, and the city’s core-value acronym REACT (Respect, Excellence, Accountability, Care, Trust). He told the council staff had surveyed employees and received about 140 responses; the top items employees identified as important were respect, excellence, accountability and leadership.
Ross described the distinctions among mission (what the city does), vision (where it is going) and core values (the behaviors employees are expected to demonstrate). He emphasized that mission and values should be measurable and actionable and not merely aspirational taglines. Ross said the strategic planning session next month would be the primary venue for facilitated work and suggested staff gather additional input beforehand.
Councilmembers made several suggestions: Councilman Roman said a facilitator could ask exploratory questions to draw meaning from employee and council feedback and asked staff to craft questions in advance. Councilwoman Bennett asked staff to consult employees and bring results back to council before the strategic planning session. Councilman Chats emphasized that core values must be actionable across all roles and cautioned against changing values frequently. Several members asked that retreat materials and guiding questions be provided to council in advance so members have time to reflect.
Ross said staff will carry employee feedback into the strategic planning session, will work to ensure outreach to employees on all shifts (including police and fire), and will provide materials and proposed questions in advance of the retreat. No formal changes to mission, vision or values were proposed or adopted at this meeting.
