York County unveils organizational core values developed with staff survey

York County staff on Aug. 18 presented a year-long process that produced five organizational core values intended to guide employee conduct and county culture.

The initiative, led by the county manager’s office and a cross-department leadership team, surveyed more than 700 employees and convened a 50-person focus group of "champions" representing elected officials, judges, appointed officials and every department. County staff described the process as strategic-plan work to embed employee expectations across onboarding, job postings, internal training and recognition.

Greg Suskin of the county manager’s office and Ashley Faye of human resources presented the values and the rollout plan. The values produced by staff were listed as: respect, dedicated, integrity, knowledgeable and friendly. The center of the values graphic reads “excellence through professionalism,” which staff said captures employees’ preference that professionalism and excellence be at the core of county work.

"Values are just not words on a wall," Suskin said, briefing council on the group’s approach to embedding the values in daily work. Faye described planned steps to operationalize the values, including incorporating them into email signatures, job postings, new-hire orientation, training language and employee recognition programs.

The presenters emphasized that the values will be supported by further presentations and staff training in the coming weeks and that the effort is intended to produce lasting culture change in county government.

Council members thanked staff for the presentation and said the values align with the council’s strategic goals for professionalism and service.