Our Experiences - The Development of the Permit Center

On January 1, 1994, the City of Pasadena drafted a mission statement that read:

"By the end of 1994, we will establish a central permitting location which will embody the highest levels of customer service and combine highly trained and cross-trained employees, state-of-the-art technology and a re-engineered approval process to make this permit center an international model of government efficiency and effectiveness."

On January 3, 1995, Pasadena residents, businesses and the development community celebrated the grand opening of a model Permit Center.

Rather than fix and polish the existing system, the City of Pasadena created a new system that would meet the needs of the customer and the functional requirements of staff, resulting in maximum efficiency. The city employed a team of over 80 focus group participants, both staff and customers, to guide every step in developing the new system.

As a result, the Permit Center has implemented streamlining measures for every level of customer from the smallest projects which are approved over-the-counter to the largest projects requiring multiple public hearings. Located across the street from City Hall, the new Permit Center is organized around a custom-built customer service counter. Cross-trained staff function in new jobs, such as Triad Team Review stations, and are supported by new technology.

The review and approval process takes fewer steps, fewer staff and less time to complete. The results are more consistent, better documented, and there are fewer errors which must be reconciled by the customer. The Permit Center provides cutting-edge customer service while increasing staff skills and competency in the overall permitting process.

The Problem

Pasadena's Planning & Permitting Department had a reputation for being friendly but complicated, frustrating and time consuming. In a time of increasing competition for quality development, the city found that it was not competitive within the regional economy and was loosing potential projects. The community pressed the city to position itself to attract the region's top quality business, development and jobs.

Change

The Permit Center has reduced the number of steps in the process, and the amount of time the process takes, and significantly decreased the complexity of the process from the customer's perspective.

Customers are greeted by a support staff who have been cross-trained to complete a preliminary screening and determine the appropriate review station for the customer's project, eliminating the burden on the customer to navigate the system on their own. Small and medium-sized projects are directed to the Triad Review Team where a three-step process has been reduce to one by bringing three staff to the customer at once. Large projects are directed to a case manager who will map out the review process for the customer, convene a Pre-Application Conference Meeting, and facilitate the process from beginning to end. At every level, the emphasis is on reducing the burden on the customer and increasing the responsibility of staff to facilitate the process.

Costs

The creation of the new Permit Center incurred one-time costs for building renovations and technology. Because existing staff have been retrained to work within a re-engineered context, the Permit Center requires no additional staff or operating costs. There are, however, additional maintenance costs for the technology.

Customer Satisfaction

Pasadena's Permit Center was designed by its customers. During a yearlong planning process, a series of focus groups, made up of staff and customers, guided every step of the improvement process. Staff were pulled from all levels within the more that five departments involved in the development approval process. Customers included local businesses, residents and community groups; regional builders and developers; and related professional organizations and institutions. A smaller version of the focus group remains as an advisory body to the Permit Center Manager to maintain customer feedback and guide continuous improvement.

Strategy

The principals applied in the development of Pasadena's Permit Center could be applied to similar processes in any city. Pasadena employed basic re-engineering and organization development theory to improve work flow and customer service. Representatives from numerous other municipalities, including the City of Los Angeles, have visited the Permit Center to borrow ideas for their own center.

Innovations

Staff-Customer Focus Group: Pasadena's Permit Center was based on a common vision shared by customers and staff. Management recognized that a center designed to meet the needs of only one or the other group would not provide maximum efficiency and effectiveness. As a result, Pasadena took an innovative approach to bring staff and customers together. Five focus groups were formed with an equal number of staff and customers in each. The recommendations which came from the groups were consensus decisions which met the needs of both groups. As a result, the new Permit Center not only provides high quality customer service, but has created a better working environment and improved staff morale.

Cross Training: Pasadena's retrained staff to reduce the number of "specialists" and increase the number of "generalists". With a team of specialists, there was often only one or two staff qualified for a particular task. The customer would have to wait for each of a series of individuals to complete the process. With cross-trained staff, however, what used to be a lengthy process involving multiple staff, can be reduced to a shorter process with one or two staff. In additions, multiple staff can provide the service at one time. Cross-training allowed Pasadena to create new customer services, including the Reception Desk, Triad Review, and case managers. In addition, it allowed staff to increase skills and improve competency in their field.

Development Guide: The Development Guide is a new approach to assisting customers with complex projects. It is a master information folder designed to give the customer a "road map" of where they are going, how long it will take, and how much it will cost. In comparison to examples from other cities, Pasadena's Development Guide is the first to provided comprehensive information on a particular project, rather than general information on all types of projects. A case manager, cross-trained to facilitate all aspects of large projects, can use the Development Guide to explain and document the requirements of every step of the review process leaving the customer with a clear picture of what to expect.

Obstacles

The largest obstacle Pasadena faced in implementing the new Permit Center was staff resistance to change. The further Pasadena moved in the re-engineering process, the more staff pulled back. While it is human nature to fear change, information and participation can often turn a negative person into a strong supporter. The more the city moved into the project, it became more important to implement a large-scale staff relations program to encourage participation and ownership in the new Permit Center. Some of the most effective tools to changing staff's attitude were an unusual bi-weekly newsletter for staff, small group lunches with management, and roundtable discussions (still being held today) allowing staff to be a part of operations decisions. Through roundtable discussions, the staff continues to be a part of major decisions and maintains pride and ownership in the project.