Alignment Update - April 24, 2017

Hi Folks-

I thought I'd give you an update on some recent items related to the ALignment.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Alignment Workplan/Schedule
I had a meeting with Meaghan Hunt Wilson last week and she shared with me that we were overdue with several of the actions on the Alignment Workplan and that it was causing a bit of confusion and stress for folks.  I saw immediately that when we shifted some dates related to the chief interviews, I neglected to update some of the dependent actions.  I'll go through it and update it with the help of the Alignment Project Committee and will repost it tomorrow. Sorry for any undue confusion. 

Stage 1 -- System Leadership
Chief Operating Officer (COO)

We've hired Anthony Herron, Jr. as the COO.  He will be responsible for leading the Operations Division which includes IT, Maintenance, Marketing & Communications, Planning & Assessment, and Security.  He has previous experience in internal audit (i.e., process and financial audits) for Love's and OU Health Sciences, and is a genuinely nice and intelligent person.  I’m looking forward to working with him.  He starts on June 5th.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

We are in the final phases of reference and background checks for our CFO candidates, and I hope to be able to announce the successful candidate later this week.  As a reminder, the CFO will over see the Finance & Business and Development and Volunteer Services departments.

Chief Learning Experiences Officer (CLXO)

We interviewed several qualified candidates for the CLXO job, but after much consideration, I felt we needed to rethink the position a bit.  We previously defined the CLXO as leading the team focused on architecting and assessing our system-wide member experiences -- Collection Anywhere (i.e., Collection Management, Cataloging and Metadata, Tech Processing, and Web Content); Playful Learning (i.e., Children's Services, Teen Services, and Adult Services); and InterReach (i.e., School Services and Business Services ).  But this definition left out TeXperiences, which was mentioned in Library Unbound as using technology to extend and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our staff and members.  Ultimately, this means that in addition to needing someone who can lead a team that can deliver a collection of materials and content, develop interactive learning for all ages, and partner for greater awareness and integration with key audiences, we also need someone who is comfortable with strategizing and piloting technological innovation related to the member experience -- both in virtual and physical environments.  I imagine that some might consider this a tough job to fill, thinking that the skill sets are too broad, but we’re not looking for a hands-on person who is going to do all of these different things … we’re looking for someone who can to work with and lead the talented and focused hands-on folks as they do the work of the division.   I should also mention that I’ve “street-tested” the idea with some colleagues who referred to it as “… interesting … very interesting,” and an “intriguingly fun opportunity.”

Of course, the TeXperience team won't replace our IT department, anymore than the Collection Anywhere, Playful Learning, or InterReach staff have replaced the need for Access and Engagement staff.  It simply enables us to have a small team within the Learning Experiences division that is devoted to the development of system-wide technologically enhanced member experiences.  The IT staff will still manage our servers, PCs, ILS, network, phones, etc.  And just as the Access and Engagement staff in the libraries are essential to the design, delivery, and assessment of the collections, programming and interreach activities, IT staff (and others) will be critical to the success of TeXperience.  Anyhow, we'll be listing the CLXO vacancy in the next week with an updated set of qualifications ... keep an eye out for it, and if your interested (or know of someone who might be), we’d love to see an application.

Stage Two -- Training and Organziational Development 
Michele (CODO Michele Gorman) has kicked off the searches for the Learning and Development Manager, the Learning and Development Specialist and the Internal Communications Coordinator.  I don’t have anything definitive to report yet, but as soon as I do, I will.  Stay tuned.

Stage Three -- Learning Experience (LX) Infrastructure
The original plan was to hire the CLXO, and then let her/him lead the hiring process for the rest of the team.  As mentioned above, we're off our timeline for the LX division, but we don't plan to put it on hold.  Instead, I will work with Michele Gorman and some of our other managers to put together hiring panels for the System-wide Children's Services Manager, the System-wide Teen Services Manager, the System-wide Adult Services Manager, and the School Liaison.  If we can get those positions filled, they can go on to fill any other vacancies on their teams while beginning to research and define service-specific standards and best practices.  Then, when we bring in the CLXO, we can complete the remainder of the LX hirings (the Business Service Liaison and the TeXperience team) while also hitting the ground running with projects like system-wide early literacy, homework help, and the expansion of ONEcard program.  We should be able to list the System-wide Managers vacancies next week.

Stages Four & Five -- Access and Engagement Managers and Staff Mappings, Hirings, etc.
As the current Alignment calendar says, we will be rolling out the Access and Engagement mappings this week.  Although we may communicate small pieces of it individually to specifically impacted staff beforehand, we have a scheduled a meeting on Friday to review the mappings and org charts with library managers prior to sharing it with the entire staff.  While this will be the initial communication of where each position will be aligned, there will still be opportunities for promotions, since there are at least 30 vacancies across Member Services that will need to be filled.  I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

Stage Six -- Non-Member Services Mapping
The rest of the mapping will be released next week, and as I've indicated before, this may be somewhat anti-climactic.  For the most part, there will be few changes to the non-public services departments, aside from small title changes.  Of course, the addition of a COO and CFO will introduce new people and new practices to the organization, but that happens anytime a new administrator is hired.

Next Steps
Once we announce the changes resulting from the mapping, we will begin focusing on the transition timeline, including the required and available training for each staff position.  You may know that Michele presented a brief overview of the training and transition process to the Commission last week, and we will be sharing a more complete (but still working) draft with staff by the end of this week

As mentioned a couple of times above, there will also be a number of additional hirings that will occur after we post the initial mappings.  This will include new jobs, like the yet-to-be-defined TeXperience positions, as well as previously defined positions, like an Access Manager II.  I imagine that we won't be fully staffed for a few months ... but then again, we have averaged about 15-25 open positions at any one time, so this isn't a new thing or something that will hamstring us from serving our members.  I think the vacancies will fill pretty quickly once we release the mappings and folks see what their options are.

That’s what I know now … I know it’s a lot of info, and I hope it helps ... if there are specific things you still have questions about, let me know.

--Tim