Navigator Award Finalist: Brian W. Ness, Director, Idaho Transportation Department
Transforming a state transportation agency by empowering its employees to pinpoint cost savings and find operational efficiencies.
This is the 12th in a series of profiles on the 50 finalists for Route Fifty’s Navigator Awards program. The first 10 finalists were from the Government Allies and Cross-Sector Partners category. Finalists 11-20 were from the Agency and Department Leadership category. Finalists 21-30 were from the Executive Leadership category. Finalists 31-40 were from the Next Generation category. Finalists 41-50 were from the Data and IT Innovators category. Explore our complete list of 50 finalists.
There are plenty of philosophies involving effective agency management and how to implement big ideas that can transform operations. Often, those big ideas come from the top.
When Brian W. Ness, the director of the Idaho Transportation Department and a Route Fifty Navigator Award finalist, came into his position, his big idea turned the tables a bit. Instead of implementing ideas from a top-down approach, Ness wanted to empower the 1,500 employees in the agency by having them submit ideas that could save money and time and find other operational efficiencies.
It was all part of his Innovate ITD program.
“Innovation is the most constructive way to change and get better. We do not reject ideas,” Ness said, according to his Navigator Award nomination submission. “Rather, we empower employees to look for innovation in all we do from basic, yet effective, process improvements to the most creative ideas.”
Because many of these ideas are coming from personnel in the field, this approach gives state workers a greater sense of ownership over the work that they do.
The results?
According to updated numbers from the department, the Innovate ITD program has thus far led to 408 ideas from agency employees. And those ideas have saved 66,734 hours for workers and $2,075,143 for Idaho taxpayers.
From a Navigator Award nomination submission:
Many of these innovations are discussed in stories in our weekly newsletter, which is posted to our website for the public to see. The innovations are also often discussed in news releases sent statewide to media and industry magazine/journals. They are routinely posted on the department's social-media sites, Facebook and Twitter, which are then shared and re-tweeted by the public.
This allows ITD to reach stakeholders and build credibility. Under Ness, the department has worked hard to establish a customer-service focused culture of transparency and accountability. These initiatives also rebuilt trust with the state’s elected leaders, which resulted last year in the Idaho Legislature approving the first increase in gas tax and vehicle registration fees in nearly two decades.
While creating an environment where state employees are encouraged to submit their best ideas on how to improve agency operations isn’t a new idea, it’s not always implemented on such a broad scale. And that’s why it’s great to see the approach take root and flourish in the Idaho Transportation Department.
It’s an idea worth stealing and adapting for your state or local agency, too.
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Seattle.
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