ABSTRACT Changing the Culture
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Financial Stability
Customer Satisfaction
When Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. became Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) in 2012, he inherited lowmorale among company employees and an opaque data-gathering system. From the onset, Ford’s goal was to turn the agency around by enhancing customer satisfaction and strengthening stakeholder confidence in the 60-year- old system. The tools he brought with him that would turn the mid-sized agency into one of the best in the United States in less than five years, was a wealth of experience gained from serving at the helm of two of the 10 largest transportation systems in North America – the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Ford was also knowledgeable about every aspect of transit operations from working his way up from train conductor to the management level at the country’s largest organization, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York. For Ford, known throughout the industry as a change agent and visionary leader, the mission to transform the JTA was an irresistible challenge that he immediately went to work on. He brought with him 12 “Characteristics of Leadership” for each employee to strive to exhibit. In 2013, JTA issued its first scorecard, titled “JTA On Track,” designed to get the Authority on mission. The scorecard was based on five goal areas that everyone in the Authority needed to focus on for the common good. They were:
Mobility
Safety and Security
Employee Success Ford’s vision resulted in restructuring the JTA’s leadership team, breaking down silos between departments to foster a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility, enhancing employee morale and boosting customer satisfaction.
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Improving the Authority’s performance begins with constant evaluation, holding each other accountable, working together as a team, ensuring everyone has access to accurate data, analyzing it, and then pushing ourselves to deliver the best in class service possible for our customers and the community. - Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. , CEO ”
From left: Cleveland Ferguson III, Senior Vice President for Administration/CAO, Chuong To, Maintenance Employee of the Year; Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., CEO; Michele Lewis, Bus Operator of the Year; Chad Starling, Don Chapman Safety Award winner; and Rita Hutton, Administrative Employee of the Year.
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