What is a Center of Excellence?

One of our primary goals at Derek Poarch and Associates is to help you achieve organizational excellence within your emergency communications center (ECC). What is a Center of Excellence, why should you strive for it, and how do you get there? All fantastic and complex questions.

While searching The Cambridge Dictionary, I found a few definitions that really seem to explain a Center of Excellence and perhaps make this concept less daunting. The first one defines this as “a place where a particular activity is done extremely well,” and digging deeper states it is “a place or organization that is known for doing a particular activity very well, and that is involved in new developments, new ways of working, etc.”

As first responders in the 9-1-1 and public safety communications field, we find ourselves working to satisfy a number of critical roles serving our communities and agencies. Often, we are required by law and agreements to meet certain benchmarks, but truly we are trying to positively impact a situation that could be one of the worst and most stressful times for an individual. We owe it to them to do it right!

A critical initial step to this process is to Hire for Excellence. ECCs across the country have varied governance structures that impact the process and timing of hiring. As many of our centers have experienced or are experiencing staffing shortages, you are keenly aware that this never seems quick enough. It is an excellent time to evaluate your processes to allow you to fill the vacancies with the best candidates in a reasonable amount of time. Throughout the process, especially during an interview, you are provided with an opportune time to socialize the vision towards excellence with potential candidates and determine if they will help you meet the culture and goals you are stiving towards.

Once you get that candidate in the door, it is imperative to Train for Excellence. This includes initial training and continuing education to make certain your staff has the knowledge, skills and abilities to succeed during their tenure. The training component has complexity and really requires you to identify and train the right individual(s) to be your trainers. An initial training manual and program should be created and frequently reviewed to make sure it is meeting the needs of the trainees and the organization. It is my strong opinion after three plus decades in this industry that if you are washing candidates out, you need to look hard at your hiring and training processes and make necessary adjustments. Training doesn’t stop with our new co-workers but continues throughout our career. It is imperative to keep everyone sharp and in frequent learning mode.

Finally, that last piece is to Reward and Retain Excellence. We have multiple generations in our workforce that may require varied intervals of reassurance that they are on the right path and collaboratively helping achieve the goals. Praise the successes and coach the challenges. We work in a fast paced and high stress environment. Anything you can do to provide constructive feedback to allow our peers to know they are making a difference will help with the next call, their careers, and our overall goal of achieving excellence.

This article wasn’t intended to be a white paper to answer all your questions, but rather something to scratch the surface and help you realize that this concept is attainable. Excellence isn’t achieved overnight, but rather takes years to obtain. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Find your vision, create your plan, communicate your goals to all the stakeholders, pivot when you need to, and enjoy your success.

Since football season is upon us, it is only fitting to leave you with this quote from Vince Lombardi.

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

I encourage you to begin the chase, let us know if we can help you in any way!