Case Studies
City of Charleston
Raftelis assisted the City of Charleston (the City) with a city-wide organizational assessment and process improvement evaluation of City departments.
Local governments and utilities that are optimally staffed and structured are best positioned to provide high-quality, cost-effective services. There are many proven models for providing public services—from traditional municipal structures to public-private partnerships. There is an equally diverse number of management and governance approaches. We work collaboratively with local governments and utilities to sort through the options and identify the right changes for each organization’s unique context.
To understand your organization’s needs, it’s helpful to have an outside perspective. Raftelis’ team of former city, county, and utility managers; department directors; and subject matter experts engage with local governments and utilities to learn what makes them different and understand their culture and people, and their operational challenges. Our team examines available resources and productivity measures, to help you determine how best to meet service level expectations. We learn a lot about your organization through this process, and so will you. We can then leverage these opportunities and strengths to enhance organizational performance.
You need the buy-in of residents, customers, employees, and other stakeholders as you adopt new approaches and begin new initiatives, and how you consult and communicate with them is critical. Raftelis can bring an array of effective approaches to engage your stakeholders to enhance relationships that will improve your organization.
Our actionable recommendations are developed based on priority, cost benefit, and ease of implementation. In addition, methods for implementation are suggested, with consideration for change management practices and operating environment limitations (laws, unions, budgets, service levels, etc.). We then work with you to manage the implementation of these recommendations and to track progress toward making them a reality.