UG Forward: Motor Vehicle and Treasury Announce Service Changes
Published on May 17, 2022
Kansas City, KS – On Thursday, May 12, 2022, Treasurer Becky Berger presented several upcoming changes in customer service at Motor Vehicles, including new hours for in-person service, procedural changes to support both in-person and online services, as well as a plan to rapidly train staff as they prepare for the new model taking effect in July 2022.
“The Finance Department touches almost every resident that owns property or a vehicle in Wyandotte County and it is important to us that we provide the best customer experience possible,” said Ms. Berger. “Improving customer service by focusing on training will help us improve the workplace environment as much as it will improve outcomes for our community.”
Investing in Staff to Improve Service Outcomes
After two years of working through staffing shortages and turnover, closed offices due to COVID-19, and the recent cybersecurity attack temporarily shutting down transactions with the State of Kansas, Treasury has been reimagining its approach to customer service over the past several months.
“The challenges facing our organization are numerous,” said Interim County Administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee. “I applaud this department for identifying several ways they can improve their focus on customer service while also making these offices a better place to work. We must adapt to the changing needs of our community by hearing the voice of the customer and making it easier to access all services across the Unified Government, no matter whether they are in-person or virtual.”
“Motor vehicle services are one of the top searched functions of our website, which are really State of Kansas services executed by the Unified Government. While we use the technology and processes of another agency,” said Ms. Harrison-Lee, “Treasury is well-positioned in its many interactions with the public to improve that first impression of the Unified Government while providing better, more effective customer service. It is important to empower our staff to be accountable to these standards by equipping them with the tools and training necessary for success.”
In-Person Service Hours Changing in June 2022
Subject to change in the future, the Treasury has announced that its offices will be closed to the public on Wednesdays to allow staff to participate in a comprehensive training initiative starting June 1, 2022. Since COVID-19 impacted in-person business in 2020, there has been considerable staff turnover and operational changes due to evolving regulations and technology updates. Starting next month, the staff will catch up on much-needed training while preparing to provide exceptional in-person customer service starting in July 2022.
Treasury Hours
Now until Further Notice (as of 5/17/2022)
Monday-Tuesday, 8AM-5PM
Wednesdays: Closed for UG Forward Training
Thursday-Friday, 8AM-5PM
Downtown:
Courthouse, 710 N 7th St, Suite 240, Kansas City KS 66101
County Annex:
8200 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66112
Motor Vehicle In-Person Appointments for All Services Resume July 5
Currently, the Unified Government only offers new vehicle registration in-person appointments. Starting July 5, 2022, residents of Wyandotte County will be able to make in-person appointments or walk-in to Motor Vehicles for all services. This will follow the implementation of several process improvements to make it easier to make an appointment, find information online, and to have your general questions answered when you visit our front counter. For more information on our services, please visit our website at wycokck.org/auto
Why Does This Matter?
Staff turnover is expensive not only to the organization but to our taxpayers. According to Zippia (2022), the average cost to replace a salaried employee is six to nine months of their salary. The Unified Government loses important institutional knowledge with high turnover and, in a job market like today, employee retention is the best strategy for continuity in operations. The Treasury is one of our critical functions as they collect funds from anyone that owns property in Wyandotte County (residential, commercial, vehicles, etc.) but staff retention is challenging due to the demands of the job.
By investing in staff training, we anticipate a reduction in staff turnover, more effective service delivery, and an improvement in resident satisfaction with Treasury services. Identifying opportunities to be more efficient in how we work is key to our resiliency as an organization moving forward.
By tracking impact, County Administration is eager to explore how to quickly scale these improvements across multiple departments as part of the UG Forward initiative.
About UG Forward
UG Forward is an initiative to reimagine the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS as we recognize our 25th anniversary in 2022. As we look beyond the impacts of COVID-19, Interim County Administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee is instituting the DEIF framework: Discover, Evaluate, Identify, Focus to lead positive change across operations, foster internal centers of excellence, and prepare us for the next 25 years through a comprehensive organizational assessment and reimagining. Stay tuned for upcoming updates on UG Forward by checking out our webpage: wycokck.org/UGForward
You can watch the full Treasury presentation on work underway: Watch Here