AWWA JOINT53589

This paper describes the process the City of Tempe, Arizona, Water UtilitiesDepartment went through to design and implement Work Force Flexibility (WFF) andSkill Based Pay (SBP) as part of an overall strategy to make the utility morecompetitive. In addition to providing some details about the successful WFF andSBP system, the paper discusses past and present challenges faced in there-engineering process and lessons learned along the way. When the process began,the Water Management Division was a division within the Public Works Department.The division is now a department in its own right--the City of Tempe WaterUtilities Department. The goal of this portion of the competitiveness process wasto identify high leverage areas of cross training, create a multi-skilled workforce in both plant operations and transmissions and collections. Another goalwas to create a compensation structure to support and reward the multi-skilledwork force. Includes tables, figures.