Improved operations by Williamson County have boosted the ability of county employees to report incidents and claims through its Fleet Services, HR Risk & Safety and reporting departments. The initiative to upgrade to a single electronic form, from multiple hand-written forms, has significantly enhanced the county’s effectiveness and saved thousands of taxpayer dollars.
In recognition, TAC has given a 2018 County Best Practices Award to Williamson County for its electronic incident reporting form.
“I really like the new electronic [system],” said Paul Swisher, Williamson County Sheriff’s Office Fleet Manager. “It tells you exactly where the form is in the process and drastically cuts routing time.” Prior to its implementation, departments completed three different paper forms to report incidents and claims, routed through interoffice mail.
Accessible to all county employees, the electronic form automatically routes to all of the appropriate departments simultaneously for acknowledgement and approval. County employees can also use any desktop or mobile device to easily upload photos and documents into the system.
(L) to (R): Williamson County Judge Dan Gattis (retired), Commissioner Cynthia Long, Commissioner Terry Cook, IT Analyst Gaynelle Flagg, former Senior Director of HR Tara Raymore, Risk Coordinator Heather Kirkwood, TAC County Relations Officer Rick Avery, Commissioner Valerie Covey and Commissioner Larry Madsen (retired).
Departments using the form have reported that it saves them roughly 30 minutes per incident/claim submission simply by eliminating redundancy. HR Risk & Safety improved its internal discovery processing from approximately eight hours to just 15 minutes, resulting in person-hour savings of $15,900 annually and expediting reimbursements to the county.
The electronic form initiative was spearheaded by HR Risk & Safety Coordinator Heather Kirkwood with technology support from Information Technology Services.
“I’m encouraged by the concerted effort of Williamson County’s officials and staff to invest the time and resources necessary to improve its operational systems and run an efficient organization,” said TAC Executive Director Susan M. Redford.
TAC’s biennial awards program recognizes the efforts of county leaders in implementing innovative, scalable and replicable solutions to challenges facing local government throughout Texas. Areas of focus include financial and general management, public safety and corrections, health and human services, technology, community improvements and other county-related responsibilities.
Williamson County was one of eight Texas counties selected to receive a TAC 2018 County Best Practices Award. Look for more spotlights in future issues of County magazine. Learn more about the County Best Practices Awards program at www.county.org/bestpractices.