L.S. "Bo" Dean Jr.

National Association of Counties 2023 Achievement Award Winner (NACO)- Personnel Management, Employment, and Training for Burnout Learning and Development program National Association of Counties-NACO May 2023 In 2021 New Hanover County, using data from our employee survey, meetings with departments, and environmental trends both locally, statewide and nationally identified levels of burn-out as high. Individuals in the organization were exposed to high levels of stress with one major emergency to another in recent years in addition to normal levels of stress involved in high volumes in public sector service. To address these issues in the workplace, NHC Human Resources Training and Development… Show more In 2021 New Hanover County, using data from our employee survey, meetings with departments, and environmental trends both locally, statewide and nationally identified levels of burn-out as high. Individuals in the organization were exposed to high levels of stress with one major emergency to another in recent years in addition to normal levels of stress involved in high volumes in public sector service. To address these issues in the workplace, NHC Human Resources Training and Development utilized the county wide learning and development mandatory training for all employees to create a seminar that specifically addressed the three red flags of burnout, based on the research and work of Dr. Christina Maslach, and further addressed the 6 conditions typically known for exacerbating or growing burnout if left unmanaged.The outcome was not to solve problems in 90 minutes, but open the discussion to begin to empower opportunity from their perspective of how things could be done differently, hear from others’ perspectives and be given the charge to take back and work through their organizational structure implement. The supervisors, managers, and department heads were then given a project to address, in their own line of sight, how they would continue to work on these issues with their teams and implement ways to mitigate some of the issues surrounding burnout. These projects were supported by county management and led by example in showing how from every level of the organization it is important to see ways to work on management stress and burnout to improve our service and take care of those doing that service. Each supervisor, manager, and department head was held accountable for their project and the information from their projects was aggregated to share and help others. Show less

New Hanover County Hall of Honor New Hanover County Government May 2023 ​The Stellar Hall of Honor is the county's highest award for staff. Over the course of one's career, this award represents the achievement of attaining separate awards in all six of the county's shared values: Professionalism, Integrity, Innovation, Stewardship, Accountability, and Equity.

National Association of Counties 2021 Achievement Award Winner (NACO)- Training and Professional Development for Creating a Culture of Resilience National Association of Counties (NACO) Jul 2021 Abstract: New Hanover County adopted biologically-based resilience practices from the Community Resilience Model (CRM) with the goal to create a trauma-informed and resiliency-focused practice toward each person in our public service, sharing a common understanding of the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the nervous system. This adoption seeks to utilize a set of skills for self-care in order to ensure that all staff are more fully able to fulfill their role in the pursuit of our model of… Show more Abstract: New Hanover County adopted biologically-based resilience practices from the Community Resilience Model (CRM) with the goal to create a trauma-informed and resiliency-focused practice toward each person in our public service, sharing a common understanding of the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the nervous system. This adoption seeks to utilize a set of skills for self-care in order to ensure that all staff are more fully able to fulfill their role in the pursuit of our model of good governance to prepare for and respond to the demands we service. The implementation is integrated as core measures for professional development and as a means to permeate our culture through learning and development, emergency response, and peer support, as well as coaching, mentoring and understanding resilience as it relates to our relationships with those we serve resulting in a higher level of wellness, deeper personal understanding of each person’s need for self-care, and a greater connection for peer to peer and supervisor and management assistance with direct reports. Show less

National Association of Counties 2021 Achievement Award Winner- Health and Human Services Supervision Initiative National Associaiton of Counties (NACO) Jul 2021 A New Hanover County Health and Human Services Supervision Initiative was successfully developed and implemented to create cohesion in the unification for agency consolidation. In March of 2019 the New Hanover County Commissioners unanimously voted to consolidate the Public Health and Social Services departments into one human services agency. This historic move meant that two of the county’s largest agencies which had been operating under the state’s personnel act as well as under direct… Show more A New Hanover County Health and Human Services Supervision Initiative was successfully developed and implemented to create cohesion in the unification for agency consolidation. In March of 2019 the New Hanover County Commissioners unanimously voted to consolidate the Public Health and Social Services departments into one human services agency. This historic move meant that two of the county’s largest agencies which had been operating under the state’s personnel act as well as under direct supervision of commissioner-appointed governance boards would now operate as part of a unified department. The governance of this newly unified group would still have an advisory board, however, the agency itself would have a Health and Human Services Director in direct line to the New Hanover County Manager and all members of the agency’s staff would be subject to the county’s personnel policies and procedures. The need for a way forward to unify the agency, develop understanding of county policy, and instill awareness about ways in which the areas that were being consolidated, intersected, related, and would be working together was paramount. Show less

National Association of Counties 2017 Achievement Award Winner for S.E.R.V.E Training and Development Program National Association of Counties Jul 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYC03KHI_Zw&list=PLN73E8RIvbt52C8u328gu6pXQx3Vm3F4i&index=6Abstract: In the Fall of 2014, New Hanover County (NHC) implemented a new training and development initiative: S.E.R.V.E. (Succession, Evolution, Retention, Viability, and Engagements). This initiative was created to address attrition, staffing growth, and retention. Purposefully designed to align the county’s vision, strategic goals and shared values, it unifies all operations to best serve the… Show more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYC03KHI_Zw&list=PLN73E8RIvbt52C8u328gu6pXQx3Vm3F4i&index=6Abstract: In the Fall of 2014, New Hanover County (NHC) implemented a new training and development initiative: S.E.R.V.E. (Succession, Evolution, Retention, Viability, and Engagements). This initiative was created to address attrition, staffing growth, and retention. Purposefully designed to align the county’s vision, strategic goals and shared values, it unifies all operations to best serve the citizens. The acuity of the design and structure relies on engagement with partnerships developed both internally and externally. This ensures our training initiative is relatively inflation-proof and reliant and that it engages the highest quality instruction and reaches a very divergent staff. To date the regional university, local non-profits, area mental health facilities, local and internal subject matter experts, as well as whole county departments have been engaged to resource learning. Since its inception, 255 supervisors in cross-functional cohorts have been through supervisor training, 90 members of staff have been enrolled in a two-year succession and leadership development program with over 19 receiving recognition and/or promotion or lateral use in the organization attributed to their participation in the program, and all staff of the county are meeting the required minimum of two contact hours per fiscal year of continuous improvement/customer service training aligned with the needs of the enterprise or individual departments. Show less

The New Hanover County 5 Star Award New Hanover County Apr 2016 The Five Star Award is the county's highest award. Over the course of one's career this award represents the achievement of attaining separate awards in at least four of the five shared values for a total of five.

New Hanover County Stellar Award for Accountability and Professionalism New Hanover County Oct 2015

New Hanover County Stellar Award for Innovation and Stewardship New Hanover County Apr 2015

New Hanover County Community Service Award New Hanover County Sep 2014