City of Pittsburgh Leaders Forge the Way!

By: Susan Nitzberg

What does the City of Pittsburgh have in common with UPMC, Fifth Third Bank, Chatham and Carlow Universities, Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh Foundation?  They are all employers.

In a previous blog, we discussed STANDING FIRM – The Business Case Against Partner Violence and the influential women leaders who birthed its creation.  Partner violence comes to work in the form of increased health care costs, decreased productivity, absenteeism, and workplace safety and security issues.  Free membership in STANDING FIRM provides employers with action step resources to address these issues.  Employers of all sizes and structures have been joining STANDING FIRM over the past year.

When Mayor Luke Ravenstahl directed city personnel to create a workforce policy to support a newly enacted ordinance addressing partner violence in the City, his deadline for its delivery was immediate. Partner violence is not a private matter and it will not be tolerated, according to the Mayor. Under the direction of Judy Hill-Finegan, Director of Personnel & Civil Service Commission and Tamiko Stanley, Assistant Director & EEO Officer, the City created, unveiled and implemented a comprehensive mandatory program to train and educate over 2500 City employees!

This creative program, now embedded in the City’s policies and procedures, taught City managers and directors how to respond to partner violence their employees were facing.  The 3-Rs of STANDING FIRM provided the framework:  Recognize, Respond, and Refer.  They were provided with easily accessible resources so that they would feel comfortable guiding their employees.  Both in person and web-based trainings were held and employees were paid for the time spent in trainings.  How much did this cost the City? Hill-Finegan and Stanley state that the cost of the trainings was strongly outweighed by the value they brought to the smooth functioning of the City.

In addition, the rollout of this program was paired with the Purple Pledge program, whereby employees brought donations to the Department of Personnel for the Women’s Center & Shelter and received purple-ribbon pins.  Donors brought in an overwhelming amount of cell phones, clothing and more.  These ribbons could be seen throughout City offices and locations as employees embraced giving and learning.

When speaking with Judy and Tamiko about their implementation of the STANDING FIRM initiative, their belief in its importance is strikingly apparent.  In fact, Tamiko represented the City this past month as part of a working group for the National Resource Center on Workplace Responses to Assist Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence. Thanks to this group’s work, the House Appropriations Committee has included the resource center in its budget bill for FY 2012.

Judy and Tamiko speak proudly of two different City supervisors who told them that the training they received has already helped them with some specific employee situations.  The training has been incorporated in new employee orientation, and they plan to observe Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October and into the future.

For more information about STANDING FIRM, go to www.standingfirmswpa.org.

Susan Nitzberg, MPH, serves as Program Consultant for STANDING FIRM. She has extensive leadership experience with community and non-profit organizations and currently serves at the President of the National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh Section.