FLINT, Mich. – As part of Mayor Neeley’s Youth Summer Job Training program, a group of young people were selected to work with the City of Flint Department of Public Works (DPW). These individuals were given the opportunity to see how various city departments operate, and how DPW fits into many of them.
Under the guidance of Utilities Administrator Kenneth Miller, each week these workers will take on a new task, and each week a different member of their group will act as team leader. That leader guides the group’s approach to their work, ensures their timesheets are filled out, and other tasks a supervisor would undertake. As such they are graded on their ability to work in a team, follow directives, and their overall work performance. Members are also provided with lunch every day.
The weekly tasks they complete not only teach them a new skill, but also teach them how to work as a team toward common goals. The group has even been issued a laptop with a common email address used to log in and see what their task for the day or week will be, helping them get the feel for the communication methods used by City employees everyday.
“I’m very proud that we don’t just bring them in and give them tasks to do,” Utilities Administrator Kenneth Miller said, pointing out that he is also teaching them about accountability and how to take job critique from a supervisor. “We say ‘this is how it works in the real world’ and then we have a conversation about how we can get better.”
Miller says the group is also learning about collaboration and improvisation by working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Flint Fire Department. This week they helped out by repainting fire hydrants near the City Hall complex and surrounding areas, work that is important to the Fire Department. Bright, fresh paint helps firefighters quickly identify hydrants, what their water capacity is, and it protects them from damage due to corrosion.
Already this group is working and interacting with each other just like a group of coworkers would, each finding a fit their own strengths. The more they learn about how the City functions, the more their interest grows. With any luck they will be a part of the next generation of City employees who help keep Flint Strong.
