Efficiency earns Willoughby state employee of the month award

Randall Willoughby, Southwest Regional Office Water Pollution Permitting and Assistance Unit Chief
Randall Willoughby, Southwest Regional Office Water Pollution Permitting and Assistance Unit Chief

Missouri's February State Employee of the Month was nominated for the award partly because his co-workers say he "respects time as though it were a natural resource."

Since accepting the position of Southwest Regional Office Water Pollution Permitting and Assistance Unit Chief with DNR in Springfield in June 2015, Randall Willoughby has made a "significant" impact to the unit, according to his supervisors, which led to a series of actions over the last year that led to increase in office efficiency.

Willoughby uses all of the digital tools at his disposal to track electronic discharge monitoring reports and other workflow, according to his fellow staff members. He prepares the staff for the "inevitable avalanche" of applications waiting for the master general permit to be approved, so anything that can be done ahead of time is ready once released for issuance.

Members of the office support staff said they had great appreciation for Willoughby's "tenacious dedication" to detail and philosophy of doing something correctly and building on it. Beginning his first week, he generated a myriad of template changes that enhanced the clarity of letters sent to facilities. This reduced the time spent dealing with contradictions in wording which generates calls from constituents. He worked with discharge monitoring report letters to facilities in violation of their permit requirements and implemented the use of electronic signatures on form letters, cutting the processing time in half for the technical support staff.

Willoughby was also nominated for taking time to educate his staff on data entry shortcuts that may have been improved or forgotten since their initial training, resulting in greater understanding of the unit as a whole. He ensures his staff has the tools necessary to effectively perform their duties. "His receptive attitude fosters cooperation and brainstorming among his employees, which further improves efficiency," their nomination read.

"One of the qualities I always look for in new staff is the willingness to think outside of the box to find and implement new and better ways to do the work we have always done," Cindy Davies, director of DNR's Southwest Regional Office, said. "Randall has done this, and I think it is important to recognize how numerous small changes by one person can in the end lead to significant efficiencies for many."

Willoughby's co-workers say he is an exceptional trouble-shooter and cognizant of how changes may affect the workload of others. He has been quick to respond to any issues that might develop and opened up bottlenecks within the unit that slowed production.

"Randall is always available to his staff and willing to do whatever is required to lessen the burden of special projects or high volume," said Karen Bitzer, senior office support assistant, who nominated Willoughby for this award. "It is apparent he understands the value of investing time to streamline a process to the benefit of all. He took the time to do all of this despite the fact that he was new in the position and busy learning everything himself. The value he places on his employees is just one of the reasons he is so respected among his peers."