Our mission statement

Leadership commitment

All employees will model behaviors that create a culture of mutual trust and respect. As leaders, we will hold ourselves accountable for our teams’ successes and failures through positive engagement, collaboration and recognition. Leaders make a difference in helping others to be successful and realize their highest potential.

What we value

• We value the safety of our employees and communities above all else – nothing we do is ever worth even a single injury.
• We value our public power heritage and its clear focus on providing safe and reliable power/water at the lowest reasonable cost.
• We value diversity in our employees and strive to help each of them contribute to our teams’ success while reaching their highest potential.
• We value open, honest, and transparent dialogue with each other and our customers/owners.
• We value, and expect, professional, respectful behavior and absolute integrity at all levels.
• We value the importance and immense potential of a sincere commitment to continual improvement.
• We value our natural environment and take our stewardship responsibilities seriously.

Leadership principles

• We will build and maintain positive relationships characterized by trust and respect.
• We will distribute information in an accurate and timely manner so that employees feel well-informed, respected and equipped.
• We will regularly give employees feedback focused on professional behaviors and work product.
• We will ask for, and be open to receiving, feedback from our employees.
• We will find ways to build bridges, gain alignment, remove roadblocks, collaborate and effectively communicate between workgroups.
• We will create opportunities to empower employees in decision-making opportunities, giving autonomy in a collaborative approach.
• We will support and sponsor continual improvement, actively engage employees, and create opportunities for employees to make decisions that impact their work.
• We will work to put an end to triangulation.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Dear Customers,

As the CEO/General Manager of Snohomish County Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD) and a member of this community, I am pleased to share an update on the PUD’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) journey towards a thriving workplace. As an organization, we understand that it is critical for our workplace culture to centralize the mental safety and mental wellbeing of our employees with the same levels of pride and determination that we take in our approach to ensuring everyone’s physical safety and wellbeing. Our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) sees this initiative as a natural extension of our overall health and safety culture.

The PUD’s DEI Initiative began in the Summer of 2020, when we identified a DEI Advisor and Facilitative Consultant to assist with facilitating this process. Broadly, this included simultaneous and sequenced activities with the ELT, an organizational culture review and listening tour, and a strategic planning and implementation process. The goal of the dialogues with the ELT is to keep leadership knowledgeable of ongoing activities, to support crisis management, to support professional development needs, and to bolster ownership of this process within the organization. The approach was to engage with employees to understand their experiences through anonymous surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one sessions. A complete review also included strategic organizing with key constituencies within the organization’s landscape, connections and engagement with union representatives, and a Desk Review of the documents, processes, directives, and policies related to people and their experience in the organization, generally organized under the Human Resources department. We organized a powerful and engaged Inclusion Committee of dedicated employees who could help recommend activities based on opportunities identified in the cultural assessment. This facilitated assessment provided actions and initiatives and a body of information to the ELT and the Inclusion Committee for planning and implementation. At the request of the ELT, senior leaders also received quarterly training to help them effectively lead this process.

PUD employees from every part of the organization have contributed to this effort, and I am incredibly grateful for everyone’s commitment to positive change. I would like to acknowledge all of them for their willingness to dedicate their time and for their passion to contribute to PUD as a professional work environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued.

I invite you to join us as we move forward with the hope that we can partner together to make a lasting positive change in our communities. Our communities are strong, and we live in a beautiful place. As your Snohomish PUD, we will do our part to make sure Snohomish County and Camano Island feel safe and welcoming for all.

Sincerely,
John Haarlow
CEO/General Manager