McDonough’s arrival at the department in April 2021 came just months after a damning study was released that showed then-director Jamie O’Leary’s leadership style consisted of “dominance, anger (and) sarcasm,” according to employee accounts.
In addition to “inadequate training,” the 911 center was plagued by low morale, high employee turnover and chronic understaffing that impacted answer times.
O’Leary resigned in early 2021, leaving Kasmar and McDonough to pick up the pieces at the 911 center that was in “critical but stable condition” at the time. The department had less than half of the 219 employees needed to fully staff the call center, for example, and that figure was constantly dwindling.
McDonough spearheaded efforts to improve the workplace culture and retain employees by creating room for advancement within the department, meaning there was a clear path toward promotions for staffers who could also get guidance from supervisors about how to move forward.
“Instead of us thinking of them as a side business, we’re trying to help them re-label themselves as a true community safety partner of great importance to the system,” McDonough said about her efforts last year. “Our hope is that they feel that way, they want to stay, and that our numbers go up and we get our staffing more stabilized. ”
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