Service Level Agreements

What are Service Level Agreements (SLA's)

Each department must establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and set clear expectations regarding availability, responsiveness, and service standards.  These will be required, revisited once per year, and must be posted here, on our Well Workplace Hub, and at the entrance to the department suite or building. This ensures consistent, accountable, and equitable operations across all work modalities. The way we work—how, where, and when—will vary among our different departments and divisions. It is essential to recognize that not all positions are the same; some departments operate 24/7, 365 days a year, while others adhere to a traditional Monday-to-Friday schedule. SLAs help ensure clarity, consistency, accountability, and reliability across departments by defining:

• Public-facing service hours

• Response time standards

• Core collaboration hours

• Escalation procedures

• Coverage expectations

Creating Your Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The following items should be considered and included in your Service Level Agreement:

• Availability: the state of being reachable, responsive, and willing to engage in communication within an expected timeframe.

  • What are the public-facing hours for service delivery?

  • What are the different work modalities of employees?

  • What are the department’s core collaboration hours?

    • Core hours when all employees must be reachable, i.e. 9 am to 4 pm

    • Required in-person days?

    • Meeting attendance expectations?

    • Are calendars shared when appropriate?

  • What are the department’s response time standards?

    • Mail response within ___ business hours/days

    • Phone call return within ___ hours

    • Voicemail checked ___ times per day

    • Internal requests acknowledged within ___ timeframe

    • Public inquiries responded to within ___ timeframe

• Visibility:  the degree to which a person is reachable, present, and actively communicating to build relationships and collaborate.  

  • If hybrid/remote, is the employee visible to their partners and customers (internal/external)?

• Accessibility:  the ability to reach, contact, and interact with a person or service.

  • How can I get a hold of someone? 

  • What if I can’t get a hold of someone?

  • What if I need to escalate an unmet need?

    • Who to contact if the primary person is unavailable

    • Backup contacts or duty coverage expectations

    • Emergency vs. non-emergency escalation paths

    • After-hours contact protocols for 24/7 departments

• Accountability:  The practice of being responsible for results, honoring commitments, and taking ownership, whether the outcomes are successful or require learning and adjustment.

  • Am I holding myself accountable?

  • How should managers/supervisors hold employees accountable?

  • How are managers/supervisors addressing areas of opportunity? Coaching?

  • How should managers provide immediate feedback to employees? 

• Consistency: the quality of always behaving and performing in a similar way, or always happening in a similar way.

  • Are we holding everyone accountable to these service-level agreements?  

  • Does the department have a consistent email signature with approved work modality and schedule?

• Continuity:  the consistent operation of something over a period of time.

  • What are the coverage expectations during PTO, training, or leave?

  • What are the out-of-office messaging requirements? Email? Voicemail? Chat?

  • What is the shared department’s email address for customers?

  • How do we continue to cross-train so employees have new opportunities?

SLAs must align with County-wide policies, procedures, state statutes, Home Rule Charter, and organizational and departmental values. Managers/supervisors are expected to comply with and observe behaviors that are not aligned with agreed-upon SLAs and provide timely feedback to employees. Failure to meet SLA expectations will result in the development of coaching plans or corrective action, up to and including termination.