Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada - Las Vegas, Nev.

Empowering a passionate group of employees is one of the ways the RTC in Las Vegas creates a stable and exciting work environment.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) serves as the transit agency, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the traffic management agency for Southern Nevada, and it accomplishes these varied duties with a workforce of 285 employees. These employees manage major transit contracts, provide vision and direction for the mobility of the region's residents and visitors and ensure that the agency works towards its main goal - enhancing mobility.

In return for their expertise and enthusiasm, RTC employees are rewarded with a stable work environment, channels of open communication and empowerment to make impactful decisions. They also enjoy health and dental benefits for themselves and their families at minimal expense, a monthly life insurance premium paid for by the agency and vacation leave that accrues at a rate of 3.08 hours per pay period.

And more benefits are being implemented. "With the support of our agency's leadership and our employees' collective bargaining union, we are implementing a number of unique initiatives within our organization," says RTC General Manager Jacob Snow. These initiatives include job sharing and telecommuting, and they achieve a dual purpose. They provide RTC employees with improved work-life balance and help to reduce congestion on the region's roadways.

"Our employees are our greatest asset," Snow says. "We trust them and look to them to lead us to success."

Job longevity attributed to compensation, communication, empowerment

Thirty percent of the RTC's employees have at least 10 years with the agency and the longest-serving employee has been with the RTC for 28 years. Snow believes that this type of retention results from a combination of compensation, communication and employee empowerment.

RTC employees are well compensated for their efforts. This was ensured through a recent agency-wide classification and compensation study.

Free communication between RTC employees and the executive team is also critical to the agency's success. To that end, the RTC holds quarterly "all hands" meetings, providing an opportunity for staff at all levels to share the latest happenings of the agency. They're also utilized as a litmus test for management.

"All hands meetings help us gauge employee morale and enthusiasm," Snow says. "We have a very passionate group here, dedicated to making a difference for the community that that passion permeates the culture of our agency."

Communication is also cultivated in more informal ways. Each month, various staff members are invited to have lunch with Snow and RTC Deputy General Manager Tina Quigley. "It's an opportunity for more intimate discussions," Quigley says. "It's conversations with employees that often inspire me try a different solution or to question a current practice - that helps make us innovative as an agency."

Snow's leadership has brought vision and stability to the agency, but it's also brought some more exciting things. "Double-deck buses," says Assistant General Manager Jerry Keating. "I don't know that many other people would have had the insight and the guts to bring these huge vehicles to what's arguably the most visible transit corridor in the world - the Las Vegas Strip."

"It could have failed," Snow says. But it didn't. The RTC's Deuce buses carry more than 30,000 people up and down the Las Vegas Strip every day. "By taking risks at the top, he inspires the rest of our staff to do the same in their everyday work," says Keating. "The RTC is an exciting place to be."

For more information about the RTC, visit www.rtcsnv.com.

Daily News Briefing