On a recent Tuesday morning, the leadership team at the Beaufort County Treasurer’s Office would be forgiven if they were content to merely stumble into work, ready for a day of watching the clock. They had, after all, just finished their annual delinquent tax auction the day before.
A herculean task that involves coordinating a small army of people and wading through auctioning millions of dollars’ worth of property, the tax sale is this team’s Super Bowl. The difference is that very few NFL players would run into the locker room the next day, ready to strap on the pads and get right back at it.
This team, though, is different. Where the average worker might struggle to be productive the day after leaving it all on the field, these folks are already brimming over with energy before anyone’s turned on the coffee pot. The hum of conversation, a cross between post-mortem examination of the tax sale and simple “happy to be here” vibes, is a palpable example of the energy that sets them apart.
“What we’re most proud of is that we defy what most people think of as a stereotypical government office,” said Treasurer Maria Walls, settling into a seat at the edge of the meeting that’s coalescing. As with all their meetings, this one was called only when a clear purpose had been determined.
Maria Walls, CPA, elected Beaufort County Treasurer since 2015.
They will proudly tell you that this is a team that doesn’t do pointless meetings. If it could have been an email, it will have been an email. “When you think of government, most people don’t think of innovation; they don’t think of enthusiasm,” Walls said. “They don’t think of empowerment and ownership and passion. But those are all things that we attribute to ourselves. They are our mission. They are our core values.”
That’s something even the most ambitious private sector managers struggle with, but here, it’s second nature. Because in the Treasurer’s Office, you’ll quickly find that “bureaucracy” is a slur. Instead, this is a team that has carved itself down to its core values and lets those speak for themselves. Does it occasionally sound like you’ve stumbled into a cult whose deity is customer service? Occasionally, and they’ll be the first to offer up a lighthearted joke about it.
But then you hear this team speak about their work, and you realize it’s no cult. It’s a culture, and each member embraces it with their whole heart. The newest member of the team, Operations Manager Chris Mitchell, can testify what a difference this mindset makes in his work.
“I’m an active-duty Air Force veteran, and I’ve done about 15 years in management and executive management in the private sector. I haven’t seen this type of thing since I was in the Air Force,” he said. “I’m coming up on a month and I keep waiting to find out that it’s not genuine, but it really is. Everyone buys in and it’s been amazing to be part of a group with this much passion, collaboration, communication, and leadership.”
While the entire office has made this ethos their own, from the leadership team to the folks at the front desk and on the front lines, it began in earnest when Walls took over. It was her intention from Day One to transform an office that had often struggled with earning public faith, and she approached it by introducing private sector-style accountability through 360-degree performance reviews, ownership through individual empowerment, and results through rigorous buy-in.
Having been a part of the Treasurer’s Office since before Walls arrived, tax collector Kimberly Chesney has seen those results firsthand.
“When I started, I was at the Bluffton office and I would do everything in my power not to have to call the main office for help, because those of us at the customer service level almost felt like a burden,” she said. “When Maria came on, it was instantly different, getting those things fixed and everything that came with it. I don’t even know how I could work anywhere else after being a part of this.”
“It’s really organic,” added Courtney Coffey, assistant deputy treasurer. “It’s not an end game, it’s more like a journey. It’s working towards growing and serving and you can inspire others to participate in it, even if it’s baby steps. … It’s not something you can pretend. It’s who you are, and that’s so different from where I came from.”
Like several members of the team, Coffey works remotely. Calling into the meeting and appearing on a TV screen at the front of the room, she is able to interact seamlessly with everyone else while still achieving the efficiency she’s come to expect from herself.
Leadership Team at the Treasurer’s Office (from left to right): Tanya Ward, Christopher Mitchell, Courtney Coffey, Jennie Stanek, Maria Walls, Allison White, Jeff Deloach, and Kimberly Chesney
Walls’ championing of the work from home (WFH) model has earned a few critics at the county level, but it’s impossible to ignore the kind of talent it’s allowed her to retain.
Executive Assistant Jennie Stanek, referred to as “the backbone” by her teammates, is a great example of this. As a military spouse, she’s hung her hat in locations from the Lowcountry to California without skipping a beat at work. This particular Tuesday sees her spending a day in the office, far from her North Carolina home, as she wraps up tax sale details.
“I was hired when we were stationed here, and having the opportunity to continue my career without having to quit my job every three years has been life-changing,” she said. “Everyone is so excited to work here and it makes you excited, too.”
Stanek admits that the initial interview process, which is extensive by necessity – since the team lives and dies by its buy-in, did leave her initially confused.
“Jeff (DeLoach) was in the interview process, and he was so excited to talk about the culture, what we do and who we are, and I left here thinking he was crazy,” she said with a laugh (which DeLoach reciprocated). “But we all love it here.”
“You have to be willing to hire for culture and fire for culture,” said DeLoach, who is deputy tax collector. “I came in in 2018 when we were figuring this out, but I could see then things were changing. Now I’ve witnessed this evolution where we’re all so passionate about it. I mean, we need tissues sometimes.”
He doesn’t realize it when he says it, but his face has been printed out and taped to the tissue box at the center of the office. Clearly there’s an inside joke, because as soon as that’s revealed, the room erupts in laughter. Theirs is a culture that has made work a joy for each of them, but more to the point, it’s allowed them to make their work a joy for those they serve. No one likes paying taxes. But if you can make the experience of doing so slightly less painful, it’s worth the occasional tissue.
“I spent 15 years in government and municipalities before coming here and, at first, I was asking, ‘Who brings the Kool Aid every day?’ There was no way everybody was this happy,” said Deputy Treasurer Tanya Ward. “Once I realized this was genuine, I was all for it. I know it sounds crazy, but this is really who we are. … We’re passionate about everything we do. Whether it’s a phone call or a customer coming in, we all want them to have the best experience possible. That’s our core value.”
And those core values have created a team that approaches government in a way that dares to be as efficient for its customers as it is rewarding for its employees. In a world where “government office” is too often shorthand for slow and uninspired, the Treasurer’s Office isn’t waiting for someone else to fix government – they’re showing Beaufort County how it’s done.
To learn more about the office and how it operates, visit beaufortcountytreasurer.com.
