In coming months, the staff of Comptroller Bill Henry will be trained to “flex their rapport,” “ignite their preferences” and “cultivate culture through the language of grace.”

Henry, who touts himself as the city’s financial watchdog, signed the contract in the name of employee happiness and, hopefully, increased productivity, says Celeste Amato, his chief of staff.

“Our goal is to maximize team effort because it seems like a good idea when we all want to work better together,” she told The Brew.

Today the Board of Estimates approved the $99,999 contract to bring a Colorado-born “worklife” program to the halls of local government.

Without comment and with Henry abstaining, the panel ratified a professional services agreement with Melissa H. Curtin, a certified coach in Emergenetics, which describes itself as a “neuroscience-based” panoply of teachings that help organizations “discover how to strengthen human connection.”

Curtin, who runs MHC Coaching & Consulting out of her Howard County home, will start by profiling about 85 employees in the audits, real estate, telecommunications and central comptroller offices.

The 100-question profile – which Amato says should not be confused with an IQ test – breaks down employee behavior according to three behavioral (Expressiveness, Assertiveness, Flexibility) and four thinking (Analytical, Structural, Social, Conceptual) attributes trademarked by Emergenetics.

How an employee scores on these dimensions offer supervisors a simple but “scientific” way to understand how people interact in the workplace, the program says.

Based on these findings, Curtin will conduct group sessions, individual counseling and new employee “onboarding” to build rapport and understanding among the team, according to a two-page summary of the year-long contract.

“Emergenetics can empower anyone to connect, communicate and collaborate with greater empathy and understanding,” the program brochure says. Some of the nuggets gleaned from its teachings:

• “Great minds don’t always think alike.”

• “Words play a powerful role in shaping our working relationships.”

• “Cognitive diversity is a leading contributor to a team’s ability to innovate.”

Training Costs and Past Conflicts

The contract allows Curtin to charge the city $13,175 for the profiles ($155 a pop), plus $27,000 for six workshops, $11,000 for four 20-minute-long e-learning modules, and $15,500 for one-on-one coaching and onboarding.

Adding to these costs are administrative and planning expenses that can reach as high as $33,324 under the contract – or a third of the total budget.

Amato said there was a great deal of discord when Henry took over from Joan Pratt, who served as comptroller and secretary of the Board of Estimates between 1995 and 2020.

Staff complaints centered on money, not working conditions – in particular Pratt’s refusal to pay overtime to employees who worked late on Thursdays to compile the BOE agenda.

Waved off by city human resources officials, eight employees took their case to the U.S. Department of Labor and were awarded $120,000 in back pay in 2021.

• City will pay overtime to employees required to work unpaid hours by former Comptroller Joan Pratt (12/20/21)

Henry vowed to change the office culture he inherited. That’s where Curtin came in, hired on short-term contracts by the comptroller to preach Emergenetics to his staff.

Now Henry will expand those teachings “to let our teams decide other ways they might like to build on the earlier training,” Amato said.

The contract, which starts today and will last until December 31, 2024, does not include any MBE/WBE participation.

Curtin previously served as CEO of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County and president of the Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence in Richmond. Va.

Earlier, she was senior manager for youth smoking prevention at Philip Morris USA.

In addition to Emergenetics, she lists herself as a certified yoga teacher, HeartMath instructor and Martha Beck Wayfinder life coach.

• To reach this reporter: reuttermark@yahoo.com