Staff Newsletter | Tuesday, July 5, 2022
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9
A couple of weeks ago, the Associated Press published an article depicting the nationwide hiring crisis that is endangering many businesses. With the onset of summer, the article honed in on the challenge many pools have been encountering with respect to the shortage of lifeguards, which in many cases has been forcing pools to close down. Our region has been facing the same challenge and some of the businesses, such as Wild Waves and Metro Parks, have really been feeling the pinch. As we have discovered, this is certainly a situation that has been affecting our Y as well. In many cases, our full-time aquatics staff have been covering multiple shifts just to keep the pools operating. With the demand our staff face to provide swim lessons, this is not a sustainable solution. As we have heard in our Staying Connected call, the swim lessons program is one of our most popular programs, serving over 5,000 youth, not to mention the recreation services the pool provides to all of our members. Fortunately, we have been able to maintain a team of over 200 lifeguards in part due to the new partnership our human resources team has established with Tacoma Public Schools. This partnership has enabled us to attract over 40 new employees into our Y. Human resources is exploring similar networks with other school districts with the intent to expand our reach for much-needed employees. In addition, the aquatics team has offered lifeguard training, a service we open up to the community, which often attracts additional lifeguard candidates.
As was depicted in the article, just to be able to maintain core operations, businesses are paying much higher salaries in order to fill positions, such as lifeguards. When we completed our salary market study, lifeguard was one of the positions tested and where we have seen the greatest market impact, putting us significantly behind the market rate. (In addition to lifeguards, there were four other positions that have experienced a similar market shift: custodians, maintenance technicians, group exercise instructors, and swim instructors.) These findings coincided with the extreme challenges we have been experiencing in filling these key positions and now threatening our ability to operate effectively. As a result, we made the decision to increase wages in these key positions, effective in July. Due to the large number of staff who hold these positions, the increase in just these positions will impact our budget by $683,000 annually, demonstrating the impact wages are having on our organization. Over the past year, we have increased wages steadily – 3% last July, 2% in January, targeted key position increases in April – and now these key positions. This was a big lift for our Y, and we recognize there is still more we need to do to remain competitive in the market and provide acknowledgment for all of you (we are currently assessing what our next wage adjustment will be). It is important to note that the new benefits package being implemented in September will produce a savings of approximately $50 per month for each of you, as well as offer an improved package of medical, dental, and optical benefits to all our employees, including – for the first time – our part-time staff. A special shout-out to Michelle Rose and Chris Stange for all the hard work in assembling our new health benefits package.
These past couple of weeks have presented our Y with some very pressing challenges. For one, the pandemic is still very much present in our lives. We have seen a number of infections and exposures throughout our association, forcing us to delay the opening of a number of our day camp sites. It is a reminder that we need to remain vigilant in practicing our safety protocols. Over the weekend, the CDC announced that 15 counties have COVID-19 community levels rated as “high” and is recommending people wear masks indoors in public and on public transportation again; Pierce County is one of them. While this is not a mandate, it highlights the rising concern for safety from the virus.
The strain of cleaning and maintaining our centers continues to be a pressing issue; in some cases, we have not had enough staff for many months. In addition, the cost of supplies is increasing, as is the challenge of orders for parts being filled – not only are they more expensive, but we also may not be able to receive them in a timely manner. We have always taken pride in maintaining the highest quality in our centers and our teams have been doing a great job, working hard to maintain our centers. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated and committed team. Thank you all for your hard work.
The increases in wages, supplies, and repairs have created enormous pressure on our economic model. We have had many discussions with leadership staff and the board of directors about whether or not to raise our fees to help alleviate some of the pressure. We have not raised our fees since 2020 and we have eliminated the joining fees in order to remove any barriers to joining our Y. Drawing people back into our centers has not been easy; people have found alternatives for their exercise routines, and yet we continue to experience slow incremental growth.
Child Care remains a high priority. We were fortunate to be awarded a federal grant that enabled us to offer higher wages to all of the childcare staff. Noor Bergman and Nat Nabass have worked with James Van Eddy and Holly Tedford to fill the staff ranks so we can open additional sites in the Tacoma, Clover Park, and South Kitsap school districts. Scott Smith informed me on Friday that we have hired a new marketing and communication person, Chantel Ross, to focus on Child Care and school outreach. We are particularly excited about this hire, knowing we can have an even greater impact by furthering our communication efforts with the families and the schools. Welcome, Chantel! In addition to our work with Child Care, we are investing more energy in our fundraising efforts, seeing an opportunity to strengthen our Y by sharing the story of the great work you all are doing for the community. Last week, the financial development team added Jeff Weiss as the new Director of Philanthropy–Annual Campaign for our Y. We are excited to welcome you, Jeff, to our team.
This past week, we made the decision to implement a new membership category: virtual. This is very exciting! It has taken nearly two years of hard work to enhance the quality of our virtual programming and we are ready to take it to the next level. In addition to our full membership rate, which includes access to YMCA360, Annie Doyle, Michael Marquez, and Bruce Caudill have presented two additional membership options, including:
- Virtual only
- Virtual plus some center access membership (which is intended to entice people to upgrade to a full membership by experiencing all our centers have to offer)
The fees for each of these new virtual options is still being discussed. This is a big step for us as we are able to capitalize on being part of the national YMCA360 network, offer in-studio programming (which provides members all-day access to classes), and offer the ever-expanding platform of live-streaming classes. The launch date is October 1, 2022. Way to go, Annie, Michael, and Bruce – as well as all the instructors and the IT team – for making this possible.
A few weeks ago, Michael, Brian Flattum, and I met with a representative from a company out of England called TrackMyGym. We heard about this company from our Y friends in Wichita and Houston, who have seen amazing results from this work. The company conducts a comprehensive analysis of the use of all cardio and weight training equipment, utilizing sensors that measure the use of each piece. In addition, their team spends time at each site interviewing members to determine what they are looking for when they are on our fitness floors (i.e., what machines they prefer). For the first round, our budget will allow us to focus on four of our centers – Haselwood, Tom Taylor, Gordon, and Mel Korum; we intend to add the other centers soon thereafter. What we have heard from other Ys is that the results are quite startling, demonstrating that over the last two years, the use of cardio equipment has plummeted, primarily because people have found alternatives, such as walking, biking, and jogging outside. They have also seen a significant increase in the desire for weight training, primarily the use of cables and platform workouts. Based on the findings, we may find we will reduce a number of cardio machines and replace them with new weight training equipment. The recommendations have produced significant growth in membership, and with the reduction of cardio machines, an overall reduction in total cost to our Y. Brian and Michael have been coordinating with the company to conduct the assessments closer to September, when we hope to see a more “normal” use of the equipment. The intent is to be able to make the necessary adjustments and be prepared for January.
We have been very thoughtful in how we are building our association. With every step, there have been unique challenges, but our Y has adapted and discovered new avenues to grow ourselves. I remain extremely optimistic about our future. We also know that the work we are doing to grow our membership cannot happen without growing our staff team. We continue to increase the wages and benefits, along with our commitment to building a strong culture of commitment to our staff. In the end, the strength of our Y is measured by the strength of our team, and this is why I have the greatest confidence in our ability to soar once again. You are what makes this Y great. Thank you all for your unwavering dedication to serving our communities and making our Y the best it can be.
#OneY #StayStrong #StayWithUs