Staff Newsletter | Tuesday, June 21, 2022
“We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” – Romans 5:3-5
In a recent meeting, Chris Spivey posed the opening-thought question: “What have you learned over the past week or two?” I often ask myself this question. We are constantly evaluating our situation, trying to understand what our next best move is to make in these conditions, recognizing these are extenuating circumstances for us, constantly in flux, and demanding recalibration simply to avoid losing ground. Navigating these conditions requires a very tough mindset and not losing hope in the face of frequent discouragement. We have to stay focused on the long-term belief that we will persevere and thrive once again. What gives me the greatest hope is how we continue to exhibit tremendous resilience, demonstrating our resolve and determination.
Once we realized that things were never going to return to what they used to be, we knew it was imperative to seize the moment, seek opportunities to adapt amidst the disruption, and capitalize. I have been so proud of our team; we continue to test possibilities. In his most recent operations report to the board of directors, Brian Flattum highlighted the increased use of the virtual platform by our members during the month of May. Under the leadership of Annie Doyle, Michael Marquez, and Bruce Caudill, the production quality continues to improve and the introduction of the InStudio component has injected renewed excitement by giving our members greater access to programming within our centers. Being able to walk into a vacant exercise room at any of our centers and select an on-demand workout from either our own instructors or from Ys around the country provides our members with a new assortment of options. The initial response from our members is very positive and it is just the beginning. What we know to be true is that each step forward is something to build upon and not the final destination. Annie is already talking about how to create a schedule of programs for our members to choose from throughout the day. In addition, Annie and the team are preparing a proposal to introduce a fee to access virtual programs, possibly for all on-hold members or members who are not ready to come back into our centers but may still want to be a part of the Y. The possibilities are endless.
A couple of weeks ago, a group met to explore the possibility of growing our Outdoor Environmental Education (OEE) program. Scott and Becca Gjertson have been delivering this program for 20 years and have made it a signature program for our Y, serving 132 schools and 11,000 youth while seeing a 97% retention rate year over year. During the pandemic, they produced an on-demand curriculum for schools, brought the program to the schools, and recently saw some of the schools return to Camp Seymour to participate in person. Posed with the question of whether we could expand the delivery of OEE, Scott and Becca proposed a blueprint of what that could be. It was exciting to listen to their proposal, imagining how we will serve hundreds more youth in this program.
The number of employees we have been able to hire has defined so much of our current situation. Noor Bergman and Nat Nabass have been a revelation for our Y, working hard to recruit new employees into our Y. Adding two recruiters to our organization was an important but necessary step by our Y; we needed to adapt to the disruption of the labor market. The entire human resources team has been extraordinary, leaning in hard to help our organization navigate these turbulent conditions. In addition to the incredible work they are doing in recruiting new employees, human resources has been examining what a new medical, dental, and vision plan could be for our organization. Michelle Rose and Chris Stange are extremely excited about what they have learned and are eager to share with us what the new coverage will be. “More and better for less,” sounds great to me!
Over the last month in our Staying Connected meetings, you have heard Chris Spivey and Stephanie Roberts provide updates on the work they are leading to strengthen our culture. We know that all the work we have been putting in to draw new employees into our Y will be for naught if we do not have a strong work environment that will support the entire association team. We heard from Chris and Stephanie that our employees want a culture that is respectful, supportive, and empowering. I do feel we have made strides in each of these areas, but one of the next steps in that process to be rolled out soon will be in the form of the “continuous performance conversations and development” tool we are instituting within our organization. Michelle and Nicole Brickman have been drafting the design and presented it to the leadership cabinet for input. The design parallels the input we received from you and what you are looking for in the work environment, which translates to a tool that encourages a culture of trust through coaching, recognition, frequent check-ins, and feedback from more than your supervisor (to include your colleagues as well). The continuous conversation model promotes priority setting and emphasizes feedback that promotes alignment with organizational values and behaviors. The frequent check-ins encourage feedback from the employee so that an employee has the best chance to be successful. This will be a very important step for our Y. I do realize I did not make this shift fast enough. The performance management tool we previously used was antiquated and did not create a culture of inclusion and safety for our team. I am confident this will be a valuable model for our Y, one that will help strengthen our Y in the most important area: staff culture. Thank you, Michelle and Nicole, for leading this critical work.
What I have learned most recently is something I have known for quite some time: we have an incredible staff team, filled with ingenuity and determination. It is amazing what you are doing to adapt to the conditions we continue to face – sharing new ideas, building on current successes, and looking to implement new programs to strengthen our way of work. We have never lost sight of our task at hand, which is to be resourceful and test for new solutions. It has become our new way of work. Thank you for your incredible dedication and commitment; you continue to astound me and our community. You are what makes our Y great.
#OneY #StayStrong #StayWithUs