“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” – 2 Timothy 4:7
Challenges of Retention and Recruitment
There has been growing conversation over the past few months, both locally and nationally, concerning the challenges YMCAs and other business are facing with respect to retention and recruitment of employees. This has been deemed a crisis by economic experts and is a very real threat to rebuilding the economy. Many questions are swirling around: “Is it the stimulus money keeping potential employees at home?” or “Is it that people have been out of the routine of working for too long, and getting back into it is harder than anticipated?” Initial reports point to the fact that it is probably a phenomenon driven by a variety of factors, but ultimately, there is a labor shortage and it is severely impacting the ability to rebuild our Y.
Last week, I attended a meeting with Chris Spivey, Tara Bywater, Jenna Thomas, and Angel Ignacio. They have been working hard to roll out summer programs as part of our agreement with the Franklin Pierce School District, and are examining all possible solutions to help us meet the expectations. They understand the importance of fulfilling expectations, but cannot change the fact that we are not able to attract candidates to fill positions within our Y. I applaud their efforts to be creative and make it work, but it certainly is a tough task. Nevertheless, they are continuing to move forward in order to find a way.
Gradual Rollout to Rebuild Our Y
Clearly, we face many challenges with rebuilding our Y. Though it is exciting to think about being fully operational by July 1, we remain cautious in our approach to reopening. I appreciate the design the operations team has devised. Brian and his team have designed a gradual rollout of services; this allows us to grow as our members respond, but does not overextend us. This is a tricky process because no one can predict the rate of return of our members. We have seen members respond positively when we add the services they want, and we are hoping for the same response with the latest platform of services introduced on July 1 and beyond. The gradual rollout designed by the operations team takes into account the care we need to have with respect to the number of resources we are able to dedicate. As we saw from May’s financial report, our Y is not generating enough revenue to cover the cost of operating the organization. It is imperative that we continue to proceed carefully in rebuilding our Y. We will get there, I am sure of it.
Goodbyes
Our association has seen a number of staff who have made the decision to leave our Y over these past few months. Under normal conditions, it is difficult to part ways with quality people; they have made great contributions to our organization and are part of our Y family. The list is startling: Amanda Collins, Amber Evans-Wynn, Doris Swanson, Jared Johnson, Kolanye Bykoff, Lincoln McLain, Scott Bower … just to mention a few. When Steve Triller announced his retirement, it struck an even deeper chord with me because of the many years we have worked together and the bond we forged sharing in the Y. It is never easy for me to hear about one of our team members departing, but it has been even harder during the pandemic. Everything seems harder during the pandemic.
A week ago, I received the news of another member of our team making the decision to leave our Y. This one was equally difficult to receive, maybe even more so, because I have worked alongside her since 2007. When Shannon Costanti informed me that she was taking a position outside our Y, I flashed on the many things she has done within our organization and the tremendous impact she has had on all of us, but what struck me immediately was the realization of the void that will exist without her.
Shannon performed what seemed like an endless number of important tasks for our Y, but what all of us know about her and how she approaches her work is that being the Vice President of Human Relations and Chief Human Resources Officer was not just a job for Shannon, it was a calling. Shannon invested her entire being into ensuring our Y was the best it could possibly be. This statement is not meant to be a cliché, but rather to best capture the level of commitment Shannon made on a daily basis to ensure our Y was successful, which she defined as being the greatest in the country. She took our commitment to being the employer of choice very seriously, working alongside the leadership team as well as her own human resources team to deliver on that promise. Shannon worked to improve the performance and evaluation process, something that was extremely challenging as we worked to tie accountability to an objective, measurable, and fair set of metrics. I do believe the progress we made this year was in large part due to her contribution. In addition, Shannon played a significant part in introducing our Y to online training, making it flexible and adaptable to our work environment. Maybe her biggest contribution, though, was her commitment to ensuring an equitable and fair compensation package for all our staff. Shannon worked with a consultant that conducted an extensive market study, which then guided us in grade and salary adjustments. It was a significant body of work, but she was driven to complete it so staff were fairly compensated for their work.
I could go on with the list of contributions Shannon made to our organization and to all of us, but her greatest contributions may have been in the most challenging circumstances for our organization. Shannon gravitated to assume the leadership in many of the most pressing situations our Y found itself. When we went through the horror of the drowning that occurred in our Y a few years ago, Shannon took command of the situation and put everyone else at ease. In addition, she often represented our Y in the legal battles we have had to endure, working alongside attorneys to help provide all the necessary detail; she always put our organization in the best position possible to prevail in these circumstances. Shannon thrived under pressure, and our Y was better off because of her expertise and strength as a leader.
Throughout my career, I have seen many quality people leave the ranks of our Y. I have been forced to adopt a philosophy to understand that change, though difficult, will bring on new opportunities for growth and development; this is the world we live in, and we have to adapt. Change is constant and if you do not embrace it, you will perish. It sounds good saying that out loud, but make no mistake about it, it is not easy to do. Losing a person of Shannon’s caliber is very difficult to deal with; she was someone you could always count on to make the right decision, particularly under duress. We will be hard-pressed to find someone with Shannon’s commitment to serving those around her. We will all feel her absence because she impacted each and every one of us. It is rare to have been around someone with her drive and determination to make us a better Y through her personal touch and energy. We will certainly miss that on a daily basis, but it certainly will stay with us for a long time to come.
#StayStrong #StayWithUs