Staff Newsletter | Tuesday, April 19, 2022
“Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.” – Psalm 112:5
It was extremely positive listening to Michelle Rose share the update on our association’s hiring efforts during Friday’s Staying Connected call; we have hired 189 new employees since March 1! The disruption in the labor market continues to wreak havoc in most industries, undermining the economic recovery for many businesses, but hearing that we are having so much success is definitely encouraging for our Y; it is also a tribute to the work Noor Bergman and the HR team have been leading for the past few months. Michelle also shared that we attended a job fair for the Tacoma School District and secured 61 resumes for positions, most noteworthy for Child Care and summer camp, both of which have been difficult for us to attract any interest to date, threatening our ability to offer program services in those areas. Furthermore, Michelle indicated that we had recently begun conversations with Pierce College, which has an early childhood education program and is seeking internships for its students. This could be a significant breakthrough for our Child Care program, enabling us to provide critical services to our communities. It has been a painful few months for us, but the breakthrough represents renewed hope for our team.
Clearly, adjusting to the labor market is critical if we are to survive; attending job fairs and working with high schools and colleges represents a proactive response on our part to attract employees. It is no longer an effective strategy to simply post a position and wait for candidates to respond. Also on Friday’s call, Michelle shared that the hiring teams are encouraged to interview candidates as their resumes are received; we are no longer waiting until a closing date to proceed with the application process, as we recognize the need to expedite our response time, something the candidates themselves are doing as well. Employers across industries are interviewing and offering candidates positions on the spot, recognizing how competitive the market is at this period.
Our response to the labor market has been a radical shift for us, and the HR team has taken the lead, but Michelle has shared that we could not have made this shift without input from many staff across the association; because of this feedback, job descriptions have been revamped, as have the hiring criteria. Out of necessity, we have moved rapidly and have been learning as we go, identifying areas for improvement. Inviting the marketing team earlier into the process was identified as an area of opportunity for our association. In fact, through the discussions on our hiring process, we discovered other areas that needed to be addressed, including ongoing training support for Salesforce, something Bruce and his team are addressing, as well as help for the marketing team to meet the overwhelming number of requests they receive on a daily basis. In both cases, frustration was expressed. This was creating a negative staff experience for a significant number of staff, as well as making us less effective as an association.
Upon discovering pain points, we recognized that we needed to set aside more space for the necessary dialogue to gain input that would help us learn and improve. In our effort to advance our Y, we have been moving fast, not setting aside important time to share information. I definitely recognize my own role in that process, pressing us to find opportunities to grow our Y. Integrating Salesforce into our organization was a monumental accomplishment, and it positions us well for the future, but it is a tool that requires additional support. A critical aspect of Salesforce is that it will enable our systems to operate cohesively, a necessary component for our operations. Unfortunately, the process is not complete, and more work is required to achieve that endpoint. Setting aside time for staff to share critical information about their experience with Salesforce will not only provide vital information as to its effectiveness but also include more voices in the process and establish a culture that will promote necessary feedback that will help us grow.
For the past two years, we have been working hard to build our Y. On Friday, Toko Thompson shared that we are ahead of our projections. Toko also shared that the finance team has been crushed by the amount of work it has had to do. The cybersecurity incident Kronos experienced in December was devastating to the finance staff; they have been working seven days a week, with no relief. Additionally, the disruption in the labor market has had a severe impact on the team, forcing them to use temporary staff to complete their tasks, but who are short-term by nature. (Toko did share they have finally hired a permanent accountant, who will start in May.)
The experiences of the finance, marketing, and Child Care teams are, in some ways, the result of a lack of resources, but, in other ways, it is a result of a way of work. This past year, we emphasized the importance of staff culture to our success, making it our number one priority. We rallied around the One Y concept, knowing that pulling together was our only path forward. We have seen a number of examples these past two years where we worked well together, but, as we have seen in the case of marketing, there is room for improvement. Leaving enough space to elicit critical feedback from one another is essential, but only part of the issue; having a safe environment conducive to open and honest exchange may take some work. This Friday, Brian Flattum and the operations team will facilitate a discussion on staff culture. We will set aside the majority of the Staying Connected call to hear from all of you within small groups. Many of our teams have already begun these conversations. I realize that for far too long, I have kept us focused on the results of our work, but even though the results are positive, we are seeing and feeling the experience is not, and it is actually, in some ways, hurting us.
We are going to change this, and it is in our control. We can define how we want to work and still achieve positive results. The pandemic has been hard on our Y, but it has forced us to see a better path forward. We are going to take it and make our Y a better place to work. Every step of the way, we have met the call to action and found a way. I am excited to take this step together, as One Y. I am grateful for your dedication and commitment; it is carrying us. Thank you all.
#OneY #StayStrong #StayWithUs