The Person-Centered Workplace Empowering People, Changing Lives

NJ Welcome! Stephanie and I are thrilled you choose to come in and hear our story. We use the image of a tree as a visual of our culture. I am going to start with the roots of how we got here.

SDS Here is a glimpse of our workplace culture 5-7 years ago. It was hard to articulate our culture; We could not say what was good or different about us. Our interview process was cumbersome; there was lack of involvement from the people we support and an applicant might have to participate in 3-4 interviews which took weeks to complete. We had limited HR resources and certainly no one dedicated to any retention efforts. Growth was underway; we were expanding services, hiring different types of staff, we moved in to a new building, and people were starting to feel disconnected.

SDS Our FY14-18 strategic plan went from a 10+ page document to a 2 page plan. Where we once had 13 core values, we minimized to 3. We used surveys and focus groups to gather information and through common themes identified our signature strength and brand our culture. This was used to drive our engagement efforts with staff. And we call it the Arc Advantage.

SDS The Arc Advantage is what makes us unique…. We began sharing with everyone that we have a vision, we see a day when… We serve people with I/DD and we make a difference in the every day lives of people by empowering them to live better lives… We are different from other organizations because we are the most relationship focused… The behaviors critical to our success are our Core Values… And we have 4 Core Capabilities that we invest in to help us deliver our mission everyday… The story we are telling you today is about our people.

SDS We partner with The Council on Quality and Leadership for our accreditation. During our last 2 re-accreditations, workforce was identified as one of our 3 priorities. When it was most recently identified, we were poised to incorporate it into how we were addressing our strategic priorities and build our engagement efforts. We looked at our PCE plan and strategic priorities together, we began to implement a recruiting and retention plan that ensures a diverse, high-quality workforce We started to design a compensation package and performance management programs that aligned with our goals We wanted to build on and organize our engagement efforts – one part of this was an engagement survey

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NJ We wanted to create a culture roadmap so that we could articulate and track our efforts. Building the buzz; activities and items to get to generate excitement and get people talking. Our leadership team and the people we support joined in with tons of giveaways (cups, posters, decals, bags), we shared this information anywhere we could including employee newsletters, team meetings, new employee training, board meetings, and a kick-off engagement survey that we will dive in to next. Raising awareness; we wanted all people to feel a part of the message. There was an employee created video put together capturing Arc Advantage moments, contests, shutouts, and general celebration. Showing core values in action; we wanted to imbed the Arc Advantage in to the way we do business. We developed value boards to post in common areas and use during training activities. Established a Culture Club made up of people from every department and they were challenged to come up with a new idea each month to keep up momentum. And we started to enhance our HR practices: Recruiting: Getting people we support involved in the interview process, greeting applicants, participating at job fairs, developing their interviewing skills so they could participate in employee interviews on-site. We created and still utilize an intangible standard for hiring. We integrate our Core Values in to our JD and utilize tools to hire for cultural fit, not just skill set. Onboarding: Initial staff interactions involve understanding culture and values. We use a 90 day introductory period to assess fit. We give all new employees a small welcome gift. Retention: Integrate values into PA, develop targeted award and recognition programs, incorporate into employee training. And we continued to work on a key piece of the puzzle that still challenges us today: COMMUNICATION. COMMUNICATION. COMMUNICATION. We want to pull people into the message at every chance we get to let them know that our workplace culture is a priority and that they area all part of it.

NJ Going in to all of this, we wanted to know what everyone was thinking. And, we needed to know our baseline. So we began gathering employee feedback. We held focus groups that included participation from 29 people w/1:5 ration of managers to non-managers. We developed an online engagement survey and had 43% of our employees respond. From this information, we developed a measureable action plan that addressed three common areas of feedback— Communication Resources Recognition Before we jump in to some of the HR best practices that we Introduce Getting to Know you Bingo

NJ After a year of working at it, we had a lot to be proud of. Review slide The next efforts were around the life cycle of our employees and training our managers to value the core capacity of people just as they value the people they support.

NJ We started providing training for managers in an effort to hardwire in these 16 touchpoints. Notes: Training on millennial applicant preferences. Gone were the days where a 2 week interviewing period was acceptable. Our customers now are multitaskers, they are connected, and they desire a quick response. Welcoming questionnaire: favorite color, candy, hobby 3-3-3 – hospitality and check in at 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months of employment; includes content like; where to park, are you meeting new people, training needs. Relias – system empowers learning at your own pace, we have created blended learning courses combining the Relias content and our classroom activities and IWS help as trainers

NJ Notes: One on one meetings with manager for recognition, performance review, problem solving Reviews - In 2013, we had 40% PA completed. Beginning in 2016, we have 100%. This is a critical part of the EE/manager relationship, at 90 day review performance, fit for position, and assess potential for future success. Recognition Toolkit – resource folder for managers and subsequent training curriculum Stay interviews – Best practice, annual conversation… why do you stay here? What would make you leave? Exiting the Agency – How we conduct ourselves matters! All employees, including separating employees, are walking billboards. Of our new employees: 6% are rehires and 25% referrals.

NJ We know the DSP average is somewhere around 44% of DSPs that leave in the first year. In January of 2018, we increased our goal from an aggressive 29%. We now have a goal of 36% or less and we are projecting for the first quarter of this FY.

NJ While turn over is about the people who do leave, staff stability is about the people who stay. Review slide Our HR team keeps close tabs on the market and we also work hard to offer benefits beyond the paycheck.

SDS Hardwiring into our agency and culture with performance expectations and accountability has been challenging. 25-30% of our managers job descriptions revolve around managing our team and directly relate to the 4 core capabilities outlined in our strategic plan PEOPLE Programs Resource Management Community Engagement

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SDS Monitoring success has held us accountable to make sure our goals are being accomplished.

NJ

We people! Stephanie Scott Nikki Jones Director of Quality Enhancement sdscott@slarc.org Nikki Jones Assistant Director of Employee Development and Engagement njones@slarc.org NJ So, that is our story of the Arc Advantage. We love our people and we want them to deliver high-quality, person-centered service and advocacy through a lifetime of transitions. We love our people and we identify employees’ talents, value their ideas, and collaborate across departments. We love our people and we want them to live a better life. If there is anything in particular that has resonated with you, we have a handout that includes resources and our contact information, please reach out and let us know what you think! THANKS