ClubX Blog friend Justin Clark, Chief Operating Officer at Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg, led a GREAT session at at this year’s National Conference about retaining staff, something we ALL care about. I’m excited to bring you this adaptation of that session today!
It’s no secret that staff turnover is a struggle that most, if not all, of our Clubs have faced at one point or another (I still twitch a little bit when I remember trying to hire staff immediately after COVID-19). For a period of time there I was honestly tempted to make my screening process include the following questions: Do you have a pulse? Can you pass a background check? Will you come to work? Judge me if you must (just don’t tell the safety team) but that’s exactly where I was. And it’s not just Clubs – the average turnover rate for nonprofit organizations is approximately 19%, which is 7% higher than the national average.
We can all agree that the members we serve deserve world-class Club experiences. We can all agree that BUIC and the Five Key Elements were glorious pieces of beauty (more on that in a bit!) that helped define what that looked like. And I think that we can all agree that a critical element of realizing that world-class Club experience includes offering members consistent relationships with high-quality staff. If your Club feels like a revolving door of new staff that is an element that you simply aren’t providing. And like our friend Issa just encouraged us – “retaining talent isn’t optional – it’s essential.”
Cool. Thanks, Justin. You’ve reminded me that this is hard. This feels like the opposite of the Pink Pony Club jam session I had on my way to work this morning.
Take heart, friend! I have some tried and true suggestions that will help boost staff morale, which will increase staff retention and decrease our collective blood pressure. We’ll make a few stops along the way – but first I want to make sure that you have the roadmap for our quest for increased retention. Our (just released!) updated Formula for Impact may not seem like the obvious place to build staff retention practices from at first glance – but I wholeheartedly believe that our staff benefit from the same best practices that we see make an impact with our members time and time again.
A brief moment of personal privilege…I first joined our Movement in 2014. And I will cling to the concepts of BUIC (Belonging, Usefulness, Influence, Competence) and the OG Five Key Elements until there is no more breath in my lungs. The good news is that they’re still totally applicable – and the Five Key Elements are still the basis for the NYOI Member Survey! – but the updated FFI has consolidated things a little bit. Change is a good thing, and we will get through this together. I promise. You can learn more about the update in the NEW Program Basics BLUEprint.
That being said – the new FFI is beautiful, and I want to take a few more minutes of your time to look at each of the core elements that contribute to a high-quality Club Experience for youth and think about how we can best leverage them when pursuing positive outcomes with our staff.
Note: These are suggestions from my personal experience or that I have gathered as practices from other Clubs. There is not a cookie-cutter answer, and it is imperative that you contextualize your practices around these components to your specific environment and the needs of your staff.
Safe, Inclusive Environments
Safe, Inclusive Environments refers to both the physical and emotional safety of our staff teams. When we cultivate safe and inclusive environments for our staff, we not only increase staff satisfaction and retention, but we also reiterate our commitment to their individual wellbeing. Some examples of things that have seen success in this area include:
Open Door Policies – Staff members feel welcome to bring concerns and questions to various levels of leadership without fear of retaliation – but also feel heard not just like their opinion was tolerated.
Staff Identification – Staff members who are enabled to express their true identity will feel safer in the workplace. This includes respecting pronouns, expressed gender identity, etc. but also creates space for staff to freely express needs for support, mental and physical well-being supports, etc.
Onboarding – The quality of onboarding immediately establishes the foundation of the staff members relationship to their workplace environment. Onboarding that is intentional and targeted communicates value.
Self-Care Prioritization – Affording staff opportunities to practice self-care. This could include Employee Assistance Programs, flexible PTO, etc. I’ve also seen Clubs bring in therapy dogs during staff trainings, including mental health check-ins in pulse checks, etc.
Meaningful Programs & Experiences
Meaningful Programs & Experiences refer to the intentional opportunities that we provide to staff. These experiences generate fun, foster a sense of belonging, provide opportunities and expectations, and help communicate value to our teams. Examples of ways to provide these experiences include:
Stretch Opportunities – providing staff opportunities to operate outside of their comfort zones help to reinforce their confidence and competence – and helps develop your Club leadership bench in the process! This can mean leading an assembly, ‘owning’ a targeted program, etc.
Ongoing professional development opportunities (internal and external) – investing in professional development opportunities for staff help to demonstrate the value that they bring to the organization. There are internal and external opportunities throughout our Movement including joining The Professional Association, attending your regional conference, and becoming an NTI trainer.
Staff outings (never mandatory!) – these can be as simple as organizing a group hike, inviting staff to go bowling and the Club ordering pizzas, hosting a game night, etc. Providing staff opportunities to build connections with their colleagues can, for some, increase their overall satisfaction and desire to continue employment.
Supportive Relationships
Supportive Relationships include a variety of connections within our Clubhouses – as leaders we want to take care to foster supportive relationships both in peer-to-peer and supervisor-to-team member connections and interactions. We can foster these relationships within our team by providing:
Mentors for new employees – Since you’re doing such a great job of increasing your staff retention, partnering new staff with veteran staff can not only help improve the experience of your new team members – but also checks some professional development and stretch opportunity boxes for your existing staff all at once!
Consistent Team Meetings – Staff feel valued when they feel heard and informed. Facilitating consistent team meetings / huddles provides the opportunity to ensure that all staff are on the same page with Club initiatives, any relevant concerns, etc. 1:1 meetings with your direct report staff can also provide an opportunity for more specific check-ins, coaching, etc. and ensure ongoing communication.
Employee Recognition – Just like our members, staff appreciate being recognized. It’s always helpful to find out how because the last thing you want to do is recognize an employee whose preferred method of recognition is a private card with drumline led Club parade. This can be formal like employee of the month, an informal shout-out board where staff can encourage one another, sporadic social media posts highlighting successes by team members, etc.
If you’ve made this far, pat yourself on the back. And take a stretch break because we’re just getting started.
I’m kidding, of course. You have summer programs to run, members to see, and staff to retain. And so I leave you with this – you’ve gotten to hear some of the ways that these three critical elements of the FFI can be applied to our staffing efforts. Maybe you love some of the ideas mentioned above. Maybe you think they’re all terrible. Either way – I challenge you to think of one tangible thing you can do in each of these three buckets to begin to change the narrative around staffing and staff retention at your organization. What role will you play?
Is this hard work that requires heavy lifting sometimes? Absolutely. But you know…life is too short, and our kids deserve the best. So let’s collectively commit to putting the work (and resources) in to making sure that we’re doing our best to keep our best.
Club leaders (and I’m especially looking at you, Operations Leads!) can learn more about building the kinds of systems and processes that empower a high-quality Club Experience AND great workplace that encourages growth by using the BLUEprint for Youth Impact and the new accompanying How-To Guides, available now on BGCA.net.
What are your best tips for recruiting and retaining staff? How do you make sure your Club is a great place to work? Comment below, on the BGCA Youth Development Facebook page, or email ClubXBlog@bgca.org.
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