Just a quick note to let you know that we have decided to change the name of the ASK THE CEO column to ASK US.

Your great questions come from all corners of our organization and often take a team approach to answering them. I have an amazing leadership team around me and often tap into them and their teams for their particular expertise. Keep those questions coming!

~ Michelle

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ASK US:
You Asked. We Answer.

Two new questions were submitted on the GOOD WORKS portal:

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QUESTION #1:

We have had several positions open up lately within the agency. Some of these position vacancies are a direct result of leadership’s unwillingness to work with their employees on their schedules, family lives, and needs, despite job performance reviews being high with these individuals.

When employees have advocated for themselves, leadership meets this with detached and unengaged responses. These responses have shown that employees are just numbers and are not truly valued, causing them to seek employment outside of CHS.

In the future, how will CHS work to keep their employees and encourage them advocate for themselves and their mental health? I understand that CHS is a business and requests need to be within reason, but how can we improve our employee retention and make employees feel valued?

ANSWER #1:

Thank you for the question. We agree that work-life balance is one the most important employee benefit we can provide. We are aware there are other employment options, and we want to make CHS your employment choice.

Changing schedules and impacting peoples lives to accommodate new schedules is not an easy task, but we're up to it. Let's dig in together. There is always the difficulty of balance when we are trying to schedule a 24x7 service for the children, within the requirements of mandated staff member to child ratios. We want to meet the needs of our employees, so that they are not pushed to seek employment that better fits their personal life and trade-off for a passion in working at Children's Home Society.

We would like to learn more about our team members thoughts on what we might do differently to accommodate the need to offer more flexibility. Deanna Larson will be conducting various listening sessions throughout November through our residential treatment programs. Please watch for the upcoming opportunities.

Thank you for taking the time to ask this thoughtful question. Please plan to attend and offer ideas and concepts that may support a more balanced work schedule for you, your work team, and your family.

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QUESTION #2:

Why are residential staff unable to use the Subarus? Seems unfair that we cannot use them, and that administration staff are able to use the vans.

Also, can we make it simple and put it on an Excel spreadsheet again instead of signing them out via email. Then we would be able to see what vehicles are available and who has them. Then we would not have to guess, and it would be much easier to plan ahead.

ANSWER #2:

To ensure the cleanliness and availability of administrative vehicles, we have designated their use to specific purposes. Additionally, we encourage the use of Outlook for scheduling, as it offers a more streamlined and effective approach compared to traditional Excel spreadsheets.

If you or your team are in immediate need of Outlook training, please submit an IT request and this training can be provided to you. On a broader level, Learning and Development will have its own resource area on GOOD WORKS which will include quick links to technology training. This resource will be introduced at the November All Hands meetings and the platform will launch in December.

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