You all had a lot to say! Here’s a recap of staff feedback from the All Hands meetings…

Staff had the opportunity to hear about CHS Vision 2020 at the first-ever “All Hands on Deck” meetings on March 4 (Black Hills) and March 11 (Sioux Falls).

Attendees were introduced to new staff, heard information about new employee incentives including student loan/ tuition reimbursement, learned about leadership training opportunities, were given some insight into the financial workings of CHS, had time for questions and, most importantly, were fed! (Leadership, please note: Food will always help attendance numbers.)

And speaking of numbers…

340 = Number of people who work at CHS

242 = Number of people who attended one of the All Hands meetings

148 = Number of people who turned in an evaluation of the All Hands meeting

From those 148 evaluations, here is some feedback from staff:

The information is relevant to my work at CHS. On a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high)

124 staff (84%) out of 148 respondents gave the All Hands meeting a 4 or 5.

I feel more invested in CHS and my work. On a on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high)

99 staff (67%) out of 148 respondents gave the All Hands meeting a 4 or 5.

I feel CHS addressed concerns/questions I had. On a on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high)

99 staff (67%) out of 148 respondents gave the All Hands meeting a 4 or 5.

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Here are some responses staff took the time to write and share:

(Please note: Multiple responses with similar themes have been combined.)

I most appreciated hearing about:

• The plan to help pay our student loans or assist with tuition.
• Plans to address staff retention.
• Financial information about CHS.
• The cost per year for a child to be at CHS.
• Specifics about how the Sanford donation is being used.
• Glad to see residential addressed, but TAs are left out in the cold.
• Specific numbers on staff turnover was an eye-opener.
• The stability of BHCH.
• CHS vision and goals, plans for the future.
• Upper management hearing employee feedback, and making changes.
• Hearing the results of the staff survey taken before.
• That there is a focus on transparency.

For future meetings, I want to learn more about:

• The people I work with.
• How we will make both residential campuses run more the same.
• Updates on what we learned today.
• If we plan to hire more mature direct care staff with previous experience.
• More open dialogue between leadership and staff.
• Staff compensation and benefits.
• Advancement opportunities.
• If there could be tuition help for school staff.
• What you can do for staff who have been here for many years.
• Why TA’s are not considered direct care when they do the same as other staff.
• How raises work. Doesn’t seem like high performance evals helps our pay.
• Info about how wages are determined.
• What is going on with the Children’s Inn building project.
• How leadership plans to address the problems we have.
• How to help part time workers.
• Plans to help non-direct care staff.
• Progress, agency growth, and future goals.
• News or changes that affect our programs or our jobs.
• Can PTO be increased.
• Better rewards for employee service benchmarks.
• Remain informed about finances.
• CHS University leadership program.
• Plans for marketing and recruitment of new staff.
• What we do for community outreach.
• How decisions are made.
• It means a lot to hear how CHS plans to take care of me.
• How everyone plays a part in day-to-day things.
• If student loan program could extend to therapists.
• Over and over you hear “It’s not in the budget” but you see money spent on Admin needs.
• The promise to follow-up with unanswered questions.
• How we can interact better between departments.

How can we improve future All Hands meetings?

• Being more mindful of what takes place.
• Too much information at one time, and it’s coming so fast. Hard to process rapid fire.
• Couldn’t read all the slides.
• Don’t have during residential team meetings, which are important to our staff.
• Info presented didn’t pertain to all jobs/roles. Felt left out.
• Ways to help staff with daycare.
• Bigger room. I had to sit in back and couldn’t see anything.
• Thanks for lunch!
• Shorter meeting. Limit to one hour.
• Keep keeping us informed. Today was a good start.
• Loved the meeting format. Lots of thought went into the presentation. Thank you!

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Please…

Keep coming to All Hands meetings,
Keep learning,
Keep asking questions,
Keep holding us accountable, and
Keep caring about this special workplace!

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What a change a month can make!

These photos were taken at our Vision 2020 All Hands meetings, pre- and post- social distancing requirements!

Black Hills Children's Home, March Vision 2020 All Hands Meeting.

Sioux Falls Children's Home, March Vision 2020 All Hands Meeting.

Overnight Staff April Vision 2020 All Hand Meeting - social distance style!