Across all industries, organizations are struggling to attract and retain the employees needed to provide services to their communities. From local governments to retail outlets to…well, just about everyone.
In the latest episode of the Let’s Talk Parks with BerryDunn podcast, we discussed the topic of retaining all-star employees as it relates to Parks and Recreation Departments who are struggling to maintain community services due to staffing levels. The conversation with my colleagues Nikki Ginger and Barbara Heller and our guests Nicole Falceto and Fernando Avellanet from the Loudoun County (Virginia) Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department uncovered tangible and actionable strategies that any type of organization can use to start the process of improving their organizational culture to better retain staff.
Listen to the podcast here.
Here are the top takeaways:
Understand how costly turnover really is
We all know that turnover is costly. But do you understand exactly how costly it is? Not even factoring in non-financial costs such as the loss of institutional knowledge, or momentum gained by having longer-term employees, or even the psychological effect that an employee leaving has on their peers, the actual financial costs of attrition and rehiring are most likely larger than you think. Here are some of the costs you should consider:
Payments to the departing employee:
- Vacation pay that you have to pay out when an employee leaves
- Unused sick pay
- Payment for other fringe benefits
- Costs associated with exit interviews
- Loss of productivity from having an unfilled spot
- Overtime pay to existing staff to cover their shifts
Costs to hire a new employee
- Recruitment advertising
- The time for management to screen applications
- Interview expenses
- The total staff time for those interviews
- Staff time for reference checks
- The cost of pre-employment testing
- Any moving costs that your agency might provide and additional incentives
And those are just to get a new employee in the door. How long does it really take to get an employee up to speed and functioning as well as an experienced employee? Who is training the employee and who is covering that work? Turnover is disruptive to everyone and can be a key contributor to a negative workplace culture.
Take stock of your culture
Having a positive workplace culture is critically important to retaining staff. When all else is equal, potential employees will make the choice to work for an organization with a positive culture that is making an effort to create a fulfilling space for employees.
So, what is culture? Culture is more than a feeling (though it’s that, too). It’s the sum total of your policies, procedures, management decisions, and day-to-day actions. A good culture is one where employees feel supported in the work they do, and the lives they lead outside of the office. It’s not something that happens overnight. It can take years of neglect for a negative culture to arise, and years of effort to turn it around.
As Barbara Heller shared on the podcast, the first step is to recognize the need for change. She said, “First of all, it's really a great step when there's acknowledgment that we need to do something to change our culture. The next step is, let's assess where we are in terms of our culture. There are many different instruments that can be used, so having conversations about it, what’s behind strengths and weaknesses of existing culture, putting in some steps to work toward the desired culture.”
Talk to (and listen to!) your employees
First, you need to talk to your employees and listen to what their needs are. Are your time-off policies causing stress? Do employees have the tools to do their jobs effectively? Do they have a chance to learn, grow, and advance? Do they want to work remotely full- or part-time? Don’t assume you know what your employees need—they will be happy to tell you! For large organizations, this can be done with a survey, but don’t neglect face-to-face conversations. Just asking the questions will begin to build trust and the feeling that leadership cares. Exit interviews should ask direct questions about culture and its effect (or not) on the reasons for departure.
Communication is critical as you’re defining what changes should be made, and it continues to be important as you start implementing changes. When employees see that you are listening to them and being transparent, you build even more trust. When considering what changes can or cannot be made, remember how costly turnover really is. What could you do if those costs were lowered? Whatever is decided, be transparent with employees about what and why.
Define or reevaluate your values – as an organization or team
If employees are leaving and stating culture as a reason, this may be a good time to engage your employees in the process of developing a positive culture. The team at Loudoun County recently went through a strategic planning process and part of that work involved reevaluating their values as a department.
Nicole Falceto, the department’s projects and accreditation manager, shared in the podcast, “It was a really great opportunity to let this become a grassroots effort and the team members who were part of that were able to work with their peers and people across the different divisions to come up with five new values for our department.”
They decided on: excellence, collaboration, innovation, integrity, and resilience. With feedback from employees, they knew that they had to go beyond just stating their values – they needed to define them concretely so employees could recognize when they were using the values. For example: Excellence = We give our best every time.
Fernando Avellanet, the department’s recruiting coordinator, shared, “They did a really great job going to everybody and making sure that the values that had been selected or proposed were ones that would resonate with staff and that these statements meant something to staff.”
The team’s process included a core group comprised of staff from all levels who were empowered to lead the effort. This created more buy-in for the project than if the leadership team was to decide these values without input from the staff.
Reward employees who are living the values
Once values are in place, they need to be reinforced in the real world. Rewarding employees who live the values helps to guide and shape the ability to develop a well-defined culture. Connecting recognition to a clear vision and values makes it easier for employees to know what is expected of them and how they can excel.
As Barbara shared, making your values the criteria for recognition makes much more sense than, for example, rewarding longevity. Yes, you want employees to stay for a long time, but you want to reward them for contributing to a great place to work – not just for staying.
Rewards and recognition can take many forms, not just monetary. Just as the Loudoun County team empowered employees to develop their values, Barbara recommends a similar approach to creating a rewards and recognition program: “It’s a good idea to get the organization, from different levels, involved in establishing what a reward and recognition system should look like. I think that when employees put skin in the game and are involved in developing a program of some sort, there's much greater level of success.”
The type of rewards will depend on the organization, and Nicole shared how her team has been able to reinforce their culture through their recognition program: “We're very lucky to have an exceptional performance award where we can offer one-time bonuses for staff members who are going above and beyond, and are embodying the values that we're setting. So maybe they're collaborating on a project or they offer up an innovative solution. Or maybe they tried something new and it didn't go quite to plan, but we really want to reward innovative thinking.”
Nikki Ginger provided another example of an organization that “allows staff to submit a values card to recognize a coworker for living one or multiple of their values, and then every four months, anyone who receives a card—which, by the way, they're called values champions—are entered into a random drawing to win a $50 award.” This is something any organization can do, and the reward could be anything - free access to a fitness center or any type of program offered internally.
I hope that this article inspires you to include culture and values in the conversation when you’re thinking about recruitment and retention. Remember, when given a choice, people will choose a workplace where they feel valued and supported. So, what can you do to make that a reality?
Listen to the full podcast here.
About BerryDunn’s Parks, Recreation, Libraries Practice
BerryDunn works with parks, recreation, and library organizations across the US to help them strengthen operations, innovate, and enhance services that benefit their communities. We bring decades of experience working in public service in similar roles as our clients. Our expertise includes strategic and master planning, pricing and cost recovery, feasibility studies, and organizational and operational assessments, including recreation assessments. Learn more about our team.
Skip to Main Content