[YL] Blended Learning....other ideas for staff turnover needed

Wed Aug 3 17:57:56 EDT 2005

As someone who has been involved in campus organizing, teen & community
organizing with almost entirely all-volunteer groups for the past twenty-five
years, I have a few ideas about dealing with staff turnover. It's a huge issue
that is made more problematic by institutional views about turf, vision and
focus. I've been in DC for sixteen years doing community-based youth organizing
and before that I worked with a network of campus chapters and affiliates
nationally. In both settings, the issues of organizational "ownership" of
people, institutional self-absorption (I don't mean to sound negative here, just
trying to be concise), organizational culture and the ever constant money crunch
of where to focus resources leads to high turnover being a bigger problem than
it should be. 

In DC, groups are very segregated by issue, geography, demographics, etc. My
approach to organizing youth is to fill in the missing pieces -- that if you
work with my organization you will get a very real picture of who else is doing
what and how the skills youth learn with us are applicable to other projects and
organizations. Similarly, if you are doing related work I want to know what you
are doing and enter in whatever partnerships and collaborations make sense. If
someone is a teen or young adult working with me, I don't expect them to stay
forever, in fact, I want to encourage a well-rounded understanding of who else
is doing what so they can find their own path and help increase the overall pool
of skilled folks involved in youth empowerment...and remain committed and
involved in the field. It is not paradoxical that people that came through my
programs get back in touch with related projects two, five, and fifteen years
later with something to contribute or something to ask of us. 

I think it important that organizational vision and strategies open wider and
become more inclusive of the overall communities we are working in than our own
self-importance (which of course is important or we wouldn't be there working
our tails off in the first place to get something done!) Focus is important but
can loose the forest for the trees. It is a difficult challenge to dedicate
limited resources to effective networking and collaboration-building, but I
think it  essential to provide all of us with a steady pool of skilled,
knowledgeable folks so we aren't starting from zero every time a new person
comes on board. Likewise, for people that find themselves out of a position that
they were so excited about and dedicated because their values fit the concept
are not disenfranchised from the field that so desperately needs their talent
and experiences. 

I cannot say how many organizations I've seen that burn people out, disempower
them (actively or passively), discourage or marginalize creativity and
initiative, and put tasks at hand before the people involved. We are generally
overly-focused on the "why" and "what" we are doing that we forget about the
"how's." I like to say "how" we do IS "what" we do.  Recruitment is one issue,
retention is another. Even in high-turnover organizations, retention of talent
and participation among participants and alumni are essential. Effective
collaborations and networks can provide new talent for individual projects. 

As clearly demonstrated from earlier posts, there are valuable resources and
ideas out there. The questions raised are important and relevant. It is not my
intention to say that anyone is doing anything wrong. Rather, I would encourage
folks to think broadly about the people and communities we're working with, pay
special attention to the missing pieces, and think strategically for the long
term sustainability of programs, organizations and most importantly, the
communities where we work. 

Best,
Doug Calvin
Director
Youth Leadership Support Network
Washington, DC

-----Original Message-----
From: youthlearn-bounces at milhouse.edc.org
[mailto:youthlearn-bounces at milhouse.edc.org] On Behalf Of
tutormentor1 at earthlink.net
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 11:17 PM
To: youthlearn at milhouse.edc.org
Subject: RE: [YL] Blended Learning....other ideas for staff turnover needed

Debbee,

You've identified one of the most important challenges we face.  If we cannot
attract 
and retain talented people, we cannot create an accumulation of knowledge and 
experience that is only gained through time on the job.

I'm trying to address this in a few different ways:

At www.tutormentorconnection.org I'm hosting a library of knowledge that any
tutor/ mentor leader in the world can draw from to support his/her efforts. I'm
also hosting 
events that help program leaders connect and build networking relationships with

other leaders, in their own city, and via the internet.

At the same time, I'm trying to create a larger and more consistent public
awareness 
for volunteer based tutoring/mentoring. I have three sub goals:

a) attract more operating dollars to tutor/mentor programs
b) enlist business and professional groups to be strategic, long-term partners
c) enlist universities to create experience-based learning programs that train
future 
tutor/mentor program leaders.  

After  you take a look through the T/Mc web site if you'd like to participate in
any of th 
is, just log in to the new portal that we're launching in the 
www.tutormentorconnection.org space.

Dan Bassill
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Chicago

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Ms Debbee Williams debbeew at yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 11:43:37 -0700 (PDT)
To: youthlearn at milhouse.edc.org
Subject: [YL] Blended Learning....other ideas for staff turnover needed

Greetings from Visalia CA!

I am just reading the report on Blended Learning from the most recent YL
Newsletter 
and I have a question:

Are there programs out there that have an effective plan in place for dealing
with staff 
turnover. We are looking at focusing on retention strategies, but I am also
thinking 
turnover is a fact of life to deal with. Has anyone established a way to
incorporate staff 
turnover into your strategic plans and make it work for you instead of against?

Any information or suggestions would be appreciated.

Debbee Williams, Development Director

Boys & Girls Club of Tulare County, 215 W. Tulare Avenue Visalia CA 93277

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