Why is the Lubbock Chamber a Great Place to Work?

Why is the Lubbock Chamber a Great Place to Work?

The Lubbock Chamber is FUN!

The Lubbock Chamber is ALWAYS LEARNING! Eddie McBride, IOM President & CEO Sheri Nugent, IOM VP Administration Norma Ritz Johnson, CCE, IOM VP Legislative Affairs Tammi Boozer: Chamber Basics-Aug 2013 VP Communications & Marketing Phyllis Jones, IOM VP Leadership Diana Fabing: 1st Yr Institute June 2013 VP Hispanic Business Division Robin Raney, IOM VP Business Development Colleen Evans, IOM VP Membership Amy Marquez, Center for Chamber Excellence; 2nd Yr IOM Aug 2013 Retention Specialist Audrey DeLeon; 1st Yr IOM July 2013 Project & Research Specialist Kathy Bass; Center for Chamber Excellence 1 st Yr 2013 Administrative Assistant Patsy Moffett; Center for Chamber Excellence 1 st Yr 2013 Office Coordinator & Accounting Clerk Patricia Picon: Center for Chamber Excellence 1 st Yr 2014 Customer Service Representative

What Best Practices Make Other Chambers Great Places to Work?

Who Are We The Stats 3,200 members $6.48 million annual budget 48 full-time & two part-time employees Received 5-star accreditation in 2007 & 2012 Certified well-workplace by Wellness Councils of America in 2007 & 2010 Named Employer of the Year in 2009 by Nebraska State Council of Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)

Who We Really Are What Guides Us Our Vision: The Chamber will be the catalyst organization that ensures Greater Omaha is a vibrant place to do business, work and live. Our Mission: To increase business, investment and employment in the Greater Omaha area. Our Values: Excellence Family Passion Vision

Key Ingredients to Creating & Maintaining a Best Place to Work Executive leadership that gets it & leads by example Managers who take real interest in the development of their team members Staff members who are engaged, willing to do what it takes to do their jobs with excellence, hold their coworkers accountable, support each other in the process

So How Did We Get There? David G. Brown Hired October 2003 Facilitated a values identification process Everyone wrote 5 values Narrowed down to 10 values Finally down to three with a committee created for each These values, along with organizations vision & mission are the filters which guide our strategic planning process Updates in 2006 and 2009, with continual dialogue along the way. Added passion as a fourth value in 2009.

The Outcome Our Articulated Values Excellence We provide the highest quality programs and services, challenging ourselves to achieve greater results for our members, out community and each other. Family We respect, trust and support each other in an environment that embraces work-life balance. Passion We pursue our work with enthusiasm, fueled by a strong commitment to our mission. Vision We consistently focus on a bold future, pursuing innovation and collaboration to facilitate the growth and vitality of our community.

So What Happens After You Define Your Values? Values discussion is never really finished Want to keep the organizational values in the minds & hearts of employees Continue the use of these values in guiding decisionmaking On-going process to live our values

Action: Flexible Scheduling/Telecommuting Employees at all levels create (with their manager) a work schedule Honor system for sick leave No need to use accumulated vacation time for medical appointments or family activities Employees have stated that this benefit alone keeps them from looking for another job Summer Hours

Action: Staff Meetings Quarterly all-staff meetings 1½ hour Celebrations, recognitions, outside speakers, discussions on mission, vision & values, department updates, small groups, HR updates, etc. Monthly 38 Minutes with the President Each month (except for all-staff meeting months) Facilitated and run by the President Financial updates, fundraising progress, discussions on mission, vision & values

Action: Strong Ethics Culture Founding member of Greater Omaha Business Ethics Alliance; President serves on Executive Board Staff participated in 8-week ethics training Created ethics policy with violation reporting system Encourage open and honest dialogue Staff is involved in quarterly networking sessions

Action: Internal Teams Social Goal: Provide opportunities for staff to have fun and get to know each other outside of their normal work interactions. Wellness Goal: Promote and support healthy living through general awareness of employee well-being, promote and support healthy lifestyles and to provide opportunities for wellness activities and improvement. Inclusivity Goal: Expose staff members to things they might not otherwise know; help them to learn about Omaha through a different lens

Action: Internal Teams Green Goal: Encourage recycling and eliminate waste. Recognition Goal: Recognize employees at all levels of the organization; engage and retain employees; boost morale. Mentoring Goal: Help new employees in the onboarding process and make them feel at home in the organization. The mentormentee relationship focuses on developing the mentee with respect to his or her job, does not conduct performance reviews, etc.

Action: Relationships and Benefits Team Up! Small groups of staff members getting to know each other on a more personal basis On-Site Massage Comes to office twice a month; $15 for 15 minutes Employee Assistance Program Voluntary, confidential counseling service Free and available 24 x 7

So, How Do You Measure Success? Partner with Gallup to create strengths-based culture and work toward high levels of employee engagement StrengthsFinder Assessment for all staff 34 general areas (themes) Annual Q12 Assessment measuring levels of engagement Engagement Index slots into one of three categories Engaged Non-Engaged Actively Disengaged Have been measuring engagement since 2004 Numbers up each year

Making the Community a Best Place to Work In 2005, created Best Places to Work Initiative Research shows engaged employees stay longer, serve more efficiently and drive profitability With help from local sponsor and research partner, initiated Omaha s Best Place to Work competition. Goals: recognize and honor companies that have created positive work cultures; provide benchmark data and feedback Ten companies recognized each year - 5 in two categories Winners recognized at luncheon celebration 700+ attendees Winners say designation helps recruit

Lessons Learned Commitment from Executive Leadership Employee involvement in creating and sustaining culture and decision making Supportive, go-to person in your organization Making your organization a best place to work is HARD WORK - you ll never be finished Employees must feel valued and know their opinions count Over-communicate, recognize and trust Sometimes you WILL lose good people sometimes they will want to come back

Questions & Answers Laurie Pieper Directors, Human Resources lpieper@omahachamber.org Main Office: (402) 346-5000 Direct: (402) 978-7955

Great Place to Work: Chambers! Karen Riley Director of Human Resources 23

Old. Really Old. Change or die. Leadership History

Drivers Why do we want/need to be a great employer? Limited resources Limited obvious growth opportunities for talent. Greater expectations from membership 25

What have we done? Basics Environment Recognition That something extra 26

Alliance FitSters 27

Outcomes and Lessons Learned Change is good Nothing works for everyone Maintain strong foundation 28

Thank you. Karen Riley kriley@portlandalliance.com 29