Organizations – especially those that provide direct service to people in need – are only as strong as the people they hire.
Like many service organizations, Crossroads has been impacted by changes to the workforce over the last three years. And while we’ve watched the landscape change around us, we’ve taken proactive measures to support our team and show real gratitude for their work to avoid the kind of crises in turnover that many of our peers across the country have experienced.
We gave employees time off, protected wages and made conscious efforts to ensure that we weren’t falling into a trap of asking employees to sacrifice their own mental health in pursuit of our mission.
We know that our team not only needs to believe in the mission of the organization, but also feel that they are in sync with the values of the organization. When we decided to focus on and invest in equity, diversity and inclusion with company resources – both human and financial – we sent a message to our team about what we feel is important.
We heard loud and clear from them that they value it too.
And when other employees see their colleagues and peers being promoted, they are empowered and encouraged to think about their own future within the company.
Employers and organizational leaders must recognize – now more than ever before – that the most important investments they can make are in their people and in their culture.
