When my partner and I took over CIS 19 years ago, I was happy to lead the strategic planning process. Each year, working on the plan allows me to step back from the day-to-day challenges of our agency and think about how CIS can grow, change, and get better at what we do.

With some preparation and research, you can create a strategic plan to reach your social service agency’s goals efficiently. Here is the framework I use. I hope it enables you to develop strategies for success in your field.

Step 1: Start by Inventorying Existing Plans and Goals

Unless this is the very first strategic plan ever created for your organization, the first step is review. Look at your agency’s most recent plan and inventory past goals and objectives. Take note of when your organization last created a strategic plan. Research how goals and objectives were tracked or measured and note any evaluations or relevant scores.

In addition to evaluating the relevance of existing plans, review measurement procedures. Is the evaluation process adequate? Does it need tweaking or even overhauling? As the management consultanta , Peter Drucker says, “what gets measured gets managed”

Establishing confidence in a current plan and associated evaluations is the first step. If it is solid, you can build on it. On the other hand, if the plan is outdated, insufficient, or non-existent, don’t get discouraged. That may give you the opportunity to build a new plan from scratch.

2. Revisit the Mission Statement

When it comes to setting and achieving strategic goals, don’t forget to revisit the mission statement. It’s a reminder of high-level goals and can serve as a helpful guide for staying focused on the big picture. Reviewing the mission statement should provide clarity on what is working well and what needs to be improved.

Use your mission statement as a filter. Everything in the strategic plan should be aligned with the statement and directly support long-term goals.

Step 3. Complete a SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths are things that already exist in some form within your organization, such as exceptional facilities, experts on staff, awards and recognition, or high success rates.

Weaknesses are internal challenges. They might include things like aging equipment, poor location, staff shortages, or conflicts within your organization.

Opportunities are outside factors that favor your organization. Examples include an increasing need for your services, government leaders who champion your cause, or a decline in providers offering the same services in your area.

Finally, threats are external conditions that create headwinds. Perhaps recent legislation presents a new obstacle. Maybe shifts in the industry, social events, or even economic dips make it harder to execute your strategies.

SWOTs are not meant to solve anything. But they make the strategic planning team aware of how difficult or easy it will be to take on new challenges in the coming year.

Step 4. Develop Strategies and Tactics Aimed at Improved Performance

A strategy is a top-level summation of a plan of action. In the strategic planning process, strategies provide directional explanations for reaching long-term goals.

For example, if a long-term goal or objective is to “reduce recidivism,” your strategies might include

• Develop relationships with local police to explore potential triggers for recidivism
• Leverage university resources to research causes of recidivism formally

If a long-term goal or objective is to “provide best-in-class service,” your strategies might include expanded services, enhanced facilities, or measures designed to attract and keep top-tier staff.

Tactics come next. These are the details that explain how you’ll execute strategies. For example, let’s revisit the strategy of “Develop relationships with local police to explore potential triggers for recidivism.” How will that work, exactly? Sample tactics might include:

• Appoint internal liaisons to work with local police
• Conduct research by conducting fifty one-on-one policy interviews to solicit opinions on recidivism
• Share results with police and stakeholders
• Explore the possibility of creating a recurring panel with police and local stakeholders to discuss the issue and brainstorm new approaches

Once you have strategies and tactics in place, you’re ready to assign duties and start making progress.

It’s also smart to format tactics in ways that make measurement simple. Remember that part of the next plan is tracking the success of each tactic. In some cases, it’s easy. (You either completed research or you didn’t.) In others, including specificity and numbers may be necessary.

For example, for the tactic “Share results with police and stakeholders” the measurement is not clear. In this case, you might want to revise the tactic into two parts, as shown here.

• Share and discuss results with the city’s chief of police.
• Share and discuss the results with mayor, state senator, and at least four local media outlets.

5. Financials

Now you need to get down to the math. You’ll need to document financial considerations and include estimates for each part of your strategic plan. While many aspects of your strategic plan will be mission-driven, some features are practical considerations. For example, will your budget allow you to buy new equipment? How will you fund research? How many people can you employ? 

At this stage, it’s wise to lean on the folks in accounting, HR, and operations to create reliable budgets. A well-rounded team can produce accurate estimates and help identify potential trade-offs. For example, if you must invest $100,000 in a new piece of equipment, how can you fund it? Can you get more funding, amortize the expense, or do you need to eliminate other costs? Your financial team can help you develop options.

6. Create Public Value

In our world, public funding is a reality. So your strategic plan must dovetail with the needs of your public audiences. These stakeholders usually include some combination of public administrators, community leaders, industry leaders, mental health experts, local healthcare organizations, and government policymakers.

Keep your stakeholders’ agendas in mind throughout the strategic planning process. If you’re not sure what their agendas are, talk to them. Make sure you know exactly what other people need and expect from your social services organization, and structure your plan in ways that ensure you can deliver on expectations.

Now Get Started!

Strategic planning isn’t quick or easy, so give yourself several months to complete it. Remember that you’ll need to do some measurements, access other opinions, create a financial team, and more. And day-to-day priorities will get in the way and occasionally hijack your schedule. That’s why I strongly recommend giving yourself about twice as much time as you think you’ll need.

Strategic planning is one of the most effective ways to positively impact a social services agency. If you follow these steps, give yourself plenty of time, and bring in experts when needed, you’re on your way to making a big difference in the success of your organization.

That’s because anyone who works with people knows that one size does not fit all. Humans accumulate a wide range of positive and negative life experiences. Their mental and physical abilities, combined with their experiences with support systems such as families, schools, and caregivers, influence how each person processes information. The result is millions of different people acting and reacting in millions of different ways.

When Janell and I started Community Integrated Services (almost two decades ago), we knew our success depended on developing custom plans for each new client. CIS was created to help people with developmental disabilities and a history of behavioral issues. When helping these people, we can’t make assumptions or develop assembly line approaches: we have to meet each new client where they are.

But custom approaches can take a lot of time and money to execute, and we wanted to make every dollar count so that we could expand. There is a long line of people needing services like ours. We knew that if CIS could scale up, we could help more people. So how could we grow efficiently while still employing a totally customized approach?

Customized Doesn’t Mean Unplanned

Community care at CIS is based on individual instruction and support plans (IISP) and positive behavior support plans (PBSP). Program managers create these plans for each client based on the client’s history, abilities, goals, and progress.

While each plan is individualized, program managers start by working with an established framework to analyze needs. They then reference a set of established criteria and work with other specialists to create customized care plans that meet all state and federal guidelines and take advantage of the latest research and information.

Once a plan is created, it allows an entire team to work together. It serves as the shared point of reference for a group of people. Much like a medical chart in a hospital, a CIS care plan allows different people to interact with clients without changing direction. Direct Support Professionals, or DSPs, follow these plans closely to meet clients’ emotional, practical, and medical needs.

We adjust and change plans based on our clients’ evolving needs or progress, but the process of planning is a core part of our business model.

Create a Deep Bench

We’ve found that the best way to provide consistent care is by helping our staff learn more than one skill. For example, many members of our senior team joined us to do one job but also showed skills in other areas. Once we spotted these abilities, we helped them grow into new positions that leverage their range of talents.

In sports, it’s called creating a deep bench. We are intentionally creating a flexible workforce by helping current employees expand their knowledge and expertise (instead of hiring a new employee with siloed skills). Staff can cover for co-workers in other departments.

For example, if a DSP can also help out in compliance, we are growing two skill sets. That DSP might continue to work with clients, or they may shift into compliance full-time, based on skills, need, and aptitudes. Developing multiple skill sets also minimizes the impact when a key hire leaves.

Don’t Assume

Assumptions allow people to navigate through the world efficiently. For example, we may assume people with a particular job title act or react in specific ways. Maybe we treat cashiers and teachers differently based on past experiences. Some assumptions help us navigate life without examining each encounter with fresh eyes.

However, assumptions are rarely helpful when interacting with social work clients. Each employee at CIS must meet each person without prejudices. We don’t assume they will interact or react the same way as another client.

This approach requires our staff to work harder, observe more closely, and take more time to really learn how each client is unique. Observation and analysis are needed before we can begin to create effective care plans.  Our intentional refusal to make assumptions helps us serve our clients more effectively. It also prevents us from rushing into treatment plans based on the needs or behaviors of other clients.

Make Customization the Norm, Not the Exception

If you want to implement a fully tailored approach, it’s crucial to make customization the core of your business model. That means that made-to-order is the norm, not the exception.

Instead of trying to create standard versions and adding customizations, develop processes that allow you to adapt every time. For every client, our approach starts with formal evaluations. We then submit paperwork to the state and assign a support team that includes DSPs, supervisors, and program managers. These steps are mandatory, and we do these things every time. 

But the evaluations are simply information gathering. They provide the data needed to create individualized plans for each client. And while these assessments have a framework and requirements, we can change them when needed. We have to meet baseline goals and objectives, but we can then include elements as we discover the need for them. For example, we may accept a client with paperwork that doesn’t indicate any medical issues. During the course of our evaluations, we may discover they have significant hearing loss. That changes our approach, and we’ll start creating plans incorporating hearing loss. We help the individual access a specialist or try out hearing aids to help us address all of the client’s needs. We add and adjust as the complete client profile is developed.

Conversely, we don’t discover hearing loss and then ignore it. Even though the hearing loss was not part of the initial profile, adapting and adjusting to new findings is part of what we do. It may add work to the process, but these shifts are never avoided or ignored. That’s what true customization affords us: the ability to treat clients holistically.

Building on a Structure for Customization

In the end, we can be creative problem solvers if an organizing structure is holding it together. We have a basic framework that keeps us in compliance. It helps us maintain standards, develop efficiencies, routinize approaches, and establish pathways for success.

Like the framework for a house, our structure is spare, practical, and necessary. And it also allows us to build custom programs quickly and efficiently. The structure is there to support the customization.

With a solid structure providing core strength, we can continue to customize and grow. And in our line of work, growing also means helping more people. It’s the rationale behind everything we do, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Undergraduates Can Create Career Pathways

A career pathway is a preparatory approach to starting a career. For example, a university is often a prerequisite for a variety of professions. You must have a nursing degree to be a nurse. Lawyers have law degrees. Teachers usually have education degrees.

But career pathways are also a collection of experiences, job history, memberships, and activities. Volunteerism, professional affiliations, networking, and professional experience can become part of a rich and varied pathway.  

For instance, a student who graduates with an education degree is ready to start applying for teaching positions. But, because every other teacher also has a degree, that qualification alone doesn’t make a candidate stand out.

But if that student with an education degree has also volunteered with Special Olympics, held a part-time job helping adults with developmental disabilities, and been a member of the Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE), their career pathway becomes much more focused. They’ve demonstrated commitment and gathered practical experience during their college years, setting them apart from other first-time job applicants.

Part-Time Jobs Can Build Resumes

Many students want or need to get part-time jobs while in college. However, well-paying jobs usually demand regular hours or full-time status. Because university class schedules and availability changes from semester to semester, students often take flexible positions as waiters, bartenders, or cashiers. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

With some footwork, many students can find better-paying part-time jobs that inform their chosen field, expose them to broader perspectives, and look good on resumes.

For example, at CIS, we offer part-time jobs in Spokane and South King County that start at $20 per hour. Students who work at CIS will learn about adults with disabilities and behavioral issues. Working as a Direct Support Professional (DSP), students will learn about the role of community care and some aspects of social programs in Washington State. As DSPs, our employees will gain knowledge and perspective from colleagues with expertise in education, psychology, psychiatry, government, criminal justice, healthcare, social work, administration, and human resources.

Students who work at places like CIS gain a better understanding of their chosen profession.

After all, this kind of first-hand knowledge and real-world experience fortifies career pathways and provides relevant context for many types of higher-ed coursework.

Part-Time Job Checklist for College Students

How can students find part-time jobs that build career pathways? Here are a few job-hunting tips to follow:

• Build relationships with professors. They are often asked to recommend students for good jobs. Make it clear that you’re looking for immediate part-time work related to your major.
• Talk to your college advisor. Let them know you want to build your resume with part-time work. They can often provide suggestions for employers that welcome students.
• Don’t ignore job listings for full-time work in your field. In this job market, some employers are willing to be flexible. If you let them know you’re studying the field and want to get paid experience, they may accommodate you by creating a part-time position or referring you to another opening within the company
• Try to move past the desire to work at “fun” or “cool” workplaces. Theme park or bartending position can be enjoyable, but the experience gained probably won’t impress future employers.
• Look for jobs that offer paid training. Many positions require job-specific training or certification. The employer may pay employees for the training and all fees for obtaining such credentials.
• If all else fails, request an exploratory interview, and position it as a part of your studies. During this interview, you’ll ask an executive or someone from human resources questions about what’s required to work there, what kind of people they hire, and where they advertise for new employees. Once you’ve established rapport, you can ask if they’d ever hire someone like you for part-time work. Even if they refuse, you have gathered valuable intel to help you better position yourself for the next interview. 

Apply for Part-Time Work at CIS

If you or a college student you know in the Spokane or South King County area is looking for well-paying part-time work that will fortify their college resume, encourage them to apply for a position as a DSP at Community Integrated Services. We start employees at $20 an hour, and with a bit of notice, we’re usually able to work around college class schedules.

Work at CIS will enhance resumes for students getting a degree in education, healthcare, law, criminal justice, law enforcement, social work, government, social policy, sociology, nonprofit management, community development, organizational leadership, and more. Apply today!

CIS is an agency committed to offering compassion, providing support, documenting incremental progress, and creating hope for a better future. If you’re not in human services, that last sentence probably sounded cliché. But it rings true for the people who spend their days working on some of society’s biggest challenges.

Helping new employees see the value in this kind of work isn’t always easy, but what they do matters. And we want to help them succeed. So when things get tough, we often recommend one of these powerful strategies.

1.   Stop Looking for a “One-Size-Fits-All” Answer

We deal with people. Our clients come to us with a combination of developmental disabilities, a history of abuse, health issues, and behavioral problems. Each client is very different.

That means there is rarely one right way to approach any given task. There might be the best way for now or the best course given your time and resources, but no one-size-fits-all answer. That’s why we sometimes pursue exceptions to our policies, treatments, or approaches. When you’re a DSP, the best strategy is to treat each client as a genuine individual and stay flexible.

2.   Meet People Where They Are

Social workers love this phrase, and it’s kind of my own professional mantra. Meeting people where they are is all about acceptance without judgment.

All of our clients come to us with challenging personal histories. Many have been abused or neglected and have a history of unstable housing opportunities.  They can struggle with serious health issues. Often, a client doesn’t yet have a clear understanding of boundaries or expectations.

Meeting people where they are requires us to let go of personal histories and expectations. Instead, we focus on the client’s reality, ability, and needs right now. This philosophy requires me to accept that life made them as they are. I try to let go of labels like “good” or “bad.” Instead, we focus on creating plans to help and support each client to grow into their next stage.

3.   Generalizations Can Be Counter Productive

Even when employees have accepted that there is no “one-size-fits-all” answer, they are still tempted to generalize. The danger in generalizations is that DSPs may want to categorize based on past client history instead of taking the time to do careful evaluations. The employee may think, “They are the same as the client who came in a few months ago. We’ll apply the same treatment plan.”

But the combination of disabilities, disorders, and traumas constantly changes, which means that people are rarely “the same.” So instead of generalizing, our DSPs must spend time observing, analyzing, and understanding each client before we can create a plan to help them thrive.

4.   It Takes Time to Trust

CIS clients often come to us with their guards up. And while we provide compassionate, predictable environments, it’s rarely enough to generate client trust. Instead, each client needs months, even years, to feel safe.

Our DSPs can become impatient during this process. But we remind them that our clients are moving as fast as they are able. They have built up emotional armor over the years, and a failure to trust is not intentional or even controllable.

5.   There is no Trust Without Consistency

One way our DSPs can build trust is to be reliable. That means they make extra efforts to show up consistently. They don’t make promises they can’t keep and tell a reasonably polite version of the truth. Once the client sees that the DSP is reliable, trust begins, and everything else becomes more manageable.

6.   Don’t Underestimate the Power of Small Victories

When it comes to clients with developmental disabilities, accomplishments happen in inches, not yards. Each small change or minor shift should be considered a cause to celebrate

7.   Never Give up. Progress Can Take Years.

The hard truth is that some of our clients may never truly recover. Perhaps we’ve tried ten different approaches, and the client hasn’t responded to any. Unfortunately, in social services (and in life), progress is not guaranteed.

But that doesn’t mean we give up. Maybe we can’t help everyone, but we can never stop trying. At CIS, our teams understand that even if a person seems beyond our help, we don’t stop searching for a more effective approach.

Do You Know Someone Who Would Make a Great DSP?

If you know someone interested in starting a social services career and looking for a company that trains new employees and pays for certification, visit our career page and check out our current listings in South King County and Spokane, Washington.

To get this vision, higher-ed students must understand the role human services and social work play in creating a solid community and a strong nation. While it’s common for universities to mandate classes in the sciences, political science, history, or literature, it’s much less common to require students to understand social policy challenges in our country.

Americans are Misinformed About Social Issues

A lack of understanding of human services and social work has serious consequences. Without the ability to look at the world in a fully dimensional way, college graduates may instead rely on pundits, political parties, or intentional misinformation to form opinions. The resulting issues are easy to spot in almost every aspect of social work. For example:

• One in four Americans believes poverty is the result of laziness.
• Americans have widely varying views on prison sentencing that are often linked to political party affiliations.
• 59% of U.S. men say single women raising children harms society.
• 44% of Americans believe government aid to the poor does more harm than good. 
• 30% believe that a weak personality causes depression.
• Roughly 30% believe that recovery from either mental illness or drug addiction is impossible.
• Although people with disabilities represent 12.6% of the population, only 41% of doctors are very confident they can provide adequate care to this population, despite federal laws requiring the delivery of such care.

My point is not to criticize opinions on these issues but to give students the tools to seek out multiple sources of information on social issues to inform their points of view. Most social policy professionals agree that individuals in need of support face multiple issues which hold them back from achieving their life goals. Social policy education will help more people understand how small problems can cascade into larger, life-altering consequences quickly.

Mandated Classes in Social Policy Offer a Range of Benefits

Making social policy a college requirement could mitigate many of these misconceptions. By asking students to study the history of social issues in America, the successes and failures of past and current programs, and the benefits of addressing social issues, we arm our future leaders with foundational skills that improve their ability to assess social issues throughout their careers.

Presenting a series of case studies and exercises allows students to critically evaluate all the factors that contribute to the existence of a range of social issues. We can demonstrate that people from all walks of life might rise and fall within a lifetime and show how human services may help people rebound from challenging situations. We can also explain that while poverty can be a trap, it is not necessarily the result of a bad work ethic or a lack of determination. And finally, we can emphasize that how Americans approach poverty, crime, abuse, disabilities, and homelessness has an enormous impact on the scope of each issue.

Demonstrate the Benefits of Sound Social Policy

 As someone who has worked in social services and education with a doctorate in educational psychology, it’s easy for me to see how social policy affects society. I spent years studying social policy and a lifetime practicing it. So, it’s frustrating to encounter smart people from good colleges who are not only uninformed but uninterested in learning more.

If we can reach college students in their formative years when they’re willing and able to learn and absorb new information, we can teach them a range of valuable lessons, including;

• The ability of social policy to reduce crime and incarceration rates
• How vulnerable populations become homeless
• How the desperation of homelessness can accelerate crime, drug use, and abuse
• The societal effects of overcrowded prisons and the impact of sending more people to prison
• The ability of social work to support law enforcement by addressing mental health crises, allowing police departments to concentrate on other issues that can reduce crime
• The power of social policy to build a better workforce
• The positive impact of mental health assistance
• The role of mothers in our society and the importance of fostering stable environments for children
• The critical role of the social safety net for people with developmental disabilities

How Does Your University Handle Social Policy Requirements?

I’ve connected with hundreds of university educators in the past few months. I’m interested to learn what you think about making social policy classes a requirement for education. Is it possible to create a movement to add social policy education to university requirements? What are the barriers? Is any university currently doing this?

I’d love your feedback. Together, we can ensure our future leaders have the tools they need to make the best decisions.

Social services careers also offer an exceptional degree of flexibility. Unlike many other fields, experience in social work is often a valuable stepping stone to a wide range of careers. Because social services focus on human interaction and social problem solving, they provide practical experience for future jobs in other fields.

Even people without prior experience may find that entry-level positions offer them the opportunity to build a rewarding career. But that doesn’t mean social services are simple. Social work requires an open mind and a caring attitude at every level. Here are a few of the strategies our employees use to help our clients live their best lives.

Don’t Generalize

Generalizations are a way for humans to navigate through the world efficiently. For example, we may learn that we work well with one type of person. Or we may find that we have much in common with people from a particular culture or background. These types of generalizations are usually based on personal experience and help the average person navigate through life without having to start fresh with each situation.

However, most of these generalizations are not helpful in social work. When we work with our clients, we must meet each person without prejudices. Each individual is different. Even if they seem to be similar to other clients, we never assume that they will interact or react in the same ways.

Letting go of generalizations is difficult. It requires each of us to work harder, observe more closely, and take more time to really learn how each client is unique.  But this approach helps us serve them more effectively and prevents us from employing the wrong treatment.

Don’t Cling to One Version of a Fulfilling Life

Most of us have some parts of our lives that we consider essential to our happiness. Home, families, pets, experiences, and jobs are often part of one’s definition of a fulfilling life. But each client at Community Integrated Service comes to us with limitations. Sometimes these limitations are minor, but often they are significant. For some people, these limitations would seem to preclude a fulfilling life.

That’s why our team keeps an open mind when developing each client’s version of a fulfilling life. For some of them, it’s as simple as having a friend and being around kind people. Others want or need more. Everyone has their own definition and expectations.

Every CIS team member must come to the situation with an open mind. We must all continually re-evaluate the meaning of a happy life. By focusing on each client’s needs and setting aside our own definitions or expectations, we are much better equipped to help them grow and thrive.

Be Reliable. Trust Isn’t Possible Without It.

Anyone in social services must build trust. First, they must build trust with their employer, but they must also build trust with co-workers and especially with clients. But it isn’t possible without reliability and consistency.

Reliability is at the foundation of every meaningful relationship. Our team must create routines, schedules, and plans. Inconsistent, unreliable, erratic, or unpredictable behavior is unacceptable. Each employee must be committed to following through.

While unreliable employees are inconvenient to an employer, they can be psychologically damaging to a client. Our clients with developmental disabilities are often unable to rationalize or understand inconsistency. It makes them feel unsettled and even unsafe. That’s why every one of our employees must be dependable and reliable.

Be Patient. It Takes Time to Trust.

Many social workers and direct support professionals are surprised to discover that it can take weeks, even months, for their clients to trust them. Even when the employee is patient, kind, consistent, and caring, some clients will continue to push them away.

As a social services professional, this is one of the most complex parts of the job. We reach out to help again and again but are ignored, rebuffed, or even pushed away.

Working with developmentally disabled people is demanding. Combined with a history of behavioral and medical issues, it becomes even more challenging. That’s why it’s so important to keep working with your team, adjusting care plans, and staying optimistic. Kindness, consistency, and caring will eventually help the client to trust the employee.

Don’t Give Up

Sometimes, even when it seems that we’re doing everything right, we don’t see progress with a client. Perhaps they have suffered extraordinary challenges or are emerging from exceptionally painful situations. In some cases, we begin to wonder if progress is even possible.

The hard truth is that progress isn’t guaranteed. But that’s no reason to give up. As social service providers and caregivers, we must keep trying. When we are charged with helping clients, we must continue to observe and record behavior. Over time, these observations will help us adjust our care plans to provide the best life possible. We don’t stop trying.

Ways to Get Started in Social Work

Some people go to college to get a social work degree. Others come to the field from psychology or medicine. But many people begin as direct support professionals or DSPs. Training as a DSP provides a relatively fast way to begin gaining experience in caregiving. At CIS, DSPs can be hired without experience in the field. We spend weeks in training and ensure that each new hire meets agency and state requirements. Some client needs require additional training and certification, which CIS will support and pay for if required.

This means that people of all ages can start a career in social services without investing in years of education. Instead, CIS offers paid training. We also promote from within, which is another way we help our employees grow in their careers.

If you’re interested in starting a social services career, visit our career page and see if any of our listings are right for you.

How did we do it? We grew steadily by increasing our government contracts’ size and scope, but we also made three acquisitions over the years, two of them in the last three years.

As you can imagine, that kind of rapid growth isn’t always easy. And we couldn’t have done it without our exceptional employees. As a human services organization, CIS takes the care of our clients seriously, but we also take the care of our employees seriously. Our mission is to provide better lives for our clients and our employees. That’s why we want to do more than provide jobs; we want to help our staff succeed professionally and personally. One of the most effective ways to do that is to promote from within.

Promoting From Within is Good for HR

For many business owners, the policy of promoting from within offers obvious benefits to employees, but it also makes HR’s mission clearer and easier to execute.

When we commit to promoting from within, our human resources team can hire people based on a fit with our core values and culture, which is essential in our work. Instead of looking for people based on a list of past jobs, our recruiting team can focus on an individual’s approach to caring for others. That means they can spend more time finding people who are good fits for social services careers. As a result, our potential employee base is much broader, and we can recruit from various fields.

Promoting from within also fosters loyalty. Employees know that they can create a professional future with our company. That has helped us reduce turnover.

This policy also means that our HR department spends less time searching for hard-to-find senior employees. They can spend more time hiring foundational positions, hiring people based on their fit with our company culture and mission. At CIS, we spend less time recruiting and more time training.

Promoting From Within Works Well With our Mentoring Approach

Our management team is committed to informal mentoring. We talk with our teams regularly to help us better assess their strengths and weaknesses and create a well-rounded understanding of their professional needs and goals.

This shared-knowledge approach isn’t limited to senior management. We also train our employees to think about their career paths from day one. Any employee who is new to the field must complete a 75-hour training and orientation course, which includes a peer coaching component. After the orientation training, there is ongoing formal and informal training done within departments, as well as technical training in state law and policy.

We often ask employees to shadow other positions, always under the guidance of each department’s head or leader. The shadowing program helps our people understand the responsibilities of other staff members, supervisors, and departments. Not only does this help employees create a more holistic understanding of what we do and how we do it, but it also introduces them to other positions and placements. By creating an increased understanding of how each job works, we also reduce the likelihood of moving an employee into a position that is a poor fit.

Of course, many employees will require formalized training before taking on new responsibilities, but shadowing is often an effective way to pave the way to a job shift.

Promoting From Within Allows for Rapid Growth

Because CIS has a well-established history of promoting from within, our employees tend to have a “can-do” attitude. When your team knows their efforts are noticed and may be rewarded with advancement, it motivates your entire staff. A motivated staff is essential for a fast-growing company.

Promotion from within has created job flexibility, also needed for rapid growth. Through the years, CIS has occasionally created a variety of temporary, dual roles. When any company expands, they usually experience “stretch” periods, when the income does not yet warrant a full-time hire, yet the growing areas still require some attention. By creating hybrid positions based partially on business needs and partly on employee skills and preferences, a firm can cover tasks in a wide range of areas until the company has stretched enough to create a new, full-time position within a department. 

Tips for Promoting From Within

Creating hybrid or interim positions comes with challenges. That’s why it is so important to establish clear directives. Even if the new duties are a small part of that person’s overall responsibilities, create a job description that clarifies expectations for the current role and the new tasks. It is also vital to carefully monitor performance and make frequent updates to the job description as the person and position develop.

Any newly promoted individual must have plenty of support and guidance. It’s smart to connect the employee with a senior team member who can monitor progress and assess the need for additional training.

Having a solid knowledge of other jobs or responsibilities within the organization is critical for successful transitions, but they are not a guarantee of success. Keep in mind that some positions require a certain temperament, inherent skills, and natural abilities. For example, highly active people who avoid math will have difficulty sitting at a desk working through budgets. Conversely, introverts who dislike talking to new people may not be the best choice for public outreach roles. Take time to assess skills, desire, and natural ability before testing an employee out in a new position.

And What Happens When Internal Promotions Don’t Work Out?

It can be difficult for someone who has secured a promotion to admit that they are not suited for a particular position. Returning to a previous post can feel like a failure or an embarrassment and might be the reason an employee leaves a job. 

That is why it is important to “test the waters” with current employees. Arrange for them to take on pertinent tasks or short-term projects with a defined end date. With limited-time engagements, an employee gets a glimpse of what the position entails, and the employer can evaluate skills and abilities in action. Short-term assignments reduce the risk to the employee and the employer.

However, being too flexible can be a double-edged sword. While a willingness to experiment allows a company to discover hidden talents in successful employees, too many moving parts can make it difficult to monitor job structures and make quality control more challenging. That’s why it’s important to always name a dedicated mentor or supervisor to these kinds of assignments, to evaluate the employee and their accomplishments closely.

For example, in social services, it is common for individuals to start by providing direct care or services to a client, then be promoted to a case management position, and then to a supervisory role where they are responsible for overseeing multiple clients, supervisors, or sites. While we often promote from within, we usually start by asking for short-term assistance in one area. Sometimes one employee will complete several short-term assignments before being asked to move to a new position. Because each job shift requires a deep understanding of procedures, regulations, and even state laws, we don’t rush anyone into new responsibilities without thoroughly preparing them for the new role.

When developing a short-term project, be careful to avoid positioning an employee’s performance as a pass/fail. A common misstep is to say, “We’ll try you out here and see how you do.” This statement implies the employee will either meet or fall short of expectations. Instead, use language like, “We need short-term help in this area until we hire more people. Can you step in this month?”

By developing short-term assignments with clear end dates, not only do we get a person to help us meet temporary needs, but we also get a chance to monitor them carefully and observe how their skills transfer to other roles. If we need them to return to their original function, that’s also a success. At CIS, many of our short-term projects really do have end dates. Sometimes a new position materializes, but often it does not.

A Final Word

No matter which job our team members are tackling, we make sure our entire staff understands how highly valued each contribution is at CIS, in every department. By keeping our promotions program flexible and ongoing, we encourage our team members to try new roles with little personal risk. After all, as long as you excel at CIS’s core competency – compassionate care – we’ll find the right place for you in our organization.

Not only does our industry need the considerable skills that undergraduates offer, but it also offers a range of teaching and preparatory skills that enables students to understand their field in a more rounded way. And work in a community care facility also allows students to gain valuable experience that can be used to obtain jobs in their field of study.

Let’s start with a definition. A community care facility is any place or building maintained and operated to provide nonmedical residential care. At Community Integrated Services (CIS), our community care program is designed to serve the developmentally disabled, focusing on caring for individuals who also have a history of serious behavioral issues.

Why has the Community Care Approach Become More Prevalent?

CIS has expanded by 1800% since its founding 18 years ago. Our agency is growing quickly for a few different reasons. First, Americans are getting better at recognizing the need for places like CIS. In the past, developmentally disabled people with behavioral issues were often sent to asylums. Mismanagement and mistreatment led to the dissolution of these institutions, but they were not immediately replaced with better options. Instead, developmentally disabled individuals with social or behavioral issues were often sent to prison. Correctional facilities were overcrowded and poorly equipped to deal with disabilities, resulting in more mistreatment and high recidivism rates.

Secondly, many states now support agencies like CIS. Instead of incarceration, Washington state courts send some developmentally disabled offenders to CIS’s safe, supportive living environment. Many come to us with a history of severe abuse or homelessness. While some of our clients will always need very close supervision, many thrive in community care. We focus on teaching life skills and helping our clients find better ways to deal with stress and frustration. Clients learn to cook, clean, care for themselves, manage money, and interact positively with others. Many eventually get jobs and earn their own money.

Finally, the kind of community care offered by CIS has become a substantial part of the social safety net. Almost 3 million Americans currently work in community care facilities, and that number is expected to grow by about 11% over the next eight years. Not all community care facilities serve developmentally disabled individuals. Some care for veterans with mental health issues. Others focus on providing care to the elderly experiencing deteriorating mobility, memory, or cognitive abilities. All community care facilities are charged with providing a nurturing and caring living environment, monitoring physical and mental health, and rehabilitation when possible.

Community Care Can Be a Springboard to Other Careers

Community care needs more people. Facilities usually provide training. In fact, CIS offers fully-paid training and professional certification. But many college students avoid these types of jobs because they may be perceived as short-term or not analogous to their long-term career goals. But that’s not always a fair assessment.

Even entry-level positions allow employees to gain experience that is valuable in a wide range of careers. For example, working with disadvantaged populations can be foundational to a successful career in social work, non-profits, government, or public policy.

Transitioning people into community care as an alternative to incarceration often requires interaction with law enforcement, courts, and the penal system. This provides valuable experience for anyone interested in police work, criminal justice, or corrections.

Community care organizations spend a lot of time keeping abreast of government guidelines and social policy. This kind of attention to compliance is good preparation for any job in healthcare or healthcare resources. Community care employees also learn about care plans and bedside manner, which are also necessary for jobs in health.

Finally, working in a community care facility brings employees face to face with educational theory, teaching clients a range of skills and behaviors, and even budgeting. These skills will help anyone considering a career in education or finance.

Doing Well While Doing Good

One of the most attractive aspects of a career in community care is that employees are helping people. It’s easy to see how vital direct report professionals are to clients. And each day reminds employees how much they matter to people in need.

Jobs in community care can provide great emotional rewards. Employees are contributing to the greater social good while also making a difference in the lives of individuals. People who take jobs in community care may find that every day is a little different, but each day reminds them that their work matters and that they are making a difference.

If you’re a Spokane or South King County college student, contact us to explore your job options. It may just be the perfect starting point for your career.

In a 2021 report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that almost 1 in 4 inmates surveyed reported having a cognitive disability, such as difficulty remembering or making decisions.

Other reports note that correctional facilities have become the largest provider of mental health services in the country.

Why Are so Many Developmentally and Intellectually Disabled People Behind Bars?

In the past, individuals with intellectual disabilities or mental health conditions were committed to asylums or institutions. Civil rights movements resulted in the dissolution of these institutions in favor of including disabled individuals in schools and communities. For many people, this was a tremendous improvement.

While some welcomed this approach, studies also revealed that developmentally disabled individuals were now more likely to experience a range of conditions that significantly increased their likelihood of committing a crime, including homelessness, poverty, and abuse. And troubled individuals with intellectual disabilities were often sentenced to time behind bars, in part because no other alternatives existed.

Ill-Equipped for Institutional Incarceration

When people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are sentenced to conventional prisons, it compounds existing issues. They may be ill-equipped to defend themselves against violent inmates or can be exceptionally vulnerable to exploitation.

And because these folks don’t have the skills to integrate into society at large, recidivism is common. Many have never learned appropriate coping mechanisms. They may not know how to make good decisions or understand how to interact responsibly. Lacking critical social and reasoning skills, developmentally disabled inmates are challenging to safely manage and require more resources.

New Approaches Offer New Solutions

Some states, including Washington State, have begun community-based living approaches that offer long-term payoffs for offenders, correctional facilities, and society at large. The Washington State Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) Community Protection Program (CPP) was established to provide a structured, therapeutic environment for developmentally disabled offenders or clients with community protection issues. CPPs are a way to allow clients to live safely and successfully in the community without re-offending while minimizing the risk to public safety.

As a state CPP, CIS works in concert with corrections, Developmental Disabilities Administration, and treatment providers to identify risk levels. While some clients transform in our supportive environment, others continue to struggle with violence and are provided additional structure and support. But each CIS client lives in a safe environment, free from the threat of violence, intimidation, or exploitation.

With coaching, counseling, teaching, and constant supervision, many of our clients thrive. They learn how to cope with situations productively. They have a home, learn how to take care of themselves, live in a safe and supportive environment, develop healthy relationships, and are able to become gainfully employed.

Agencies like Community Integrated Services may play a significant role in the future of prison reform – providing a safe alternative to incarceration with a focus on protecting the community. Not only do CPPs take intellectually disabled people out of harm’s way (and protect others from being harmed), but organizations like CIS also teach life skills the individual has yet to master. As a result, these programs can help reduce the threat of repeat offenses or recidivism.

I hope that the twenty-first century provides a better path forward, with organizations like CIS working with the state and correctional institutions to offer compassionate care for some of our nation’s most troubled populations. As other states study and emulate the successes of Washington State, the future looks bright.

One: Share Your Intent to Create a Happy Workplace

This is an easy first step, but it comes with real consequences. When you tell team members that you want a happy workplace, it instantly becomes a goal. Your staff may make proactive suggestions on ways to improve morale. Or they may complain about demoralizing elements. Employee input is essential and should be encouraged (even if you can’t fulfill every request.) Conversely, anything you do to demotivate hires will make them doubly resentful. So, make sure you’re 100% sincere and committed when you share your intent to make your business a happy workplace, or it will backfire.

Two: Include the Purpose Behind Requests

The “just do it” approach does not make workers happy. Instead, help your employees feel valued by sharing the corporate purpose behind initiatives. Of course, staff members need direction on personal duties and responsibilities, but it helps them feel vested if you share the rationale behind those tasks.

By sharing the bigger picture when explaining duties or new procedures, a person no longer feels they are just a “do-er.” For example, instead of sending a memo about new requirements, explain that additional steps are being implemented to protect against potential lawsuits. In another instance, requiring cleared hallways is not as effective as telling your team to keep hallways clear to make it safer for people with disabilities to move through. 

Three: Praise Publicly, Correct Privately

When an employee does their job well, praise them. Even if, especially if, they always do it well. Don’t stop, even if you’re constantly saying, “great job” or always giving high fives. Feeling appreciated and noticed is a key element of a happy workplace.

When things go wrong, discuss it in private. Be kind. Be empathetic. And provide steps or suggestions to correct the behavior.  

Four: Encourage Social Behavior

Gallup research has repeatedly reported that having a best friend at work is a strong motivation for staying at a job. While many managers dislike office chatter, experts agree that friendships improve the quality of work and the likelihood of staying on even when other factors are not ideal. Having good friends at work increases feelings of trust and inclusion. In addition, friendship makes work more emotionally satisfying.

That doesn’t mean that the manager has to become a best friend. However, encouraging social behavior, including traditional “timewasters” such as chatting in the breakroom, birthday celebrations, and going out to lunch with coworkers, is actually a sound investment in employee satisfaction

Five: Be Transparent

Some managers believe that restricting access to corporate vision, career paths, or workplace challenges is a professional expectation. However, when managers are open about strategy, rationales, corporate initiatives, and even personal failings, they increase trust, encourage team-building, and build company loyalty.

The more company information supervisors share with their teams, the more involved and engaged their reports become. So instead of gatekeeping, share as much as possible. While it’s not smart to share information marked “confidential,” when possible, share data, P&L statements, business reports, marketing materials, and other business information with your entire team.

Six: Eliminate “Gotcha” Management

A friend once told me about the reaction she received to a 21-page report. It was a significant document, full of research, charts, and hard-to-find insights that represented about two weeks of work. When she submitted the report, the supervisor started reading, eventually found two minor typos, and then rejected the report angrily. That friend quit three weeks later.

That’s what happens when supervisors insist on total perfection. They actively search for any excuse to call out missteps. But the truth is that no matter who you are or how well you do your job, mistakes are inevitable. And that means any team will make errors. Eagerly looking for any issue, big or small, and unkindly reprimanding your staff is a foolproof way to lose employees.

So how do you eliminate a “gotcha” environment safely? When the stakes are high, assume some mistakes will happen and proactively put proofreaders, fact-checkers, reviews, or inspections in place. When the stakes are low, gently point out issues without reprimand. Finally, when the error is of no consequence (a small typo in a text about cake in the breakroom), ignore it.

And remember that using humor to point out mistakes does not soften the blow. Always position corrections as evaluation tools designed to promote professional growth.

Seven: Promote From Within

At CIS, we have always believed in promoting from within. We are committed to training our teams, and when we see talent, we try to cultivate it. As a result, we rarely hire outsiders for management positions. This approach has all kinds of benefits.

Many of our employees stay with us for years, even decades. They know that we are always looking to promote staff. An entry-level hire can be promoted repeatedly, eventually landing in a top-level position, and examples of this are all around them.

Employees who can see a future at your company are more likely to stay. The promise of future rewards motivates them to excel at their current job and to be vocal about their skills, ambitions, and preferences. 

Skilled Managers Result in Lower Turnover Rates

If your company is having issues with high turnover rates, remember that improving supervision skills is one of the most effective ways to increase employee satisfaction. By creating a more employee-friendly management style, you will also increase productivity, amplify engagement, and improve retention rates.