Reflection 1 - Conference Summary

From: Aisha Ruther
Email: Aisha_Ruther@ymcachgo.org
Date: May 19, 2008

Comments

"Why Is Recruitment So Hard?" by Dr. Kay Albrecht is the title of the workshop/session that was most meaningful to me. We answered the title question by identifying the different reasons recruiting and retaining staff is such a significant challenge: education requirements/qualifications, salary and benefits (competing with public schools), working conditions (excessive workload), high expectations, and general work ethics of this younger generation. We acknowledged the reality that we cannot change or fix the reasons for recruitment problems, but then we explored possible solutions to reduce our frustration. One key point I took away from the session is that first I need to define the culture of my program. Once I have done that, I can have a higher percentage of retaining staff because I will hire staff based on whether they fit the program's culture, and not simply an applicant's documented qualifications (i.e. earned degrees).