Are you finding it difficult to attract and retain your best people? Well, today's conversation is with a leader whose organization has low turnover because of a flourishing workplace culture. Listen in as Garret Larsen with Cho-Yeh Camp and Conference Center describes five initiatives that contribute to their workplace health.
Tell us about Cho-Yeh Camp and Conference Center. First of all, what does your unique name mean? And what is the mission of your organization? (2:06)
Cho-Yeh means tall pine or pine tree (02:14)
How do you help your team gear up for a busy season, and then help them get refreshed as you move to the next season? (02:56)
"Our summer camp program blew away enrollment records - growing by 15% - serving 4,600 summer campers. We also launched a new 300 bed camp facility made out of shipping containers – called Boxwoods. That location served over 4,000 campers from Churches who run their own 3-to-4-day summer camp programs." (03:23)
"And as we grow – we are definitely experiencing some growing pains. One of our current challenges is making sure we have enough players on the team to keep a sustainable pace." (04:12)
How does having a flourishing culture help you to attract and retain outstanding talent? (05:27)
"In order to retain this talent, we have to make sure that it's a great place to work. We have a great retention rate among our full-time staff. Most of our team coming from other organizations love working here because they realize right off the bat how much healthier it is compared to where they've come from." (06:11)
You and the team at Cho-Yeh have been participating in the BCWI Employee Engagement survey for 4 years. And the results for your organization are truly stellar with 83% of your employees in our Engaged category! Why do you keep doing the survey on an annual basis? What do you keep learning as you continue to survey your staff? (07:36)
"We need help identifying your blind spots." (08:10)
"It gives us a vocabulary for areas where do thrive and have strengths." (08:23)
Your scores on inspirational leadership are very high, well above the sector averages for that attribute. What are some practices that you have in place that set this tone for your leadership team and how they connect with the staff? (08:58)
Can you give an example of how innovation is part of the DNA of your team, and help us understand why people feel empowered in this way?(12:07)
"If you don't fail then you've never had anything worthy trying." (13:01)
"Abundance Mentality vs Scarcity Mentality" (13:14)
How have you and your senior team helped rally your staff around the mission and vision of Cho-Yeh camp? (18:08)
ViMVa3 Vision, Mission, Values and our top 3 priorities (18:45)
Another area of strength for Cho-Yeh is having fun at work. Of course, a camp environment does sound like fun! Do you have some regular practices that bring a sense of fun into the workplace? How does that fun environment link to innovation as well? (20:54)
Friday after work games. Friday staff lunches. Humor. Staff retreat (22:05)
I see that your camp has decided to exceed national safety standards in its commitment to preventing abuse. What have you learned in this area that might help other leaders who are working to uphold a high standard in their operations? (25:36)
"As a culture at camp we are a high trust environment who intentionally distrusts human nature when it comes to protecting children." (26:24)
As you look ahead to the next few years, what do you see on the horizon for your organization? What excites you about where God is leading, and what challenges do you need to face with new ideas and energy? (28:10)
Are you dealing with an organization that's flat and stagnant? Dr. Jason Rachels is the president of Calvary Christian Academy, the largest Christian...
Best Christian Workplaces : October, 24 2022
Best Christian Workplaces