Staff Newsletter | Tuesday, August 2, 2022
“Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Ever since the mask mandate was rescinded back in March, we have been focused on growing our membership base. It has been a slow and steady climb, with membership hovering at 70% of pre-COVID numbers. Thanks to an effective marketing promotion in July, we were able to continue a positive trajectory in a month that typically experiences a loss in membership. Even with the promotion, though, membership did not achieve the budgeted numbers as over 500 accounts placed their membership on hold at the beginning of the month.
Throughout the past two-plus years, we chose to suspend our join fee in an effort to remove all barriers to make it easier for people to join our Y. Unfortunately not having a join fee also makes it easier for members to leave our Y since they don’t have to worry about paying this fee when they resume their membership. We place a high value on membership. Effective October 1, we will reinstitute our join fee at a modest rate of $75 for the first adult and $50 for the second (there is no join fee for youth). In addition to the join fee, we will reinstitute a hold fee. Members can place their account on hold for up to three months a year, either sequentially or independently, for a fee of $10 per month per household. While on hold, members will have access to virtual programming through YMCA360. Once the three-month hold limit has been reached in the calendar year, members will receive a notification outlining three options: (1) their membership will automatically resume active status once the hold concludes; (2) if they want to cancel, we will offer the Virtual+* membership as an option; or (3) if they want to cancel and are not interested in Virtual+, the membership will be terminated. (*The Virtual+ membership provides members access to a complete array of programs from our Y – plus one community center visit each month – as well as virtual programming from 100+ Ys in the Y360 network nationally.) Megan Sala, Senior Executive Director of Member Engagement, has done a great job leading the work to design the membership fee structure moving forward. Thank you, Megan; your work helps position our Y in the best light possible to be successful.
Last week, Brian Flattum engaged the executive directors in a discussion about the fee increases, asking for their input. They were unanimous, which was a factor that played strongly in the ultimate decision. I appreciate how Brian has engaged the executive directors and how that has become a strength of our organization. We are a better organization when our team is fully engaged and offering input that makes us better. When Brian informed me that the executive directors were strongly in favor of a fee increase, I took note and it influenced my decision.
In last week’s all-staff meeting, Chris Spivey and Stephanie Roberts shared that the results from the staff culture discussions indicated that staff desire to be heard and empowered in their work. In order for that to happen, it is necessary for leaders in the organization to provide opportunities for that to occur. When I was considering what I was going to do about membership fees, I took the input from the executive directors as the final piece of information that influenced my decision. For the past two years, we have focused on building our Y. As part of that process, we identified that having a strong staff culture is the most important ingredient. We know that building our Y starts and ends with having a strong team. We also know that in order to have a strong team, we must cultivate a strong culture for our team to excel, one where staff are heard, empowered, and celebrated.
Last week, I attended the City of Sumner’s council meeting along with Jenna Lehman, Executive Director of our Gordon Family Y. This was an important meeting for us. We were seeking approval for the new services agreement that would ultimately enable us to acquire the property for the new playfield adjacent to the Gordon Y. Jenna and her team, alongside Toko Thompson, designed the services agreement outlining the services the Y will provide to the Sumner community in exchange for the property. Jenna did a great job in her presentation and the agreement was approved, enabling us to proceed with the project. It will be great to have outdoor fields at Gordon, but as exciting as that will be for our program delivery, it was more exciting to watch Jenna excel in her new role as executive director. I have seen Jenna grow in our Y and now take this step in her development.
Along with being heard and empowered, staff also identified personal and professional development as key components for a strong culture. Over the past two years, our organization has given many of our staff opportunities for growth professionally. Kyle Eggenberger, Toby Roberts, Jared Johnson, Emily Morisawa, Denise Landis, Chris Spivey, and Holly Tedford are all executive directors who have been promoted within our organization. In addition, there have been many others given opportunities to take the next step in their professional careers, such as Michael Sloan who is the new senior membership director at the Morgan Family Y, and Kate Hardeman who is the new associate executive director for the University Y and Tacoma Center. Similarly, Shane Riley and Jyot Sandhu were recently promoted to the next level of their professional development, to digital experience product manager and marketing program manager, respectively. It is energizing for our Y to see staff work hard and earn a promotion, but as Curt Archambault, Learning and Development Director, shared in the all-staff meeting, our Y is determined to invest in all of our staff and prepare them for the next step in their development.
Investing in staff development is another vital component to building a strong culture for our Y. It is great to be able to celebrate the growth and development of our staff, but sometimes we find ourselves celebrating a staff member taking that next step in their development outside of our Y. On Friday, Susan Buell will be stepping into a national role as a consultant to the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, to continue the work she started 15 years ago for our Y. Susan has been an advocate for evidenced-based programming that has elevated our Y as one of the leaders in providing critical health services to people in need; specifically, chronic disease programming. Susan has been a key leader in establishing a medical referral program, as well as breaking new ground in the third-party pay that continues to evolve and presents great opportunities for our Y. Courtney Austin, who has worked alongside Susan for several years, will continue leading this work. (Susan will actually continue working with Courtney one day a week to help us move forward.) Megan Sala will work alongside Courtney and Susan to help with the referrals and third-party payment contracts. Through her work, Susan has brought our Y over $200,000 in grant contracts over the past year. We are grateful for all Susan has done for our Y, and that she has prepared Courtney to effectively continue delivering these vital services.
Strengthening our culture is our number one priority. It is the crucial component to building our Y. One measure of our strength is whether we have the next person ready to step up when needed. Looking around our Y, and seeing the many staff who have taken that step, I would say we are very strong. Our team continues to step up. Thank you all! You make the difference for our Y and for the people we serve.
#OneY #StayStrong #StayWithUs