Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratitude

So much to be grateful for!

While I know that we are grateful throughout the whole year, it seems we are more aware of it as we approach Thanksgiving.  I want to extend my gratitude and thanks for the work that you do, with a warm smile and heart, every day at Houlton.  Your connections, instruction, communication, high expectations, schoolwide contributions, and hard work are appreciated, and are the foundation on which our school success is built.

Thank you for taking the time last week to have your students write thank you notes.  I think this is a essential life skill (and a lost art, according to my mother...).  It is one of those things that has such great benefits not only for the recipient, but also for the giver.  Thanks for fitting this in!

I created blank thank you cards for you to use to share what you used your classroom money/gift for. I'll leave a stack in the work room this week, and an envelope to collect them, so they can be delivered to the family.  They are very excited to see how their gift impaced your work!

With continued thanks -
Sue

What is Employee Rounding?

Rounding

A few weeks ago, Dr. Ouellette talked a little bit about Employee Rounding, a strategy used to increase staff engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction.  As this strategy begins to be utilized, I wanted to provide a little more information to define its purpose.  The goals of rounding are to create approachable leaders, strengthen relationshiops, find improvement opportunities, and show appreciation for employees. And the end result, to create a work environment that both staff and students/families want to be a part of.

1.  Increase staff engagement
Employee rounding increases staff engagement by building relationships through direct interaction between staff and leaders.  Creating purposeful work and environments keeps employees engaged in their tasks and responsibilities.

2.  Increase staff satisfaction
This process allows leaders to spend time talking to staff about concerns and praise.  When clear comminication is in place, ideas and improvements are easily implemented and positive change is made. Recognizing things that are going well, employee concerns - AND noting others that are strong contributors - is important in creating a happy and productive workplace.

3.  Increase staff retention
Staff turnover is difficult for everyone.  Employee rounding allows leaders to listen to staff ideas and address concerns, which will create an enthusiastic environment that staff will not want to leave.

4.  Increase "client" satisfaction
The bottom line - when employees (our staff) are satisfied, then clients (our students and families) receive better attention and service.  And this is what our work is all about

I have started these conversatons with some, and am keeping track of the concerns/suggestions that are made.  Some of them are things that can be "fixed" immediately, some over time, and some (for a variety of reasons) aren't able to be addressed at this time. The communication of this information will be called a Stop Light Report (linked in Blog on Essential Documents tab) and will look like this:

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Have a great week -

Sue