The United Way of Rhode Island’s mission is by definition one that focuses on the community outside its office. According to its Web site, United Way is concentrating on four distinct missions: connecting people to the services they need; building affordable homes and reducing homelessness; increasing job skills and supporting success in school.
“People come to work here because they’re connected to the mission of the organization,” said Tony Maione, president and CEO of United Way.
But now the nonprofit is investing in itself and is seeing dividends as it introduces a new way to think about management. The new “culture of coaching” is allowing employees at all levels to communicate better with one another, and as a result, bring new ideas to the table.
There are no titles that interfere with discussions, said Carolyn Watkinson, an administrative assistant. “It makes us more productive because it knocks down those barriers.”
This year, senior managers at United Way underwent training to manage their staff more like a coach. They give their “teammates” high-fives when they had big successes – “home runs” – congratulate them for smaller successes – “base hits” – and encourage them and offer support when they “swing and miss.”
“We make sure we are able to pat people on the back for good work that gets done,” said Maione. “When we focus on the positive, it makes people feel more appreciated.”
Even quarterly reviews are not perceived as an opportunity to punish shortcomings. Rather, they are a time for employees to assess themselves and talk about successes or difficulties. For management, it is an opportunity to acknowledge the home runs and base hits as well as better understand how they could have better supported their employee when there was a swing and a miss.
In addition to the training given to change the culture of the organization to one of coaching, United Way has moved to break down even more barriers by helping staff understand how they perceive and process information. Participants all took the Myers-Briggs personality tests and learned how to communicate effectively across a broad spectrum of personalities and styles.
It is not enough to make a demand and say “we have to communicate better,” said Maione. You need to teach people and show them how to do it, he said.
The training has “brought awareness and respect for differences,” Watkinson said.
As a result of the training, staff members took it upon themselves to hold monthly lunch meetings dubbed “the luncheon learning series.” All members of the staff, from the CEO on down, gather together to discuss different topics.
Although the luncheons are voluntary, almost everyone participates, schedule permitting, said Watkinson.
A new online performance-management system has been introduced by the human resources department that allows employees to access their goals, upcoming due dates and will allow United Way to set up succession plans and talent-development pools. •
