By Helynn Nelson
The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) is the sole authorizer of the 112 charter schools in Washington, DC. We see our role as providing quality school choices to DC’s families.
PCSB has long been recognized as one of the leading charter school authorizers in the nation. However, PCSB is emerging as a leader in another domain - employer of choice. Attracted by a work environment that recruits, develops and supports top talent, the best and the brightest are choosing to work for PCSB because they know they will have impact and will work with other strong performers dedicated to making our city a better place. Many remark that PCSB feels less like a government agency and more like a well-run, mission-driven non-profit. Achieving this requires a focused and deliberate approach.
PCSB understands that employment branding begins from the inside out and that both attracting and retaining staff is vital to its success. Being intentional about this begins with who PCSB is and what PCSB does. ‘The who’ and ‘the what’ can be answered by taking a look at our employment priorities; they are innovative recruitment strategies, professional development and work culture.
Recruiting Top Talent
Attracting competitive talent to work for a mission-driven organization should be difficult but it is a lot easier than one would think. The key to PCSB’s recruitment success has been understanding that today’s top talent is found in vast networks that can be accessed through connected referrals or social media.
Through active recruitment efforts like networking, building relationships with local colleges and universities, sourcing through Linkedin and leveraging our own networks we are empowering each employee to be an ambassador of the PCSB brand.
People are attracted to our mission of transforming education in the District of Columbia. But even more they are attracted by our impact. By emphasizing that we are delivering on our inspiring mission, we attract people who want to make a real impact in an area they care deeply about.
Developing Top Talent
Developing talent starts with giving employees everything they need to succeed and excel in their jobs from day one and it also entails showing them a clear path to progression and promotion. Growth and development are topics of conversation from the employee’s first day at PCSB. We emphasize that success at PCSB not only looks like getting the job done but it also includes asking for more and consistently raising your own personal bar for excellence.
PCSB is committed to giving each employee the tools they need to succeed. From pre-employment surveys about hardware and software requirements to frequent check-ins from human resources and management, we have designed a system that lets the employee know and feel that they are supported. An annual professional development stipend for each employee doesn’t hurt either.
An explicit part of each employee’s annual review is a discussion of their career goals and career trajectory. Part of managers’ jobs is help employees reach their career goals – even if that means helping them find the right next job elsewhere.
Retaining Top Talent
PCSB’s work culture is one full of high expectations, but also of recognition, work/life balance and engagement. So how does an employer support working to live, not living to work? PCSB recognizes employees for their contributions to the organization. Recognition can some in the form of ‘shout-outs’ where colleagues highlight the accomplishments of one another at weekly staff meetings. This is not only horizontal praise; it often comes from the top-down. Recognition for hard work also looks like our total compensation rewards. PCSB offer competitive salaries and benefits and performance bonuses.
PCSB understands that life happens when employees are working so it offers alternative work schedules like telecommuting, flex hours and compressed work weeks so that quality work can happen away from the office if need be. This flexibility wouldn’t work with weak staff or poor accountability for quality work. But in PCSB’s high-talent, high accountability culture, it works beautifully.
A key to PCSB’s success has also been a focus on employee engagement. Employees are encouraged to seek depth in their working relationships, which in turn deepens workplace productivity and respect. Employee engagement can take shape in countless ways: we engage the whole staff in discussions about our most pressing challenges; employees have organized a Lunch Bunch to discussing current events over a potluck; we hold Happy Hours after particularly stressful weeks; our Team Fun plans events all year long; dog lover bring their pets to work; employees organize on-site yoga or Zumba class or a seasonal Top Chef competition.
PCSB is great place to work because it chooses to invest in its greatest asset-people.
Helynn Nelson is the Human Resources Generalist at the DC Public Charter School Board.
PCSB, a purveyor of school quality through choice, is emerging as a leader in another domain-employer of choice. PCSB is ‘walking the walk’ not only in presenting quality options in education but also in creating a work environment that recruits, develops and supports top talent.