Building a Supportive Workplace Culture At Search

We are excited to announce a new professional development initiative for our team here at Search!

Our mission is about creating an environment where everyone feels respected and empowered. This goes for the individuals we serve, and for our team of dedicated staff.  Part of our ongoing commitment to employees is providing opportunities for professional development and growth. That is why, this spring, Search’s management and supervisory teams are participating in the “Building Supportive Workplace Cultures” project.

The goal of Building Supportive Workplace Cultures is to champion a culture of respect, empowerment, and teamwork for staff of participating agencies. The project is made possible through generous funding from The Coleman Foundation and in coordination with “Intersect for Ability,” a collaboration of 14 agencies serving adults with developmental disabilities in Illinois.

To date, more than 40 Search supervisors have been trained in small groups of no more than 16 people in the “PHI Coaching Approach to Communication.”  The goal of the training is to strengthen core communication skills essential to good supervision. Specific topics addressed are active listening, self-management and self-reflection and clear, nonjudgmental communication. All Search supervisors and case managers will participate in this training by May of 2019.

“Beyond the content of the training itself, which was excellent, this was a great opportunity for supervisors from across the organization to come together and collaborate, outside of our day to day responsibilities.  It was a wonderful team building experience.”  -Beth Valukas, CEO

The PHI Coaching Approach to Communication believes that caring, committed relationships between direct care workers and the individuals they support are the bedrock of high-value, quality care. Those relationships are best supported when direct care workers are respected for the valued role they play and empowered to reach their full potential within their team.

We wholeheartedly believe in this approach and are extremely excited to be able to offer this new resource to our staff! In the next year, we also hope to implement a version of this training for our frontline direct support staff. Over the long term, we anticipate this type of professional development opportunity will help Search attract quality workers, promote excellent care, and reduce turnover.