Making a way

Other states have already re-evaluated their correctional systems, and they have decided upon groundbreaking reforms that have led to considerable savings by merely reducing the number of inmates in state prisons. That money is then able to be reinvested in ways that ensure people have alternative opportunities to pursue career success and not return to prison. Many of the prison systems are outdated and fed by the broken legislative system that incarcerates far too many poor and minority inmates. Those ineffective systems absorb millions of dollars that must be better spent investing money back into struggling communities, creating environments where people can rebuild their own communities and have a fresh start at becoming successful. The long-term benefits of community upliftment far outweigh the doubtful benefits derived from so-called rehabilitated or reconditioned inmates. Our unjust prison system is broken, and therefore the likelihood of something good emerging from that system is remote. On the other hand, reducing prison intake and providing community economic programming will force leaders to take more responsibility and ultimately disrupt the current ineffectual ecosystem. 

Taking responsibility

As the state of Maryland looks at ways to uplift and strengthen the natural fiber of its cities, it must think innovatively when investing recovered funds back into Baltimore communities. By forcefully monitoring and making shifts in unfair and unjust policies, opportunities to reduce crime in cities can be a viable solution for many of the most vulnerable communities. Every attempt should be made to change policies and appoint responsible leaders, those with impeccable morals and known for their service to disrupt broken and discriminatory systems. The courts of Baltimore should do everything in their ability to implement the recommendations of the Justice Reinvestment Act. Participation by the courts in itself will be irrefutable evidence that drastic change is coming to the city of Baltimore, and once people start to understand the community benefits, change will be embraced. The strategy behind JRA is that investing the money saved on correctional services into communities will have a positive impact that results in not only drastically reduced crime rates but eventually the prison population.

Reality or a pipe dream

Thanks to data-driven analytical tools and research, these days there are statistics to prove that the current correctional ecosystem is not working and unfairly punishes mostly low-income black and brown men of color. In 2017, the Colorado Justice Reinvestment Crime Prevention Initiative was passed, primarily based on years of research and thorough analysis of their correctional systems. They are continually revising their program and even now are considering parole reforms. The benefits to communities are substantial and proven to have an immediate impact on criminal activities. It is all about budgeting properly and spending money where it can do the most good. However, it is imperative to have change leaders in place who have a genuine passion for real community service and who will ensure that available funds will reach the people for which it is intended.

Identifying needs

Proper allocation of funds is critical to ensuring maximum benefits to the most challenged communities.  Well-informed commissions will have to be carefully selected to ensure they are dedicated to prioritizing reinvestment, guaranteeing that funds will be allocated where they are most needed. Savings from prison budgets have to be invested in disinvested communities to improve economic development, education, housing, job training, and drug treatment and address mental and physical health challenges. Many people have doubts about the best way to tackle this crisis, but the reality is that years of bad policies have created this broken system that continues to prey upon the poor and mentally ill. Leaving young people at the mercy of our brutal city streets has not allowed them to dream beyond the expectation of merely surviving. The price of incarcerations, the continuous hemorrhage of human capital, and the competing priorities for governmental funds is forcefully making legislators think more creatively about how to prioritize scarce resources better. For Baltimore, investing in innovative and responsible drug treatment programming is also a better way of using prison reallocation funds. Supporting measures to prevent and avoid infections, overdoses, people using impure products or becoming slaves to criminal organizations is an effective and impactful opportunity to promote change within communities. As showcased in other countries, maybe it is time for us as a powerful nation to rethink how we govern the illicit drug industry since responding to the aftermath by locking up users doesn’t seem to be slowing down or stopping the problem. If people are going to abuse substances, maybe legalization is another way of critically thinking about the problem. It would allow our society to stop disguising it as a war on drugs and allow law enforcement agencies to focus on more serious crimes as was the case before it was politically expedient to declare being tough on crime. It is, after all, the billion dollar a year prescription drug and alcohol industries that could provide immediate economic revitalization and tackle the many social problems in city neighborhoods.

Making well-informed decisions

It will be essential to interact with community leaders and to identify those community projects which will require immediate attention. It is vital to focus on those community projects that will ensure the best possible improvements in the community. When looking at the JRA objectively and when considering the results that have been obtained in other states, especially the savings as far as law enforcement is concerned and how those savings have been used to stimulate economic growth in troubled communities, it becomes clear that when there is less crime, there are also fewer victims, less time and money spent on law enforcement, and less time spent on costly legal procedures in a court of law. Many people do not realize what law enforcement and the incarceration of criminals cost. To keep one prisoner incarcerated for one year costs the taxpayer $46,000 in Maryland. Looking at that amount by itself does not tell the full story, but statistics show us that it is possible to provide nine people with employment training for $46,000. You can also provide 36 families with two-room apartments for one month.

Following established guidelines

The JRA is more than a pipe dream, it is a scientifically proven concept, and one way to accomplish its objectives is to work through the Local Government Justice Reinvestment Commission that was established in SB 1005 to represent each county in advising the JROB on various matters. The purpose of this commission is to make recommendations regarding grants to local governments, and they are also responsible for putting measures in place that can gauge the effectiveness of those grants. Statistics indicate that inmates are increasingly older individuals of which the majority is black. The age factor is important because statistics tell us that it costs more to incarcerate old people compared to young ones because they are significantly more likely to have health problems. These older prisoners are less likely to turn to crime because they are merely getting too old unless they find themselves in a desperate situation. With the implementation of the JRA, such a dire situation is less likely to be a factor.

Huge savings

There can be no doubt based on statistics that were made available in other states that Maryland has a golden opportunity to save millions of taxpayer dollars by merely implementing the recommendations of the JRCC and SB 1005 and to immediately take a fresh look at critical issues such as medical and geriatric parole. Many people, especially law enforcement, policymakers, and others, consider the JRA to be a landmark piece of criminal justice legislation that has the potential to transform the justice system into something far more effective and fairer with greater protections for the public which it is supposed to serve. It will also be better prepared to manage the people within the correctional system releasing resources for other policies and programs that can further enrich lives.

The sad reality

Does Baltimore have access to the improved JRA and everything it represents? Yes, under US law the legislation has been approved and passed; however, since its implementation there are no statistics available to gauge its impact on the community. Unverified sources seem to suggest that implementation of JRA and everything it represents has been less than adequate and there are no proper measures or standards in place to provide accurate feedback, and therefore policymakers and the public have no way of knowing whether this sophisticated piece of legislation is accomplishing its objectives. This is a sad state of affairs, and it will not be unfair to reasonably expect that there will be an effort on the part of policymakers to evaluate the performance of JRA and to ensure that the legislation has been adequately implemented. Measures should be put in place to calculate all savings and to determine how reinvestments will be handled. It is crucial that data is collected as was done in other states and such data should be shared among all criminal justice agencies so that the effectiveness and the benefits of JRA can be adequately measured. 

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Effective managers, on the other hand, possess a specific skill-set. They have a range of knowledge and demonstrate behaviors that are not always present in managers that evolve into leadership positions. There are some managers with whom these qualities are a natural fit. Those are not the ones we discuss here today as while they are great; they are also the extreme minority. The goal is to select leaders beyond just strong characters or showing dedication to work. The goal is to have a skill-set that comprises a toolkit of qualities (some through training) that will drive the best results for a business.

A few primary key characteristics lacking today are the ability to communicate, inspire and lead in management. Investing in management training is a massive contribution, developing high-quality, motivated leaders, capable of achieving greatness.

One major study found employers having under 100 employees provided only 12 minutes of manager training per six months and employers with 100-500 employees provided only six minutes of training during the same period.

There is a real thought process that leaders at that level do not need training and if any particular leader wants training, there are books to read or online generic videos to watch. This thinking is counterintuitive as their own experience will only guide the manager and continue to pass on any negative traits or habits onto their subordinates.

Good and bad leaders affect employee performance and organizational health overall. If your business has a purpose (profit, goal, community out-reach, non-profit objective, etc.) It goes without saying that investment in training is a smart tool to use because great leadership does not merely remain continuously great over time.

Let us examine a few reasons why structured training is critical and the best preparation for talented potential leaders of tomorrow.

Productivity

Without a doubt, consistent strong leadership increases the productivity of your workforce employees. Managers who are well trained set realistic goals, develop strategic plans for work and are decisive. Under a leadership training process, managers learn how to understand their team members on an emotional level to obtain the best results from each. Emotional Intelligence is critical here to the success of a leader to use empathy to empower and engage employees effectively. Qualified leadership training encompassing emotional intelligence will hone this skill in your leaders to have a massive effect on your entire teams.

Slowing down churn

It goes without saying, ineffective leaders do not build, but in effect, break up teams. With leadership training, you retain talent while at the same time reduce recruitment expenses and lost productivity. A massive study completed in the UK found 53% of any given workforce would leave their jobs when frustrated with an organizations inability to change and adapt. Nearly one in four (24%), say their leaders cause stress at work and just under a quarter (23%) do not recommend their company’s overall leadership.

Providing feedback through employee engagement

We all would like to receive positive and constructive criticism. Managers who undergo leadership training will know the difference in the delivery of feedback on their team members and understand its importance to keeping employees positive and productive even when feedback may be negative. It has been noted that 43% of highly-engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week compared to 18% with a low engagement index. Giving feedback is a skill for a manager’s toolkit that makes for a successful leader. This skill will (not may) motivate and increase productivity in your teams.

Leadership styles

Managers will gravitate to a leadership style that, while it may be best for them, it may not be in the best interest of a particular team or the organization. Leadership training guides your managers to self-review their styles of management and through self-assessment and feedback, understand their effectiveness within the organization. Knowing the intricacies involved with their style of management will better identify areas where growth or change needs to be taken. The result of this is a strong production team maintaining minimum conflict and significantly higher retention.

Decision making is better

Leaders function at a higher emotional intelligence level, having the perspective to make informed decisions. These skills can be taught; reframing a problem and making an evidence-based decision as an example. Leadership training will teach your managers and leaders how to identify and minimize risk, to use data effectively and identify the very best solutions available to benefit an organization overall.

The ends do justify the means

It is right and realistic that training will take energy, time, resources and money. Rather than focus on the training costs, the focus should be on the return on investment and ability to influence lasting change within the organization.

An increase in profits, productivity, efficiency and a greater sense of accountability and responsibility amongst all employees are a direct result of leadership training. It will positively affect your bottom line whether a for-profit or nonprofit, small or large organization.

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Construction training

Recently, parts of California were ablaze with wildfires. They needed a lot of manpower just to contain the enormous devastation and did not have adequate resources to combat it. One of the unique strategies that they used was to allow inmates to help with the firefighting efforts. These inmates then learned individual employable skill sets and supported the expanded community tackling this enormous disaster in their home state. When they are released, this training can help them to land jobs, and further help rebuilds economic capacity in their communities.

This idea is also helping many people in Baltimore. Demolition, reclaiming of recycled housing materials, and construction are helping hundreds in the community rebuild their neighborhoods. With 55% of Baltimore’s population being jobless, and nearly 10,000 people re-enter the city from prisons annually. Moreover, 4 out of 5 African American males that are not graduating from Baltimore city high schools, and thus have a discouraging low possibility of getting decent employment. So, supporting these types of innovative ideas will help change and improve financial conditions in local neighborhoods.

This is why social enterprise training programs like Baltimore’s JumpStart and Details Construction are so important. These programs teach the people from the local neighborhoods vital skills in order to help rebuild their communities. As a result, they sustain these skills even after the city is fully revitalized, and helps to fill the gap in construction jobs nationwide. And since a lot of the materials used are reclaimed from the dying buildings, this also increases the amount of work for the clean energy sector. Less pollution as a result of reused materials. Even more remarkable would be more intentional thought around creating opportunities that are being rapidly developed for the growth of the renewable energy sector particularly solar and wind.

This is a win-win situation: Train the nearby underemployed, unemployed and reentry population to help rebuild their communities, which then builds more capacity for community economic stability.

Business Development

One of the biggest things that will help the revitalization process is the development and support of small businesses. These help the community make the home that they need and want, as well as create more jobs and opportunities for people in the area to grab ahold of. There is a reason that they are often considered the backbone of the economy.

Anchor Institutions are a vibrant piece of the overall equation as well, such as John Hopkins Institutions, who in partnership with groups like East Baltimore Corporation Inc, is working to help keep the community stable. Without institutions like this helping out, it is unlikely that Baltimore could have survived even this long.

Infrastructure conversations in many communities are a real concern for the near future as budget deficits, emergency patchwork and immediate crisis are threatening the future of most urban communities. The bridges and roads of America have been known to be painfully under kept. As a result, bridges collapse and sinkholes are more common. Baltimore is no exception to this, having a crumbling infrastructure itself with limited resources and a stressed capital budget. So, getting an economy growing is a great way to provide adequate revenue to deal with all of the infrastructural issues.

The people of Baltimore deserve better. They have been plagued with a long history of structural racism and narrow-mindedness, which courageously need to be addressed, and is hindering the progressive, equitable growth of the majority of city residents. There is a lot that we need to do, and we are obligated to assist in any way we can. There is a massive amount of untapped human capital within the walls of Charm city, all we need to do is to collectively strategize a better alignment to a new eco-system that works for all so that Baltimore can flourish into a great city with economically strong families, neighborhoods and communities.

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For some, the desire to create greater diversity isn’t translating into reality as hoped in their design. For others, a lack of proper training may be responsible or a failure to commit to the mission plan after a faint attempt to change course.

Given today’s globally representative population in many of our states, there would be no better time than the present to define, discuss and support the inclusion of training related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Definition

Diversity

It is more than racial. Diversity includes all ways we differ in all characteristics that make us individuals. It is most popularly used to determine race, ethnicity, and gender. It includes age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, education, marital status, language, and physical appearance.

Diversity may also include the diversity of thought related to ideas, perspectives and values. Diversity does include acceptance of individuals who may affiliate with multiple identities as well.

Equity

This is simply the fair treatment, advancement, opportunity, and access for all. Equity also strives to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent full participation of some groups. The improvement of equity increases justice and fairness within a company or non-profits procedures, institutions or systems including the distribution of resources.

In order to deal with the challenge of equity, we must first examine and identify the root cause where the disparity began to appear. Building on the root cause of knowledge and awareness as the foundation will only serve to strengthen its resolve to not be repeated in the future.

It should be noted that equity and equality have differing meanings. Equality denotes that everyone is at the same level. Equity, on the other hand, refers to the qualities of justness, fairness in the outcome and impartiality. In short, equality equals quantity while equity equals quality.

Inclusion

The goal of inclusion is to create environments where any individual or group can feel welcomed, respected, supported and valued. This environment embraces differences and offers respectful words and actions for all people to participate fully.

Keep in mind though that while an inclusion group is diverse, a diverse group is not always inclusive. We must also be mindful that recognition of ‘implicit bias’ (unconscious bias) helps organizations addressing issues of inclusivity to be more deliberate in their defense.

Making the Case

1. Each person has value to contribute. This is the moral (justice) case to be made. Knowing this to be fact, we must address barriers and historical factors that have led to the marginalization of the particular population. For example, racial equity sees a non-racial biased future with the distribution of wealth, societies benefits and burdens not affected by a person’s skin color.
2. The economic case is based on the fact that organizations that draw from a diverse talent pool are stronger and promote greater efficiency. Discrimination is seen as inefficient by economists as it has clearly been shown to be a great misallocation of human resources.
3. Regarding marketing as a case point, it is the nature of organizations core operations to reflect the diversity of their market base. The power of minority buying power in the United States is growing faster than ever before. The majority of the population in the United States will be non-white by 2043 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the non-profits sector, clients are customers and it is expected today for them to see their own diversity represented. This also applies to donors and philanthropic endowments. Though obvious, it should still be noted that diverse leadership is more likely to understand the needs of a diverse client base.
4. Examining the results case shows diverse teams led to greater outputs. It is fact that diverse groups of problem solvers, clearly outperform groups of ‘the best’ individuals at problem-solving. Diverse leadership in business and non-profits, with diversity experience behind them, tend to lead to better solutions related to social problems.

It Matters Today

This conversation is needed more today than ever before. Recent social movements have taken priority of our social consciousness; Black Lives Matters, #metoo, attacks on Jewish and Muslim places of worship, marriage inequality, and mass incarceration all focus on inequities within our country.

Many businesses and non-profits are openly discussing their own shortcomings regarding diversity and inclusion and their responses based on real examples of how it will benefit the bottom line.

The philanthropic sector is collecting data to track the progress or lack thereof, of their recipients. This has led to more foundations reporting their own demographic data as well as data from grantees.

Roles

Organizations that prioritize and respects diversity, equity and inclusion create environments of valued individuals across varying dimensions. Inclusive organizations foster cultures more focused on the goals of the business or non-profit and are less prone to be distracted by major bias issues. This is clearly a strategic issue, not a human resource one. The efforts of which are seen in the organizations, mission statement, vision and incorporated in the strategic plan.

Leaders must invest the time, resources and tenacity to see progress achieved. Through a collaboration of diverse resources, solving an organizations goal to achieve equity and inclusion will be reached sooner than later.

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The uniqueness of non-profits hiring is not that the vacancies are quite robust. There are vacancies, but that is not indicative of growth. Up to 20% of those vacancies are backfilling position from people who have left.

While attracting and motivating non-profit employees can be difficult, it is not impossible to keep them working hard and stay committed to your organization.

Let’s deal with a couple of basics first before we look at a few motivational steps. If you are searching for the critical recipe to make this happen, you will be searching for quite a while. There is no exact recipe. What there is, is the dedication and a commitment of time, given by your managers, to explore opportunities to engage and motivate employees. Having managers set aside time to coordinate motivational programs, benefits both productivity and general morale.

Research has shown that by doing a quick examination of the types of potential hires you are searching for, you will discover that for each type, differing requirements need to be considered.

For instance, let’s look at millennials. If you haven’t hired any in a while, you will need to know that millennials are motivated mostly by purpose and passion. They are looking for a meaningful purpose to work and a feeling of what they do is rewarding. Keep in mind this is most but not all. There will be outliers to this outlook. In other words, discuss what motivates both new hires and your current teams.

There are some who enjoy public praise and attention. At the same time, you will have other employees who take criticism and are motivated by it while another set will make it personal. While it is at times, not an easy road, knowing what types of employees are in your teams, will help you determine which motivational tactics you may wish to use and when.

• Document what you want to do

o    Create your company employee retention policy. It does not need to be a complicated document. The goal is to put on paper, your leadership support, agreement, and commitment to strategies and activities planned. Not only will you show the employees they are valued, but you will also be able to show boards of directors how each retention expenditure is tied to goals and results.

• Communication

o    Let your employees’ voices be heard. Allow them to give an opinion on plans, perhaps making suggestions on current items or even being there as a sounding board.

o    Keep them in the loop. Employees are more committed to knowing the purpose of their input and how what they do has affected the non-profit outcomes. Transparency is key here.

• Walk the Talk

o    Show your teams you are dedicated and believe 100% in what you do. Show your teams you are devoted to each of them. You cannot be committed to the organization without the same given to each of your employees.

o    When faced with challenges and issues that arise with your employees, show fairness when it is time to deal with the topic at hand.

o    Show you trust your teams. Something as simple as saying to an employee that you have their back will go a long way.

o    You have a meeting coming up. Take the time to show one of your team (you can rotate this as well) how to run the meeting. Let them take the lead to show how you do value their efforts.

o    Gamification rules. It is no surprise we live in a game-based era. Whether it is apps on the phone or using real-world objects, creating tasks with a gaming component with rewards for each task, maybe a hit.

• Targets

o    While the organization has big goals, it is always good to make smaller goals for your teams. The praise and reward for these will be equal to or maybe even better than when the lofty goals are achieved. You can make weekly goals here to start.

Much of what you decide on the above depends on the size or your non-profit. You may try one or more to see what works. There is the one key to the program to motivate your teams and that key is your company’s formal employee retention policy. Less than 20% of companies in the United States have one but those that do, have proven its worth.

If you have a motivational suggestion that you’ve used successfully, please do not hesitate to comment below.

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Moreover, many people who have been incarcerated cannot find jobs. There are about 17,000 vacant and abandoned buildings in the city that are idle. Baltimore’s construction industry needs many more good workers, but existing training programs have not been able to overcome, far too many personal characteristics, social challenges, and limited resources hindering successful performance.

In particular, training in construction, deconstruction, and demolition can provide a solution. Investing or reallocating more resources for training will provide economic, environmental and social vitality to Baltimore’s distressed neighborhoods and address:

• vacant and abandoned housing stock; enhancing the community by training and employing residents who will reinvest in their communities and neighborhoods.
• career opportunities for re-entry, teen drop-out and the underemployed; engaged employed residents are better able to reinvest in their communities making it safer, healthier and more attractive.
• economic development of neighborhoods by community residents; devoting resources for skill development training for employment in construction, deconstruction, and demolition, will create economic, environmental and social vitality for distressed neighborhoods.

Matching the labor shortages found in the construction arena with employment opportunities for Baltimore residents would invigorate the entire community. Notwithstanding, the uplift in employment statewide, in some Baltimore neighborhoods, unemployment rates are as high as 55%. However, if we indeed are committed to changing the equilibrium of social problems in Baltimore struggling neighborhoods, we must realize that re-entry, teen drop-outs, and underemployed residents are afforded opportunities to gain access to permanent careers in construction. Matching shortages in construction with the large numbers of unemployed residents would be a win-win for all.

These newly construction trained City residents is a suitable and viable response to addressing the much-needed construction labor pool shortfalls. This approach would further serve as a link for residents to take part in rebuilding their neighborhoods and strengthening the community.

The disinvestment of economic stability has strained the vitality of many crime-dominated neighborhoods and solving vacant houses will not fix the problems. By expanding opportunities where everyone can participate and prospered mainly those from disinvested neighborhoods, we jump-start economic transformation. More specifically, by creating and designing more opportunities in construction, deconstruction, and demolition that employs residents from the community, this endeavor will revise neighborhoods, enhance health, safety, and environmental considerations, and ultimately improve the economic vitality for our most vulnerable citizenry.

I believe revitalized neighborhoods will decrease crime & blight and will provide more significant economic development opportunities and incentives for local entrepreneurial businesses.

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What can we do?
How we got here is not as important as how we can enact change, and reverse the trend of decay. Urban decay is yet another term used to define neighborhoods scarred from changes to local business, demographics, economics etc. This is a severe issue that is plaguing Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore loses both money and people at an astounding rate, mainly due to the city itself falling into disrepair. In fact, the more people that they lose, the more likely it is that their buildings will never get fixed.

While there are many reasons that this may happen, such as the high poverty rate, the fact that 4 out of 5 black youth never graduate, or the high level of former inmates, we as a people have let this happen. As a result, it is on us as a society to help our fellow man, and help bring the community back from the brink.

Moreover, rebuilding the city requires a lot of financial and resource aid, as well as government responsibility and even help from the locals. Getting the locals involved is vital to making Baltimore a wonderful place to live, as it can boost the economy and provide jobs for the people who live in it. This can also be vital, as allowing the residents to have a voice in the revitalization of their communities helps to prevent gentrification, which can otherwise hurt the communities that are trying to be helped.

Maryland has committed to offering over 700 million dollars to this cause, and have even identified 17,000 vacant buildings that need to be demolished, landscaped, and rebuilt from the ground up. Other groups have even offered their time and resources in order to get the ball rolling. However, there is a lot that has to be addressed before we can fix the city as a whole.

The issues
For instance, the recent history of crime, which has harmed both the people and the surrounding businesses. Fixing this requires a lot of work, and includes increased educational opportunities, more employment opportunities for the residents, and an infrastructure designed to support new businesses in the area.

This can be helped through private investments. These will increase entrepreneurship, spurring small business growth and bringing new life to old but updated neighborhoods. Social Enterprise initiatives such as Humanim and Project Jumpstart will be vital in helping the community work together in order to revitalize the neighborhoods and create new economic growth. The insurgence of crucial business investment will be vital to establishing the economic alignment needed to invite positive change in many of our neighborhoods.
Helping the city will help to solve a lot of the issues, such as lowering the crime rate, boosting employment, and making the community a much better place for all that live there. It is our responsibility to do what we can to help I whatever way that we can.

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We all know the impact of toxic cultures on employees. Apathy may be present in as much as 67 percent of workers (Gallup 2017 State of the Global Workforce Poll). Ultimately work performance is affected with employees jumping ship and pessimism runs rampant. To know you are in a toxic environment is to observe any of the following scenarios as one or parts of the whole.

Employees that are afraid will not speak up. A new culture of possible retaliation results in a holding back of both positive and constructive feedback. Sharing ideas and voicing your opinion are deemed harmful and may lead to transfer, denied promotions, up to and including dismissal (though the framing of the termination will note a legitimate cause, i.e., a lack of performance issue). Harassment is usually top of the list of harmful behaviors now thriving at the place of work. There will be little if any at all, communication to senior management related to the abandonment of respect toward, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. In effect, the climate is now a desert, void of freedom of speech and empowerment.

Over time, employees begin to feel a struggle to accomplish their mandates, as new policies are implemented with hidden agendas to satisfy egos and gain political control, or without proper forethought or impact study, all the while stifling creativity and objectivity to the point frustrated employees leave or their determination to refuse the change is broken.

With a now tightly controlled environment, favoritism and unevenness on who is allowed to ignore the newly created policies. Policies are now used as concrete determinations of actions rather than used as a guideline that nuances and considerations may deem the policy unfair in a particular case.

This culture may display an authority for the sake of authority org chart. Toxic cultures will affect managers who hold authority on an org chart only, while the power resides elsewhere.

To every great organization, communication is the one keystone that ties everything together. When we examine toxic cultures, the top-down only communication stream is further filtered as information is shared on a need to know basis. Additionally, information becomes currency as employees hoard knowledge, confident that if it is shared, their perceived value drops rapidly. This, in turn, leads to the fear of loss of power or termination.

Decisions will be made at the executive level with the responsibility and accountability given to the line managers and employees. Input from the employees is rarely solicited leaving the staff struggling to own it and give one hundred percent to something they see as an ambiguous task without purpose. A quiet work to rule unfolds as employees do their respective duties only within regular working hours and will not go the extra mile unless it is mandated.

Lastly, on our breakdown of toxic culture indicators, you will see silos emerge. A silo can be one person holding onto information, refusing to share the knowledge for the betterment of the department or organization. This is as mentioned above, used to hold onto a sense of power or used as currency to barter for a more stable footing in the current role or a potential promotion. Another type of silo involves an area or department that will keep the knowledge within the team, holding each other sheltered and emboldened to any pushback from another area or department. This inevitably causes a disconnect from the business as a whole and employees are left limited in their ability to act as advocates for the company. Employee numbers will increase as department managers will pad their areas, and duplicate other areas work, to gain power as a too big to fail department.

A toxic culture is temporary, given that the proper leaders are in place to effect change. There are hope and a few actions that can be taken to bring the normalness back.

The key takeaway is that to overcome a toxic culture; Plan with Timing, Critical Mass, Communication and Celebrating Wins, all play pivotal roles.

• Plan with Timing

o    This is your one opportunity to build a new culture of transparency, open communication, and respect. Before implementation, the plan must include the purpose of why your employees arrive to work daily. It must consist of voices that haven’t been heard and a forum or opportunity for those voices to be shared openly. Your plan will include stages of implementation to keep the wave riding high until most are on board permanently.

o    Your plan must work within the 90-day rule. People will revert to old habits quickly beyond this point.

• Critical Mass

o    It is not always the majority of employees needed to affect change. Sometimes, it is the majority of key personnel are necessary to achieve success. It is commonly understood that if you can bring the influencers on board to a new culture, they will advocate on your behalf when it is needed privately amongst, for example, a line employee-only meeting.

o    Achieving critical mass can also be done in small groups, but the preference is to have as many show up as possible on one room (via satellite or video call, etc.). It is an incredibly powerful moment when your employees walk away knowing change has already begun.

o    Either way, you want to build momentum here. Hosting an open forum, town hall where the employees are given the mike to ask anything of the leaders or stakeholders.

• Communication

o    Your town hall or open forum meeting is your crucial motivation tool to affect change.

o    Before this meeting, it is essential to have all executives delivering the same message during and immediately following the event. One voice is the only voice that will work. Leaders need to know this message without having to rely on a presentation or charts to assist. The message will identify the problem, what the solution will be, how the solution will be implemented and what the result looks like.

o    During the event and shortly after, there will be a point where to coin a phrase; the rubber hits the road. Your leaders need to deliver less of a fluffy message and back it up more with tangible actions. In other words, it is less of “We will be transparent.” and more of “We will meet together as a department on Tuesday to review the budget and get input from all for next year.”

• Celebrating wins

o    Seems simple enough on the outside, but to celebrate, we must turn to our employees and operations to identify the quick wins first with more substantial gains following later.

o    Still keeping within the 90-day rule (preferably the end of the first week or immediately at the start of week 2), have, for example, a department or small group of employees identified as owning the change by accomplishing goals set or for efforts over and above in assisting with the transition.

o    You can also celebrate the new start of a company event. Whatever the reason, it is important here to show your employees that the original purpose to arrive at work, is to give your best and that their efforts are valued and respected.

o    Celebrating wins will only work if consistency is king in your organization. It is not enough to have annual events or events when essential targets are achieved. Celebrating successes is also everything from a Friday potluck lunch for one team to a departmental treat (e.g., an ice cream fridge during summer months) to a simple, heartfelt thank you are showing sincerity.

Flexibility, fun, humility, honesty, having a presence and showing appreciation all counter any culture trying to keep the status quo to maintain a temporary power that will eventually be consumed by positive change. Inspired leaders and an empowered culture will always thrive. Toxic cultures can be changed.

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A good place to start would be to define what a strategic plan is and what it isn’t. A good strategic plan is used as a tool to articulate specific goals and define action steps and resources needed to accomplish the plan. As a general rule, strategic plans must be reviewed and adjusted based on business needs or at minimum every three to five years.

There are four considerations to Strategic Plan development and Execution for small business and non-profits that are included.

• Strategic Accountability– What is the impact, assumptions or expectations expected from the elements of the plan? Who will be held responsible to see the plan through. What is the specific timeline of implementation of the plan by section and by whole?
  • What is the ultimate vision and who will benefit from the plan?
  • What specifically (outcomes, changes) will we be held accountable?
  • What activities will be needed to achieve the recommended results?
  • How will our current portfolio lead to the change expected?
• Ranking of Action Items – Determine the order of what specific actions agreed on will be related to the timeline of implementation.
  • Do our current programs/portfolio reflect and align with our mission and the intended impact of the strategic plan?
  • Has the organization identified the full costs (direct and indirect) in order to support each change?
  • What is the TCO (total cost of ownership) to see a positive result per action item outcome?
  • Will all recommended Strategic initiatives complement the small business or non-profits core business capabilities and expertise? Will the initiatives spread the small business or non-profit too thin?
  • How well is the expected change going to affect current competitiveness with peers?
  • What services should be monitored, identified, added and or changed to maximize impact?
• Resources – All strategic plans need to understand what resources (human, financial, organizational) are necessary to support the action items as mapped out in the plan.
  • Human Capital
    • Do we have the right people in place or identified for areas yet to be implemented?
    • Do we have the right organizational structure (including staff, skills and expertise) in place to complete the plan?
    • Given the people factor is ok, what is the bandwidth capacity of the personnel to handle the expected increase in work? Do we add staff or scale back our goals to execute a small plan?
    • If the people factor is not ok, what roles are needed to be filled and where is the pool to locate qualified candidates?
    • A realistic timeline is needed to properly on-board the people necessary to begin the plan.
  • Financial Capital
    • Will finance be able to manage the budget needed by human resources and infrastructure growth?
    • Will the increased budget affect the small business or non-profits culture? How?
    • What will the effect of the new cost per outcome look like?
    • What is the expectation of the reaction from the funding community? Can the money needed be raised? What are the roadblocks to achieving the target funds if any?
  • Performance Metrics – Implementation of Milestones (quantitative and qualitative) to measure the success of the strategic plan. The milestones should be noted along the timeline to implementation along with who is accountable to assess the metrics.
    • What does a milestone metric look like?
    • How do we implement a tracking system to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategic plan implementation?
    • What defines a financial milestone?
    • What defines an operational milestone?
    • How will we implement the permanent measurement metric to maintain regular checks on the financial and operational milestones once implementation is complete?

With the above strategic plan completed, your next step would be operational execution. Delivery of the strategic plan will rest with the operational plan.

The operational plan is a set of tasks that will be used to implement the targets or goals of the strategic plan. How the plan goals will be achieved is shown in greater detail and this plan is all about the logistics to see the strategic plan to completion. The timeframe of the operational plan of execution is usually budgeted as a project cost annually for major projects or within one fiscal year for smaller projects.

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The increased strain posed to change management for non-profits though, is due to its inability to be as flexible as their corporate cousins when change happens. Non-profits do not have major resources set aside for major change. This tight resource is all the more reason why taking the time to implement Change Management Training will help your non-profit shift quickly as (for example), social impact, public perception, community expectations and funding pressures constantly weigh in on various levels.

Given the above information, how best can you prepare for sudden change posing a risk to your business?

Change Management Training brings your team the tools to support your business’ ability to respond to shifts at each level and frequency. The tools taught to your team are not only used while the crisis is in play but are also used in their daily working culture. When you regularly practice prevention, the impact of risk is minimized greatly.

Bringing your entire team’s awareness of Change Management Principles is key to becoming engrained in the daily work culture.

• Your non-profit business must understand and accept the need for change
  • Resist the temptation to jump to quick fix conclusions.
  • Start by understanding the “why” change is needed rather than the ‘how’
• Allow all levels of the organization to have a say
  • Open Communication must include beneficiaries. This is the hardest of conversations to have but with enough time spent on the first step above, your responses will be succinct and to the point.
  • It is important to note that rushed to communication will result in a weakened commitment.
• Developing change plans
  • The details of where you want to be are discussed and agreed to here.
  • This is your key operational stage. Your objectives of what you want to achieve, and your performance metrics are key.
  • It is important here to specify your vision of what the change is exactly and to understand that change.
• Implementing your change plans
  • This is where your previous Communication and Change Plans agreed on will be implemented.
  • Communication ensures your team is aware of the plan. This plan indicates which roles your team members play, how to manage the change, and following up on the team’s reaction.
• Use your measurement metrics now and celebrate success
  • Be vigilant and identify what is going well and immediately celebrate the small successes first.
  • Thank your people. It is their hard work that must be acknowledged appropriately.

The consequences of failure to implement Change Management are equally impactful.

• Work Culture – Without innovation, your people will ‘stay the course’ and never challenge the status quo.
• Resources – Managers unwilling to devote the time or budget to support response to change.
• Buy-in is lost – When your key stakeholders are not involved or indirectly involved, their commitment is kept to a minimum at best. They will not show up at meetings.
• Every change or response to change will be noticeable – Clients, customers, recipients of your service will see the change that should have been invisible to them.
• Loss of employees – Demoralized and Valued, these employees will leave the organization with the feeling of ‘nothing I can do will make a change’.

Any project you have will be negatively impacted as well. Missed deadlines, overrun budgets, scope creep and unexpected work required to get the project back on track all suffer from a failure to implement Change Management properly. With the people component of change structured properly, the financial impact on the health of the organization, will be closely monitored and maintained.

Any new plan will face scrutiny from your team, this is expected. What is important is the delivery and identification of hurdles in advance. For instance, you will see critics who oppose any change, the victims who will panic over change, the bystander who is indifferent and won’t get involved and lastly, the champion who is resilient and adapts to the new way of doing things with determination.

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