Policies Supporting Future Agency Growth

The Essex Center for Life Education is starting out as a private practice of individual Life Education Consultation sessions and a provider of practical, values-based, purpose-focused skills workshops. 

However, this section is included anticipating the day the Essex Center will grow into an agency with staff, programs, members as well as visitors, grounds, and an accessible facility. Therefore, for those who might wish to become part of such an enterprise as a center member or as staff, the following information is meant to help people determine if this agency's advance planning is going in the right direction for them. Furthermore, this information can start a dialog about ways these initial thoughts can be improved upon for an even better experience for participants, visitors, staff, and leadership.

The flow of information in an organization is crucial to its success.

Being client-centered supports our efforts to provide the best services we can.

Both of these perspectives require respectful interactions and communication, without exception. This is particularly challenging in the current era, when aggressive, demeaning communication is often allowed and rewarded in so many forums.

At the Essex Center, a mentoring process takes place to teach, model, coach, and authorize increasing autonomy for staff and program participants to provide feedback to others independently.

As a private agency, we reserve the right to create and implement a fair yet incisive system for all agency-wide written publications and public presentations to be reviewed to edit or eliminate disrespectful or inaccurate statements.

For leaders, the individual pay and benefit package is public information.

For staff members, individual staff member pay is not public information. However, the group or cohort of similar staff's pay range and benefits is public information.

We count on leaders to articulate the vision and goals for an organization and to have effective means to inculcate these in the organization and its staff. 

More importantly, however, leaders should understand that their most important role is to support their staff members who also may wish to help define the agency, as well as, take the lead to refine, advance, and carry out the mission of the agency. Two models of leadership, Servant Leaders and the Arbinger method of working with people, show that this leadership style is a real option leading to organizational success, as well as, staff career and even personal growth.

The Japanese model of employee hard work and company loyalty in good times and bad times sets the example for this agency to follow.

As the agency grows, there will be staff members dedicated to assuring that the agency secures adequate and helpful funding. Nonetheless, before and after that day arrives, all staff members share the responsibility for the financial well-being of the agency as part of their duties. 

A simple way to do this is through providing guests, participants, and other staff members with warm greetings and acknowledgment, helpful assistance, and problem solving effectiveness, which boosts the likelihood that clients will want to participate as contributing members of this organization and that other staff members will also maintain a high level of motivation to assure agency success.

Everyone on staff at the Essex Center, whether they are an employee or a volunteer, is an ambassador to welcome and support guests, participants, and other staff members.

Some staff members are full time ambassadors. The most important role is greeter and program facilitator. Tasks include welcoming visitors, orienting presenters and participants to our setting, setting up and closing down program rooms, and monitoring for safety of people and property, calling for support when advisable.

Other ambassadors are research associates, administrative wizards, and general support staff to any and all aspects of the agency: its programs, grounds, facilities, staff, and leadership.

Our ambasssdors are our most important staff. They are the top point of the organizational pyramid and all other staff members and leaders must understand and interact supportively and respectfull to our ambassadors.

The ambassadors understand and actively support our mission, values, and goals. They participate in revisions and challenges to agency practices and policies. They assure that a respectful, engaged social environment remains the hallmark and keystone of every other aspect of this agency. They are first to acknowledge good things happening and first to point out problems, and they follow up with staff and leaders to assure the good things grow and the problems get resolved.