From hiring to career development, this discussion covers how investing in people leads to long-term success. Explore programs that support onboarding, mentorship, and growth, helping associates build meaningful careers while strengthening the organization.
Transcript:
Yolanda Walker:
So Robert, I think My Great Start is really how our leaders really get engaged with our organization, having them come to Atlanta to meet all the senior leaders, not just to meet us and hear a presentation, but to develop a relationship is really meaningful. We’ve seen the turnover in the first 90 days tremendously go down, because the leaders come here to get that really great start.
Robert Tindell:
Yeah. And I think it starts before we even get to My Great Start.
Yolanda Walker:
Absolutely.
Robert Tindell:
We’ve got to hire the top talent in the industry and bring them into the organization. So it starts with posting those positions, do a thorough interview process, understand what a great touchpoint team member looks like, making sure that they’re going to work with their purpose. They’re going to bring their whole self to work and being able to really be ingrained in our mission. So I think it starts there, but it goes right into, from a cultural acclimation standpoint, it gets right into My Great Start, both for hourly and salary members. But I think a key piece of it’s the ongoing development of our team members and making sure that we’re supporting them throughout their career journey.
Yolanda Walker:
Yeah. And to your point, once they joined the company, having an onboarding ally, someone who’s right by your side, navigating with you the first 90 days, really speaks volumes. We’ve had so much positive feedback from having that ally and then having them go through leadership development programs, our frontline staff like Leadership Academy has been a tremendous help in helping people navigate their career journey and really understanding where their passions lie. Like what is it that I want to do? So it gives them exposure and opportunity to explore those passions.
Robert Tindell:
I love the onboarding ally. You rolled out that program, what, 16, 18 months ago. And basically it’s just partnering a new associate that’s coming into a very large organization to someone that’s been here before. And it’s not their boss. It’s not someone on their team, but it’s someone that can help them understand the organization, understand what tools are available and what partnerships are available, help them go through their journey of navigating a complex environment and be able to do it quickly as opposed to kind of having to figure it out on their own. So I think that’s been a great program that supported our incoming associates.
Yolanda Walker:
Just thinking about so many of our leaders have expressed interest in further their education, getting certifications. So it was super excited last year we had the opportunity with your support to roll out the Scott McClellan Scholarship and just the opportunity to send four or have four of our leaders apply, and get $5,000 scholarships to help towards their education, certifications, finishing degrees has been really just a tremendous way to give back and forth into our associates as well.
Robert Tindell:
Yeah. I mean, that’s a win-win on multiple levels, right? It’s recognition of Scott McClellan, our founder, and how much he really admired our team members and our associates, how much responsibility he put on himself and others for further education and making sure that everyone is skilled up to the next role. And a lot of my career is based on development that Scott has put me through in his tenure. And now we’re able to pay that forward to four existing associates that want to further their education, to create a better career pathway for themselves and for their families. Yeah.
Yolanda Walker:
I think we both can speak for that as well, that Scott pours so much into us and he’s a lifelong learner being an author. And so, this really pays homage to who he is and what he stood for and his purpose in life. So it’s been a tremendous honor to roll that out.