Post by Amanda Kogut on Mar 11, 2016 1:51:12 GMT
Craft your message:
Hello to everyone. Since we began this program 4 years ago we moved this program from a stumbling start up to a high-functioning, steady-state operation that has connected 4,000 individuals with conviction histories to services. As an agency, as a program and as a team you have exceeded expectations set for you by our funder, our leadership and ourselves. When we began this program, just like our clients, we were working amid constrictions—those set up for us by our funder, by employers and by ourselves—but you were all smart enough, thoughtful enough and passionate enough to embrace “the Power of Possible” and to understand what this program was, what we wanted it to become and how we would evolve to achieve it. By your example and through your work, you helped 4,000 people see that “No” is never a final answer, it’s only a stop on the way to “Congratulations, when can you start?”
A new funding strategy will be released publicly in the next few days and I want to have a dialogue with you about what it is and what it will mean for our work moving forward. While there is no question that our work is valuable and impactful, the government has decided it will not be funded in the upcoming round of contracts. Our program officer and on contacts assure us that this decision is based upon spending cuts across the board and a shift in policy from employment programs to programs focusing on public health interventions for individuals with conviction histories. This shift in focus was rooted in data from sources like the DOJ, the DOC and the CDC and anecdotal data from service providers, clients and families that identified mental health, substance use, poor health outcomes and lack of support networks as root causes for the behavior leading to criminal convictions.
What does this mean for us? In the next few days, we’ll be looking at a number of strategies to respond to this at different levels of the agencies. Because we were just informed, we don’t have a detailed plan and I apologize that I don’t have specifics for you right now, but I respect you and work and I believe that it was important that you hear this from me first. This may mean changing our program design, reassigning some staff, updating or changing positions and responsibilities, and examining various ways to curtail expenses. Right now I can’t say definitively that there will be no layoffs, but we will do whatever we can to avoid them. What I can tell you is that this “No” is only a stop on the way to something new and I believe we have the creativity and agility to respond. I’ll take any questions you have now and will be available to any of you over the course of the week if you are more comfortable speaking individually rather than in front of a group.
Share how you will deliver this message and why you chose this method:
I would first meet with key senior staff to inform them of the funding cuts, get their feedback and prepare them to address all staff. I would deliver this message in person in an all-staff meeting. I would use the in person, all-staff meeting to demonstrate to staff that I value them and their contributions, to control rumors or conjecture about what will happen and to allow staff a chance to be heard.
