Fully Present: Lessons from our Strategic Retreat

By Sadie Hess, Founder & CEO

What’s Next?

We recently embarked on the big question of “what is next”. This year, we revisit our goals and plans for the next 7 years.  With such a big question, I needed to get a group of people to talk about our present and the future.  We did a great retreat at Carrville.  Let me share what I learned.

Fully Present

I was so honored by the group who showed up to this strategic planning session. It was a beautiful thing to see our culture in action, with everyone leaning in to participate, embracing the community, and sharing their ideas. It was wonderful to see our values in action throughout the entire company. Individuals from all our offices joined us—diverse locations and jobs. Everyone showed up, fully present, engaged, and trusting in one another.

Strong Presence, Strong Present

My takeaway from this retreat is that our present is strong. Because we value excellence, we are always improving, and there are always things to improve. I was so grateful to see how vibrant, cool, and awesome our company already is, as these people represented various aspects of our organization. It was a privilege to see my team, which is diverse, yet shares many common values, beliefs, and passions around serving individuals with disabilities. Everyone who showed up was positive, supportive, and passionate about what we do, about serving our clients and bringing excellence, creativity, and transformation to our industry.

Exciting Areas of Opportunity

We are focusing on three areas of opportunity in our organization:

How do we ensure new hires feel connected in the first 90 days and stay with us longer?    

Our solution is the Swim Buddy Program—a team of supportive colleagues ready to jump in and help. This program is designed to provide new hires with guidance, suggestions, and answers to any questions they may have about our work. Starting in our field can be overwhelming, with so much to learn and each client being unique. Even if someone has caregiving experience, every situation is different. The Swim Buddy Program ensures that new hires have someone by their side, walking with them through the early days, helping them feel prepared, supported, and connected.

1. Swim Buddy Program

• Goal: Help people feel connected to the team faster.

• Actions: Align on a way to connect our current, awesome staff with new staff.

How do we help our team feel more trained and confident in the field?

The idea is to bring everyone together for a comprehensive, hands-on, experiential train-the-trainer course. We want to foster a company-wide mentality as professional trainers, dedicated to continuous learning and growth. This course is designed to help us achieve that, ensuring that everyone feels well-prepared and supported in their roles.

1.  Training Revamp

• Goal: Ensure everyone feels better trained to work in the field.

• Actions: Find a way to bring people together to have hands on training

How do we make sure our clients are seen and known in the community?

Our idea is to embrace a Culture of Generosity—and I absolutely love this concept; it is one of my favorites! This is a year-long, agency-wide initiative focused on giving back. It is not just about what we can offer; it is also about what we can receive through stronger community connections. Imagine how much more our community will embrace our clients if we actively give back.

Let us show the communities around us how much we care, and in turn, they will care for us. By doing this, our clients will be seen and known because we are sharing our capacity and heart. As Mone beautifully put it, “We need to acclimate the community to our clients, and our clients to the community.” This initiative is all about fostering that culture of generosity.

1. Culture of Generosity

• Goal: Cultivate a giving culture as our theme for the year.

• Actions: Involve everyone—office, field, clients—with a unified theme and goal of giving back.

Showing Up Generously

At this special time, I had the opportunity to be with staff who have been with Compass for up to 20 years. We shared stories about our clients we have had the honor of working with along the way. We laughed and bonded over memories of the past, and it was an endearing time for me.  One staff member, Jeff, showed up with gift bracelets made by a veteran member.  Our event began with generosity, which seemed a fitting way for this group. It set the stage for this giving group to share their generosity of time and heart with Compass.

Passion on Display

Listening to stories, talking with staff, laughing, and taking it all in, I felt connected to the past of Compass, to our roots, but even more so to the present and future of Compass. Everyone who showed up was positive, supportive, and their passion for what we do was on display. It gave me a fresh vision of our ultimate purpose and passion: to serve our clients and empower them to be the lead in their lives and dream big dreams.