Not Just Staff, But The Right Staff

At the time of writing this blog the Club needs 12 staff to absorb our waitlist of children and families needing after school care.  For those families on the waitlist this is a stressful time.  Work schedules have been disrupted, some are unable to work and as the Club is the major after school provider in our community, few have other options to fall back on.

Here at the Club we feel this stress acutely.  Not just in the phone calls and emails we are receiving on an almost hourly basis, but also in some of the familiar faces we are missing from Club, and in the pressure to fill our empty staff places.

However, while we have a duty to serve as many children as possible, we also have a duty to provide those children with the safest and best quality experience that we can.  We are proud that our senior team has over 40 years of combined experience at this Club.  We are proud that Miss Theresa has worked for us for over 16 years.  And we are proud that Ethan went from Club member, to Junior Volunteer, to Junior Staff, to Program Leader and shortly will continue his service to others in the armed forces.

While we do have some strict criteria for Program Leaders: must be over 18, must pass a robust Live Scan and fingerprinting background check, must be available 5 days a week in the afternoon and early evening, must have 48 college credits or the ability to pass the LTUSD Teacher’s Aide test, and, ideally, must be looking for a long-term position at the Club.  We invest a great deal in the training and development of our staff and while we appreciate the seasonality of work in Tahoe – we want candidates who want to be with the Club for years not months.

But aside from those non-negotiables, the real need is what our Club Director Ashley Hall calls the ‘heart-set’.  Do you have the heart and desire to work with kids – in their happy moments, sad moments, when they love every program, or when they are in a bad mood.  Can you mentor a child not just through your words, but in how you treat them on a daily basis?  Time has shown us that those who truly care have the greatest and most positive impact, and those are the staff that we want on our team.

And finally, we have a culture here at Club.  Every organization has one.  Ours even has a title – our AWESOME values!  And we are looking for staff that will fit in with that culture.  We are biased, but we love our current staff team, and are looking for people who will complement the skills we already have.  Many of our current team put their health on the line to work with our members through the pandemic, and they provide a quality and safe experience on a daily basis.  Happy staff makes for a happy Club and our kids benefit from that.  So we are willing, if necessary, to hold out for that special person — as in the long term — we will all benefit, but the kids will benefit the most.