Careers
Every Time A Bell Rings
At Communitas, we truly appreciate all of our staff for their commitment to their work and to the people we serve. And while, hopefully, our staff feel appreciated for this, they might not be aware how soon this appreciation begins: it starts the moment they are hired.
Our Human Resources team are specialists who are not just looking to filling a job vacancy. They are committed to finding the right people for the specific job. Shiela McCausland, HR recruitment assistant, explains.
“Each successful applicant represents hours of work and careful deliberation. – Shiela McCausland, HR recruitment assistant
“More importantly they represent a key need met for each of our programs,” Shiela says. “The individuals we support deserve to have the best staff. We work hard to find people with more than just the right education or training, we try to find people who have the right heart. When we hire that individual, we celebrate.”
When Shiela says “celebrate”, she isn’t speaking metaphorically. When a person is successfully hired, the HR department literally celebrates by ringing a bell loudly so that everyone in the office knows a job posting has been filled. At times, a victory dance ensues.
“We are so excited to celebrate when we find a new applicant to fill a position,” says Leslie Friesen, HR recruitment coordinator. “We are truly thankful for each person that we hire to fill a specific need and support an individual we serve.”
The bell-ringing began a year ago during a particularly challenging season for recruitment. The un-employment rate was very low and the HR team was ‘knee-deep” in job postings. Added to this perfect storm was the experience of having applicants not show up for scheduled interviews.
“It was really discouraging,” Shiela recalls.
It was Communitas CEO Karyn Santiago, who suggested finding a way to let the whole office know when someone was hired. That suggestion led to some brainstorming, which resulted in the ringing of a cowbell upon each successful hire.
“We started to hear cheers coming from all corners of the office,” Shiela says. “The payroll team did a victory dance with each ring, dancing to the “Rocky” theme song. Everyone in the office helped celebrate each new hire.”
This celebratory practice has become the norm, a way to celebrate each new hire, to affirm the good work of our HR team, to acknowledge that each new staff person is valued from the moment they are hired, and to remind us that we care about the people we serve.
“We celebrate because we know that the lives of the individuals we support will be richer for each quality staff member we hire,” Shiela says.
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