Editor’s note: This occasional column aims to highlight problems confronted by small businesses in Colorado and how they were solved. This installment is in the words of Betty Lehman, executive director of the Autism Society of Colorado.
The company:
The Autism Society of Colorado is a nonprofit started in 1970 by parents to fight for the right of their children to attend public school. Until 2004, the Autism Society was an all-volunteer organization. This year, the organization won the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce Small Nonprofit of the Year award.
The problem:
The internal business problem of the Autism Society was twofold:
1. As the organization grew, it needed to transition from a volunteer staff to paid staff to meet the exploding needs of the community. But the financial resources were insufficient to pay professional staff and overhead.
2. When professional staff was hired, they clashed with the volunteer staff of parent/professionals.
The solution:
1. The immediate answer to the staffing problem was to recruit service-minded parents of children with autism who were willing to accept low wages in exchange for extremely flexible work schedules. This group became the staff who responded to calls for help, created a website, wrote the newsletters, put on fundraising events and more.
But another problem developed: We never knew from day to day who could show up and how long they could work. The systems of care for children with autism are complex, confusing and take inordinate amounts of time to navigate. The children of these parents had continual problems staying in school, and as they couldn’t afford child care on the wages we could pay, they couldn’t be very reliable.
For some workers, the problem could not be resolved and they left the organization. For others, it was resolved by being able to work from home and creating work responsibilities that jived with their lifestyles. For example, an e-mail request for information can be responded to any time of day. Employees are able to access their computers and voice mail remotely. Also, our work ethic and team ideology allows shared responsibilities. If an employee has a family emergency, other staff are cross-trained to manage their priorities at work.
2. What we learned was that what we needed to hire for was values, not skill set. When you share values, regardless of experience, you can work together.
Our initial problem in hiring regular paid staff was focusing on their skills, but when you work for an organization like the Autism Society of Colorado, you have to have a passion for the mission. Hire for values and train for skills.
If the passion for the mission isn’t authentic, there will be divisiveness between those who are just doing a job and those who are fulfilling a call to mission.
The hiring process was moved toward hiring for passion, and at the same time, the parent/professional group was acquiring good training and skills and so the organization was able to grow together. The board was very instrumental in assisting in this process.
Hiring for values does not mean that you suffer from group think. You can have very different ideas, perspectives and opinions among those with shared values.
Contact: Betty Lehman, executive director of the Autism Society of Colorado, 303-898-7656, betty@autismcolorado.org
