Workplaces that Work
Case Study #2: Santropol Roulant
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Founded in 1995, Santropol Roulant is an intergenerational Meals-on-Wheels service founded and run by young people in Montréal. This organization uses food as a vehicle to address social and economic isolation between generations, and to strengthen the local community.
The concept is simple: food is prepared in a central kitchen in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood and is then delivered on foot, by bike, and by car across the city. The Meals-on-Wheels program connects and nourishes seniors or people living with a loss of autonomy in addition to providing meaningful experience and employment for young people in the community. Santropol Roulant is currently the largest independent Meals-on-Wheels organization in Montréal, and the only one run entirely by young people.
Jane Rabinowicz has been the organization's executive director for two years. As is typical of many employees, she has a long history with the organization. Rabinowicz was a volunteer for two years, then held various staff positions for another three years before becoming executive director. The staff team is made up of ten full-time and two part-time employees and is supported by a network of more than 500 volunteers, who annually contribute almost 50,000 hours of work to the organization.
Santropol Roulant is a lean operation, with annual expenditures of slightly more than $600,000. Only 20% of its funding comes from various levels of governments; the bulk of its revenue is provided by donors (foundations, individuals, corporations), clients (payment for the food delivery service), fundraising events, and social enterprise.
A defining feature of the organization is its very flexible work environment. Rabinowicz likens it to a “functional family” setting where employees have job titles but it's understood that when there is work to be done it will be shared; one individual may be designated as the lead, but everyone pitches in. Volunteers, staff and clients are equally valued. In 2004 Santropol Roulant became membership-driven, providing ample opportunity for volunteers, staff, clients and donors to influence the operation in a structured way. The organization is a breeding ground for new ideas, and staff and volunteers are encouraged to pursue these as far as they can.
The organization has been phenomenally successful in delivering on its mission. It is also recognized for its ability to engage young people and volunteers at a time when many other very well-established agencies struggle to find ways to involve both these groups.
After 13 years Santropol Roulant’s staff and board have identified long-term planning as a priority in the short-term. It is striving to become even more environmentally conscious. The organization also believes that having increased decision-making authority over its space, through ownership or a long-term lease agreement, will provide even greater opportunities to grow and improve on their work. Long-range planning will encompass these types of capital considerations as well as an examination of the organization’s core business activities.
Rabinowicz has also flagged the creation of HR policies as an organizational priority essential for continued success. As a relatively new organization run by young people – both staff and volunteers – Santropol Roulant has experienced growing pains typical of many nascent businesses, and some of its challenges may be attributable to the youth and inexperience of its leaders.
While the flexibility and lack of a lot of formal structure and infrastructure has enabled those involved to gain a tremendous amount of experience in a variety of areas it has also led to some problems:
- The absence of formal HR policies contributes to inconsistencies in how decisions are made about staff vacation time, hours of work, overtime compensation and salary increases.
- Because staff were busy building an organization (including creating positive, nurturing relationships with volunteers, clients and donors), they are only now able to allocate time to build networks with other social service agencies and take advantage of opportunities to learn from others with more or different experience.
- The mix of core (base funded) and project-based staff positions creates and tension when it comes to activities such as long term planning or undertaking new projects.
Growing pains
Santropol Roulant was born of the determination of two young university graduates students who were looking for their first full-time jobs. Choosing to stay in Montréal at a time when jobs were scarce, they opted to build an organization that gave them meaningful employment, provided the same to other young people, and offered an essential service to isolated seniors.
With the departure of these co-founders in 1997 came a period of instability. Without written policies or procedures and in the absence of the founders’ vision to guide it, the organization lacked direction. Financial pressure stemming from money owed to the government for employee deductions nearly resulted in bankruptcy. This, combined with the Board’s well-meaning, but ill-advised involvement in day to day operations, created an extremely stressful environment for staff. The organization regained its financial footing with the return of one of the co-founders, but staff discontent remained an issue.
Organizational stability gradually returned starting in 2001. A new executive director was hired and introduced a visioning and strategic planning process that resulted in the creation of the first board-level policies and an annual plan. By 2003, Santropol Roulant was being recognized by the community for its contributions and lauded for its accomplishments. The increasing success, however, led to additional HR issues. A board retreat led to the establishment of a director of operations position to better manage staffing issues and work schedules. The idea of a “delivery-free day” was also introduced, giving staff needed time to reflect, plan for the future, address current issues and work in new ways with members through workshops and group activities.
Absence of HR policies results in workplace tension
Santropol Roulant has a cohort of full- and part-time staff complemented by short-term workers who are brought in through youth employment programs (e.g., provincial skills development initiatives and federal summer programs) or as special event coordinators to support targeted projects. Issues related to compensation for overtime, scheduling of the work week, etc. have always been negotiated on a case by case basis. While this may have been effective when the organization had a handful of staff, it has led to problems now that a dozen people are involved. Sometimes staff members don’t understand why the length of work-weeks may vary, or why two people may be earning the same salary and working different hours.
Further complicating matters is the situation of the short-term project funded workers, who often have the most rigid job descriptions, making it very difficult for them to be involved in other initiatives; yet flexibility of this type is a trademark of the organization and likely one of the keys to its success.
HR practices that are making a difference
Stabilizing the workforce
In the first half of Santropol Roulant’s history, many core positions were funded through six-month skills development contracts. Staff turnover was occurring at the rate of about two or more senior positions per year. As the budget stabilized and grew over time, the leadership was able to turn many critical roles into full-time positions. Three new positions have been immediately identified as full-time rather than having to go through the six-month contract stage. Staff turnover is greatly reduced, although attrition continues to be seen as a healthy way for new energy to enter into the organization. Situations of burnout are now very rare as the leadership team and staff members vigilantly monitor workloads and stress levels.
Replacing inconsistent processes with effective policies
After taking on the role of executive director, Rabinowicz began an effort to establish a consistent and transparent rationale for decision-making around HR issues such as overtime compensation, scheduling and board involvement in contract negotiations and salary increases. She approached the Board in the fall of 2007 to advise them the organization needed HR policies, and that involvement at the board level was required to establish the broad parameters that would guide their development.
With the Board’s support, Rabinowicz proceeded to interview staff members individually to understand their perspectives around the specific HR issues (i.e. work schedule, overtime, salary). She then assembled the staff for a group discussion, enabling everyone to see that while there was commonality in the themes that were being brought forward, there was disparity in how they were being managed. In this regard SR remains a work in progress, however both staff and board are pleased with the advances being made.
Rabinowicz reflects that the process of developing the policy in itself has created additional benefits for the organization “A young staff team is gaining experience and learning both about the process required to develop policies as well as gaining a good understanding in the subject” of human resources.
The decision to undertake this project without the assistance of an outside consultant has led to challenges but it has also been a learning experience for everyone. The Board is very supportive of the staff team as they work their way through this project. The initiative reflects the overall culture of valuing those who are involved and finding ways to engage them meaningfully; this, in turn, creates a strong sense of ownership – in processes as well as outcomes. The most readily observable outcome will be HR policies shaped to reflect the organization’s reality through significant input by staff. A less tangible, but no less valuable outcome will be a more engaged group of employees who, when they leave the organization, will take with them very good understanding of HR policies which will be of benefit to their next employer and future co-workers.
Connecting to the local social services network
Recognizing that the organization is part of a larger social services network serving the same or similar population, in the last few years staff have made a concerted effort to get involved with other groups. Three staff members now sit on the boards of local organizations such as COCo (Centre for Community Organizations) and COMACO (a coalition focused on supporting seniors). These networks provide staff with an opportunity to share their successes and learnings with others, while benefiting from the same being provided to them by other organizations. In essence, the organization has begun to practice the same type of open communication and information exchange that has worked so well within its own walls on an inter-agency level.
Giving voice to those who are often unheard
Santropol Roulant has been extremely successful at involving young people and volunteers in the organization, in this regard they are the envy of other, longer established agencies. This involvement goes beyond just “doing a job” or “doing some volunteer work.” There is a deep commitment to organizational values for all the people who are there. Characterized by an inclusive culture which values open communication and regularly celebrates successes, the organization treats all those involved equally. People who often do not have a voice in other workplaces are heard and listened to. Staff and volunteers regularly bring forward ideas for consideration – new projects, expansions to existing programs, other opportunities. Rather than being shot down, ideas are discussed and the proponent is given the opportunity to work-up a proposal and bring it back to the staff team for consideration. After all, in many ways this was how the original vision for Santropol Roulant emerged. Employees and volunteers feel valued and know that they are able to have an impact on the organization.
The organization’s success at employee and volunteer engagement led to the creation of a specific project in applied dissemination. The organization undertook an examination of its practices to determine exactly what it was that has enabled its success. The results have been documented in the Nine Core Principles of Engagement (PDF), a public commitment that Santropol Roulant is sharing widely with its fellow network members.
At the end of the day, Rabinowicz attributes much of theorganization’s success to the fact that it is populated by people who share a desire to do good work. In fact, a core value underlying Santropol Roulant’s raison d’etre is making this connection between work and meaning; that is, making a contribution that has value for that individual. As Rabinowicz states, “It is important for us at the Roulant to help the young people who are involved in the organization to understand what it is to make intentional choice – to choose to do something because it resonates with who you are as a person. To enable them to choose to do something good and to obtain joy through this work. This is a big part of what Santropol Roulant is about.”
For more information about Santropol Roulant, please visit www.santropolroulant.org. For more information about the Workplaces that Work Case Study Series, please contact info@hrcouncil.ca. |
