“You get low turnover by creating good working conditions,” says Henrietta Zalkind, executive director of the Down East Partnership for Children (DEPC). At DEPC, the commitment to provide good working conditions includes a series of practices and activities that comprise a “broad and deep professional development program for board and staff including skills building,
retreats, coaching and mentoring training, computer and Internet training, and individualized staff training plans as a part of annual reviews.” Ms. Zalkind emphasizes the importance of building a “culture of always looking at how to get better . . . . We want a culture that says it’s okay not to know stuff, to learn what you need to learn and where to learn it; a culture where it’s okay, for example, to say, ‘Wow, I need to learn better communication skills.’ We see staff development
as a means through which we can create ‘an organizational culture of self-correction.’ ”