Hello to all! This is Allyssa, St. Joseph’s Human Resource Associate. Although it is summer, the Human Resource Department at St. Joseph’s has been busy recruiting staff for the new school year. Last Friday, we begin the massive HR paperwork session with most of our 23 new Child Services Staff. These employees face three weeks of intense training before the Lakota students arrive back on campus August 11.
It seems like just yesterday that the children were packing up to go home for the summer and we said farewell to staff who are moving on from St. Joseph’s Indian School. Now, we are welcoming new staff to our mission and preparing for the students to return!
Hiring has been our number one priority this summer. We had 18 houseparent vacancies, one teacher and four training/support staff positions to fill… and that was just in Child Services! The interview process for houseparents is lengthy. After a successful phone interview, the candidates come to South Dakota for face-to-face interviews with up to seven different St. Joseph’s employees. The applicants have tours of campus and join our students for supper. This gives candidates a better overview of what it’s like to be a houseparent.
Summer also finds our maintenance crew working hard to prepare for the upcoming school year. The big maintenance projects are undertaken, homes remodeled and vehicles checked over.
As they say “Times flies when you’re having fun!” There is no doubt about it; the HR Department here at St. Joseph’s has fun. In June, we were able to attend the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference in Chicago. It is a great opportunity to meet others in the HR field and learn the latest innovations in the industry to help us meet the needs of staff. We came back with new ideas to implement, energized to take on new challenges, whatever they may be.
As we gear up for another school year, I hope each of you have had a wonderful summer!
