Our Extension Organizational Development (EOD) team conducted listening sessions in 12 counties in all 5 districts from April-June, meeting with over 75+ Extension employees. Eleanor focused on obtaining feedback from our County Extension center teams, while Dave focused on obtaining feedback from our County Extension Directors. Overall, we received a lot of very insightful feedback, which will be used to help guide our EOD work in the years ahead.
The following were some common themes we heard during our listening sessions:- Communication (or lack thereof)
- Disconnect between campus and counties
- Inconsistencies in onboarding processes
- Unawareness of EOD onboarding and resources
- So much to do and so little time to do it all!
- Understanding of specific policies, procedures, and regulations (i.e. equal opportunity statement)
For a full review of the data, take a look at our Google slides from a follow up report that we held via Zoom for listening session participants: EOD Listening Sessions Tour Follow Up Report
That being said, we have already begun addressing some of these challenges over the past few months. For example, we have been sending pre-boarding emails to our CEDs with reminders and resources for their new employees prior to their start date. In addition, we conducted Onboarding Training for CEDs at four of our District CED Meetings over the summer months.
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