YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
When it comes to talent attraction and retention, there’s no playbook that works for every company. Area employers say it’s more about finding strategies that work for each business that can bolster or maintain a workforce while shining a light on the amenities of the Ozarks.
As Springfield’s largest employer, CoxHealth commits equal focus on recruiting and retaining employees, says Katelyn Lenhart, administrative director of workforce development.
The company employs roughly 12,350 systemwide and is constantly searching to grow its workforce with candidates within and outside of the Springfield area.
“If we are talking to someone outside of Springfield, we do use several resource packets, and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is a great resource for that,” Lenhart says. “Really, we’re an ambassador for the community in getting people to join our organization and move to our community.”
Lenhart says the health system’s robust training and residency programs are attractors to prospective employees.
“One thing we are currently heavily invested in is engaging with those who are really early in their career,” she says. “For example, they may be students at Missouri State University that came to Springfield for college, and they start a training program with us. Our recruitment strategy is to get them to stay here.”
Lenhart concedes it can be a challenge to attract people who maybe have no local personal ties or haven’t even previously visited the Ozarks.
“Some things we try to do is really stress and share with them the potential benefits of moving here,” she says. “That can be the lower cost of living, community involvement, it’s a gorgeous part of the state, great health care and is close to different entertainment and lakes.”
When it comes to attracting out-of-town talent, the effort includes spouses, Lenhart says.
“When somebody is moving from outside of the area, the spouse is just as important. That is something where we’ll engage with them and see what does your spouse do and do we need to help source employment for them?” she says, adding that can be for jobs within CoxHealth or occasionally outside of the health system.
As a Springfield transplant, Lenhart moved with her husband, Jeff, from Kansas City in 2019. She said his job opportunity at FORIVIS LLP is what originally got them looking at the area. Lenhart worked for three years with Burrell Behavioral Health before starting with CoxHealth around a month ago.
“One thing that really attracted me is – it was probably the first two weeks I was in town – and I was reached out to by so many people in the community,” she says. “I instantly felt plugged in, and that is not something I’d experienced in larger metro cities I’ve lived in previously. That was a huge draw. The Springfield community really invests heavily in its people and that was very obvious, very early on for me.”
Get engaged
Carly Taft, marketing and business development manager at FORVIS, says she also became quickly engaged in her new home after moving to Springfield in 2017 from Wichita, Kansas.
“I moved here five years ago, and I only knew one person in the area. My husband [Chris] and I completely took a leap of faith moving here,” she says, adding they were initially attracted to Springfield because of its access to lakes.
Her new boss, Gary Schafer, who is managing partner of FORVIS’ southern Missouri practice, encouraged Taft to join The Network, the chamber’s group for young professionals. She did so and recently began a three-year term on the organization’s Leadership Council, which does outreach with the membership to ensure they’re getting connected in the community.
The Network has 475 active members, Taft says, adding the organization is supported by employers like FORVIS “because it is a huge retention tool.”
“It quickly connects you to a lot of people,” she says. “It makes me fall in love with the city and gives me access to the leaders. All of that makes me realize I can have a career here. I have people that want to listen to me, and I have a lot of connections and I don’t want to leave.”
Living in SGF is a program of The Network that allows members to see parts of the community they normally wouldn’t have access to or resources to visit, Taft says. She recalled being impressed with an underground tour of Jordan Creek last year and learning of daylighting plans for the downtown space.
“It gets our young professionals passionate about different areas of the community,” she says.
An additional program, Get Outside, began in 2020 with the intention of showcasing different outdoor spaces, such as Fellows Lake and the area’s expanding trail system.
Cultivating culture
The nonprofit that maintains those trails, Ozark Greenways Inc., was a client of Revel Advertising a couple of years ago for a rebranding campaign. Chris Jarratt, chief creative officer and co-founder of the advertising agency, says the team loves working with nonprofits like Ozark Greenways that celebrate Springfield.
“Springfield still struggles to figure out who it is and what the brand is,” Jarratt says. “But anytime we can partner with someone that helps define Springfield, especially in the nonprofit world, we’re usually pretty excited to help.”
The 12-year-old company has a nine-person staff but is on the verge of onboarding its 10th employee, Jarratt says. He says the hiring process is a group effort with three interviews – one each with ownership, leadership and the entire team.
“A family atmosphere is what we try to cultivate, where we have each other’s back. We’re willing to jump in when someone needs it,” Jarratt says.
Revel is a member of both the local chamber of commerce and Springfield Creatives, a professional networking organization. Several of its employees also are members of The Network, he says, adding staff members are encouraged to engage in the nonprofit community.
“We try to lead by example there and have a Revel with a Cause program, where every year we grant out $5,000-$10,000 to a local charity,” Jarratt says.
He estimates the company easily spends $50,000 annually on community and employee investments, which include organization memberships, continuing education opportunities for the workforce and team-building events, such as its monthly “workiversary” and birthday outings. Those events typically consist of celebratory lunches, although the staff recently got to ride a pedal bike around downtown Springfield in recognition of an employee’s 30th birthday.
“It’s significant, but when it comes to our bottom line, our biggest investment is our people,” Jarratt says. “We have to make sure we’re investing back in them.”
Numerous team-building events also take place annually at FORVIS, Taft says, noting she helps plan some of the Springfield outings. One of those was held earlier this year with 37 North Expeditions LLC, through which employees were able to engage in a half-day of outdoor activities such as a nature walk, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding or mountain biking.
“I had a lot of feedback from employees that it was the best team-building event we’ve ever done, and they hope to get to do it every year,” she says.
Alair Springfield is first Missouri franchise for Canada-based company.
