Legacies & Lessons – Solving Today’s Staff Challenges – “What’s old is new again”
Knowledge of the past enlightens the present and, like a flashlight, discovers paths to the future. – Dr. Mary Northway, OCA Honourary Life Member
In this monthly message, the Archives Committee will focus on a current issue impacting camps and share knowledge from past camp leaders that you can find in the Trent Archives and use to “discover your path to the future”. Our purpose is to provide insight into our rich history to ponder and apply to the challenges OCA members are facing today.
We would love to know what you think and hear your stories on the subject. Please use the email provided below.
Solving Today’s Staff Challenges – “What’s old is new again”
Vol.1, No.2: October 2024
In casual conversations with camp directors post-summer season, a common thread emerged: staff challenges. The issues ranged from difficulty in recruiting adequate, qualified staff to start the season, the inadequate performance of some staff during the season, and then the struggle to hold onto staff until the end of the summer.
One director mentioned that he began the season short-staffed in general and with fewer than the optimum number of lifeguards on the waterfront. During the summer, he noted that several counsellors lacked resiliency, “They can’t handle stuff.” The fact that these counsellors are challenged to deal with “less self-regulated kids” only compounded the problem. By ending his final summer session sooner, he proactively solved the problem of staff choosing to leave early to prepare for school.
Johnathan Nyquist of Camp Canada, who assists camps in filling staff vacancies, reported “a significant increase in demand for our services in 2023 and an equal trend in 2024”. This summer saw a strong demand for support workers. He concludes that directors can usually hire enough younger counsellors but that staff nineteen and older are difficult to retain.
In another camp, twenty-six counsellors chose to leave in mid-August after six weeks on the job. The director scrambled to fill the void with alumni and successful July Assistant Counsellors.
Another director described the usual staff problems, some of which resulted in dismissal, but commented that she had experienced worse summers.
None of these problems are new. Housed in the Trent Archives is a wealth of resources on staff recruitment, training, motivation, performance, evaluation, and retention offering words of wisdom and advice that are still relevant and useful today.
In 1979, Bruce Harris of Camp Kawabi presented a session on Staff Motivation at the annual OCA Conference. It was the summary of knowledge gained from a session a few years prior at a Canadian Camping Conference at Geneva Park, Ontario on Staff Hiring and How to Keep a Good Staff with input from thirty-five experienced camp leaders from across the country. He had asked the group to provide a written answer to the question, “Why did you return to camp after your first experience as a staff member?”
The answers revealed that, “People returned to camp because it was a satisfying experience; they felt needed; they enjoyed the atmosphere, the feelings of responsibility. Out of thirty-five responses, salary was mentioned only once and as a secondary reason.” Bruce concluded, “To you and me, the people who hire and direct the staff, it is paramount that we understand the reasons why our staff come to camp. If we are to develop and use wisely the greatest camp resource we have− our staff, it is important to remember that staff, like campers, come to camp for a worthwhile, rewarding, experience. It is unlike any other part of their lives.”
Bruce shared nine “General Principles of Working with Staff.”
- Ensure that the first efforts of camp staff are successful.
- Camp staff must see the importance and relationship of their job to the total effect.
- Camp staff must have opportunities to grow and learn.
- Camp staff must be encouraged to make as many decisions as possible.
- Camp staff work best in a friendly, warm atmosphere, where their efforts are needed, appreciated and recognized. [Bruce suggests “Soon after camp, take time to write a personal letter of appreciation to everyone from dishwasher to counsellor to cook.” It’s not too late!]
- Keep your staff informed about developments in the camp.
- Care enough about the staff to learn about their strengths.
- Be fair in your dealings with staff.
- Within camp, the example of the director is one of the greatest teachers.
This is a useful list to post in your camp office as a constant reminder to review your staff practices and find more ways to “keep your good staff”. More detail on this list and Bruce’s entire session are available in the Trent Archives.
At the 1967 Canadian Camping Conference, Bert Danson of Camp Winnebagoe described a new addition to the conference, an After Taps Session. “This was the time set aside for folks to come and ask questions about different aspects of camp- staff problems, food queries, maintenance, programme etc. There were new camping people and veteran directors in attendance. We sat around informally, with no one person being set up as the expert to answer all the questions.”
Fifty-seven years ago, the first item on the agenda of this informal discussion of camp directors was staff challenges. Today, a Zoom call with a few fellow camp leaders could achieve the purpose of an After Taps Session. Or additionally, visit the Trent Archives online for more insight and answers to your camp challenges!
Trent’s Camp Collection includes not only archives of OCA but also CCA and other camping organizations and individual camping leaders in Canada.
-Catherine Ross
Pondering the past, present and future…
- How is this information from the past relevant to you now? How can you apply it to future actions?
- We invite you to add your comments, share your camp’s story on staff issues, or ask your questions by contacting the Archives Committee at OCAarchivescommittee@gmail.com.
- To learn more about these and other valuable OCA camp archives, visit OCA’s Archives at Trent.
- Find tips on archiving and donating items about your camp history to the Trent Archives.
- Keep discovering and making our history matter!