Public Health Workforce Retention Toolkit
This comprehensive set of resources is designed to help public health employers and public health workers ensure organizations and teams are diverse, inclusive, and promote well-being in the workplace. These resources focus on supporting folks from underrepresented populations, professionals in the early stages of their careers, and organizations working to institutionalize equity into their organizational culture.
Articles
| Article | Key Topics Covered | Source | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Measure Inclusion in the Workplace The article explores the complexity of tracking inclusion as a metric, emphasizing the significance of employee feedback as the most valuable data source for measurement. The article highlights the importance of inclusion in fostering employee retention and introduces the new Gartner Inclusion Index designed to depict genuine organizational inclusivity. The level of agreement among employees with these statements indicates the organization’s inclusiveness, with higher agreement suggesting greater inclusivity. The article also provides actionable dos and don’ts for organizations to consider post-assessment. |
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Harvard Business Review | Free |
| Decolonize Your Board This article presents nine strategies aimed at transforming board culture, accompanied by a practical tool for boards to assess their behavior and enhance their culture. Each strategy is illustrated with concise vignettes for clarity. Towards the end, readers will find a “Sample Board Culture Survey” template and sample discussion questions, offering actionable insights for boards seeking to improve their culture. |
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Stanford Social Innovation Review | Free |
| Advancing Racial Equity in the Workplace This article delves into the widespread presence of bias and discrimination within the workplace, outlining their detrimental effects on turnover, absenteeism, and productivity loss. The article highlights that Black, Latino, and Asian-American employees are particularly vulnerable to bias, and underscores the role of supervisors, managers, and senior leaders in perpetuating racial inequity. It explores a range of HR and leadership strategies to address this issue, showcasing real-world examples of effective policies implemented by employers. |
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Society for Human Resource Management | Free |
| How the Best Bosses Interrupt Bias on Their Teams This article outlines how bias manifests in everyday work interactions through four distinct patterns: (1) differing expectations for proof of competence among groups, (2) acceptance of a narrower range of behaviors from certain groups, (3) scrutiny faced by women with children regarding commitment and competence, and (4) intergroup conflicts arising from varying assimilation strategies among disadvantaged groups. It provides insights and actionable recommendations tailored for managers across various stages of the workplace continuum, including hiring, managing, and developing/evaluating team members. |
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Harvard Business Review | Free |
| The Fastest Way to Kill Collaboration? Obscure Decision Making. This article provides insights and practical tips for facilitating decision-making processes within groups. It emphasizes the importance of clearly defining decision-making roles and processes to prevent frustration and foster collaboration. The resource includes examples of common situations where improved clarity around decision-making could have prevented misunderstandings or conflicts. |
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Cynthia Sylvia Parker and the Interaction Institute for Social Change | Free |
| Power Dynamics: The Hidden Element to Effective Meetings This article offers insights and strategies for navigating power dynamics within organizational meetings. It explores the impact of formal and informal power structures and emphasizes the importance of designing meetings to facilitate shared decision-making and collaboration. Additionally, it provides practical tips for meeting facilitators to promote inclusivity, transparency, and empowerment among participants. |
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Interaction Institute for Social Change | Free |
| The Impact of Stress on Retention: The Stress Factor This article offers a range of resources tailored to address stress in professional settings. These resources encompass materials like SAMHSA’s Preventing and Managing Stress, tips for managing and preventing stress, a guide to managing stress in crisis response professions, and wellness strategies covering emotional and overall health, nutrition, and stress management techniques. |
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Advocates for Human Potential | Free |
| Ways to Hold Better Meetings This article provides practical guidance on holding more effective meetings, tailored for meeting facilitators. It emphasizes the importance of improving collaboration and productivity by following six key strategies. |
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Greater Good Science Center | Free |
Digital Toolkits
| Toolkit | Key Topics Covered | Source | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investing in People This toolkit has range of materials aimed at fostering the growth and investment in personnel. These include resources facilitating both the provision and reception of feedback, as well as tools for assessing performance. |
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The Management Center | Free and some paid |
| Improving Joy in Work in Local Health Departments This comprehensive toolkit spans approximately 40 pages. It is a customized adaptation of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Framework for Enhancing Joy in Work, specifically tailored to address the unique requirements of the local governmental public health workforce. |
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National Association of County and City Health Officials | Free |
| Inclusive Hiring Toolkit This resource offers a concise introduction, spanning 10 pages, supplemented with an optional 13-minute overview video. It covers fundamental concepts valuable for hiring committees and HR professionals. |
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Public Health Institute at Denver Health | Free |
| Building an Equitable Workplace at Local Health Departments This extensive toolkit spans approximately 90 pages and follows a framework structured around Normalize, Organize, and Operationalize principles aimed at cultivating equity within the workplace. It features a detailed timeline delineating distinct phases, comprehensive coverage of addressing external factors with corresponding strategies, and includes illustrative case studies. Designed to be accessible to both leadership and general staff, it provides a thorough resource for fostering equity in organizational settings. |
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National Association of County and City Health Officials | Free |
| Administrative Equity Guide This toolkit and workbook provide guidance on institutionalizing equitable practices in finance, procurement, contracting, as well as HR recruitment, hiring, and retention. |
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Trailhead Institute | Free |
| Multicultural Competency in Wellness This resource is designed for ongoing engagement and personal introspection. It facilitates dialogue, supports discussions, and aids practitioners in promoting wellness initiatives within various spheres like individual, family, workplace, and community settings. The wheel promotes the development of healthy relationships across cultural diversities within these communities. Additionally, it is supplemented with a 2-minute video and additional multicultural competency resources. |
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National Wellness Institute | Free |
| Culture and Relationship Resources This toolkit offers a comprehensive resource for establishing a robust culture that shapes your team’s approach to work and the outcomes they produce. Articles within the toolkit cover topics such as managing skip-level relationships, the four elements crucial for strong relationships from a manager’s perspective, and setting expectations for how staff approach their work beyond just task completion. |
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The Management Center | Free and some paid |
| Equity and Inclusion Resources This resource section provides tools for ensuring that management practices reflect an organization’s commitment to social justice. It offers guidance on centering equity and inclusion in both personnel and project management. Articles included cover topics such as utilizing fair processes for better decision-making, understanding the three dimensions of effective management, and transitioning from SMART to SMARTIE goals to integrate principles of inclusion and equity. |
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The Management Center | Free and some paid |
| Dismantling Anti-Blackness in Democratic Workplaces This resource packet aims to empower workplaces with the tools needed to identify and address instances of anti-Black racism, while also establishing systems and practices to dismantle such racism. It serves as a comprehensive learning guide, incorporating activities, resources, writings, and prompts for deeper reflection and personal growth. Users are encouraged to utilize the diverse components of this packet for individual learning, professional development, and within their organizations, study groups, cooperatives, and workplaces. |
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The AORTA Collective | Free |
| Tools on Assessment, Facilitation, Feedback, Leadership, Team Performance and More This resource presents a valuable compilation of practical tools aimed at facilitating organizational and personal transformation, as discussed in “What is Transformation?” and “Transforming Organizations”. Each tool is straightforward, outcome-focused, and has the capacity to profoundly impact professional endeavors. Tailored for consultants, leaders, and team members, these tools are intended to support the development of healthy and impactful organizations. |
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Art of Transformational Consulting | Free |
| Racial Equity and Onboarding This toolkit offers a concise onboarding packet, approximately six pages in length, from 2019. It delineates expectations and resources concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the framework of the Children’s Campaign. While encompassing all forms of diversity, it places particular emphasis on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES), given their significant impact on child outcomes. The packet comprises an onboarding checklist featuring various resources for review, along with a set of employee reflection questions. |
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Colorado Children’s Campaign | Free |
Multimedia
Webinars, Trainings, Handouts, and Quizzes
| Resource | Key Topics Covered | Platform | Source | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Health Worker Performance and Impact This resource comprises a concise 18-minute video complemented by a brief reading, offering contextual insights into burnout within the field of public health and serving as an introduction to subsequent modules. It features discussion questions for team engagement, supplementary reading materials for deeper exploration, and guidelines for obtaining continuing education credit. |
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Online training | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Free |
| Health Equity: Making Your Health Department More Culturally Competent In response to the increasingly diverse US population, this 90-minute webinar delves into the crucial need for health departments to cultivate organizational cultural competence. Participants will explore how cultural competence is integral to the effective implementation of public health programs, services, practices, and policies, and how it can address health disparities within served populations. Guided by national standards and recommendations, the discussion will assess sociocultural barriers within health departments and their impact on health outcomes |
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Webinar recording | Emory University | Free |
| 6 Ways to Foster Belonging in the Workplace This e-book, spanning approximately twelve pages, offers an introductory overview of contemporary approaches to diversity and inclusion within various sectors. It elaborates on six strategies aimed at fostering a sense of belonging among individuals. The article is enriched with embedded links to case studies, previous research, and tools pertinent to implementing these approaches effectively. |
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E-book | Culture Amp | Free |
| Navigating Conflict in Movement Organizations This resource delves into the various organizational conflict behaviors that can lead to injury and provides insights into creating systems and practices to mitigate racism within workplaces. It explores how personal experiences with violence among marginalized communities can influence workplace dynamics, discusses the impacts of changing organizational terrains, and highlights the importance of building alignment in workplace culture expectations. Additionally, the resource outlines four organizational systems crucial for strength and alignment in conflict. |
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Digital handout | The AORTA Collective | Free |
| Enhancing Governmental Public Health Workforce Well-Being and Retention The ASTHO Technical Package for Enhancing Governmental Public Health Workforce Well-Being and Retention provides a concise and practical resource sheet. It outlines desired outcomes, indicators/measures, and strategies aimed at promoting workforce well-being and retention. Additionally, it offers a curated list of related resources to support the implementation of each outlined outcome. |
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Digital handout | Association of State and Territorial Health Officials | Free |
| The Employee Lifecycle is the Roadmap to Engagement The infographic illustrates the employee lifecycle and its influencing factors. By utilizing the employee lifecycle as a guide, organizations can address employees’ holistic needs and adapt HR programs and communications accordingly, leading to increased engagement and productivity. Identifying key employee touchpoints and providing effective tools can further enhance productivity levels. |
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Infographic | Connected Trifecta | Free |
| Happiness at Work Quiz The quiz measures how happy one is when they’re on the clock. It’s based on research that has identified key factors to happiness at work. When finished, participants receive their happiness-at-work score, along with ideas for cultivating more happiness at work. |
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Online quiz | Greater Good Science Center | Free |