Better Than Most is a regular feature of The Business of Giving, examining the best places to work among social good businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Denver: And this evening, we’re going to take you down to Arlington, Virginia into the offices of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. What they do is help provide financial, educational and need-based assistance to active duty and retired Marines and sailors, their families and survivors. So let’s find out why the people who work there like it so much.
Bryan: I just wanted to talk a little bit about how the organization really makes you feel like you’re a part of a family. I actually went away for 12 years and came back. So I’m kind of a retread. And there are people who are here, who just recently retired, who have been some of my closest friends ever and continue to be, as well as a lot of new people who I knew coming back and re-interviewing. And the people that were gone, I’m sure they were missed but the new people coming on board had been taken in and been made a part of the collectives so it was just great.
Wayne: When I got here, it felt so comfortable. The idea only entered my mind once about moving and then I actually rationalized to myself: What in the world would you ever wanna do that for? Because I enjoyed what I was doing so much. I knew I wasn’t gonna be able to go to another job and get that same kind of fulfillment. So for me, the feeling was immediate and I still felt close to the military being working with the Navy and the Marines and still felt like I was doing something and giving back to those groups. So that’s what it was for me.
Telisha: We are very volunteer-oriented. We’re big on volunteer recognition; that whole volunteer week is very special here for obvious reasons. I think that is the part of the culture of just giving back and serving, so that is reflected in how employees are as well. You’ll see people who really are passionate about what they do. How can I help? Even if it means always going the extra mile. You don’t want to burn out, but you see people who really care enough and they want to find the solution because we are dealing with tough problems.
Holly: I think one thing that is specific to the society that you probably wouldn’t know unless you work here and I thought was interesting when I came here was our saying of “Spend what you need and not a penny more.” I always found that saying perfect when you’re dealing with donor dollars and how you have to tell people to get the job done, so you can support the client and the service members, but also not to spend too much and be responsible with the funds that we get.
Kim: And I’m just going to touch on one thing where it says here… when a new employee really belongs. I’m going to have to say it’s the Christmas ornament that if you’re a new employee and Christmas time comes around, you get to place your Christmas ornament on the tree. But years go by and each Christmas we still — you may not be here, you may have been retired, you may have moved — but each Christmas you still are here because your ornament is still here.
Tammy: To me, the “wow” is our Visiting Nurse Program. We are the only military aid society that offers home visits by registered nurses; be that with a new mom or baby or our combat injured and their families. So that allows the clients that we worked with to have that financial side of the house with Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society but then we also bring in the nursing piece to address all the other issues that they may have going on, be it access to medical care or other resources that they may need.
Monica: But I had more volunteers that actually said they wanted to come in, that I had space where I could plug them in. And I was just thinking, “Wow! I mean, it’s a weekend. It’s Sunday. I can’t believe that I have more people raising their hand to come in and help than I can even plug in.” And that’s just the kind of people that are attracted to the society and why I feel so lucky that every day I’m around people that really have a servant’s heart and want to give back and help people. So just being surrounded by people like that every day naturally makes the culture just a nice to be because you work with great people every day.
Josie: I wanted to just touch upon how management trusts us in place with decisions like when we were in disaster mode. There’s a group of people, we sit there and we handle all the decisions… We don’t have to worry about going as high up as we can go. We work as a team to make sure that the field was supported.
And we make sure that they have what they need so they can do their job helping service members that are in disaster situations.
Susan: I’m considered the area trainer and developer, so I get to be in both worlds. I get to be here at headquarters and work with a fabulous team in the divisions that we have. But then also I’m able to go up to the field and be in awe of our volunteers and everything that they accomplish with sometimes with just one employee and the rest of them just take it and run. And we try to evaluate what would improve their environment and their opportunities whether it’s training or communication. And then take all data and bring it back and then reach out to those that can make changes and make differences.
What I find something amazing about the society is that we have, always at headquarters, had Friday was casual workday; you didn’t have to wear work clothes. And in the past, very often, people at headquarters seems to take that a little far. But then we started really paying attention to branding and Shelly came in and it amazes me how many people on Friday choose to wear their branded shirts because it has now become an organizational thing that we are all proud. We put on our branded shirts on Friday and instead of wearing a T-shirt like we could, we now wear branded shirts because we were part of the team and we are proud of that. And I find it very interesting that that has evolved into what Friday is now. Instead of being “Casual Friday”, it is now “Wear Your Branded Shirt”. And yet we all proud of that. We all are onboard with that. And I think that is amazing.
Denver: I wanna thank Shelley Marshall for organizing my visit and to all those who participated in this piece – Kim Zamagni, Josie Militello, Monika Woods, Wayne Osbourne, Susan White, Tammy Ackiss, Brian Brookbank, Winnie Orsini, Holly Robertson, and Telisha Woods. To listen to this again, read the transcript as well as see the pictures of the participants and the offices of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, all you need to do is go to denverfrederick.wordpress.com
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