At Chalmers Community Services Centre, we run on the power of volunteers. You’ve probably met a lot of them if you’ve walked into either of our locations when we’re open to the community during the week. However, there are a lot of volunteers you may never see, because they are busy working behind-the-scenes. For instance, we have a number of very important behind-the-scenes volunteers who work on our board of our directors, making decisions about strategy, how we are doing in the present and where we are heading in the future. Our board members also volunteer on our various committees, from communications to program to fundraising to finance to personnel. Steve Pierce is the chair of our personnel committee, as well as an important member of our board of directors.
Steve’s job as the chair of the personnel committee involves wearing a number of hats at the same time. Steve is the person staff members call to problem-solve difficult issues. His sense of humour combined with his years of experience as a social worker allow for staff to feel at ease when approaching him with problems or concerns. He’s a #1 problem-solver and his no-nonsense approach allows him to get the crux of an issue quickly, so things get resolved efficiently and wholly. In his role as chair, he developed an extremely comprehensive Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual and has been working toward a Health and Safety manual, as well, providing staff with a full understanding of what the rules are and a resource to refer to when there are questions. As if that’s not enough? Steve coordinates annual job performance reviews to staff members, he hires new staff, he creates and refines job descriptions, he keeps track of staff hours, and he attends monthly staff meetings. He is the communicator between staff and the board of directors, ensuring information is translated smoothly and consistently between one another. Part of the reason CCSC staff are so happy to work here is because of the consistent and ongoing support they receive from Steve and the personnel committee.
Also, though? If you come into our Chalmers Downtown space and look up, you’ll notice some beautiful light fixtures hanging from our ceiling. Steve hung those light fixtures. Because, well, that’s just how things roll here at CCSC. Board members do a lot of heavy lifting and fixing, both metaphorically and literally.
Thank you, Steve Pierce, for ensuring the staff here at CCSC are able to do their work in a supported and efficient way. If you have an interest in joining Steve on our personnel committee, you can email Sarah at volunteer@chalmerscentre.ca