In the summer of 2016, JobOne made the very difficult decision to close our Blue Springs workshop and transfer employees and staff to our Independence location. A great amount of planning and hard work went into making this move easier for our employees as possible (thank you to the staff members who made this happen!). Not only did the Blue Springs team have to adjust to a new location, the Independence team had to make a huge adjustment as well. Six months later I’m happy to report that things are going quite well. Employees are making new friends and developing a sense of pride and teamwork. Contract work has increased dramatically and staff is coming together to work through limited production and warehouse space to get our customer projects done with high quality and on time!
I recently ran into one of the employees from Blue Springs who made the move and I asked him how he liked working in Independence. He smiled and said, “I love it.” He shared that he is excited about new jobs available and has already been promoted to part-time custodian. More importantly than the work (to me) was his comment that he has met a lot of new people and made new friends.
JobOne is at its best when we provide a space for people to be productive and part of a community of caring. This leads to individuals being valued for their contributions to the success of the organization.