Tenure, Growth, and Operations
Values also help guide how the employee grows within the company. It is important to recognize that many people do not choose to be a long-term RBT®. For many, it is a stepping-stone position, and should be treated as such. A values-based approach to the RBT® position encourages growth within the individual’s development, fosters an open dialogue so that the individual can freely express personal goals, and helps the supervisor explore ways to promote the individual so that his or her values can be realized and utilized within the organization. However, not every promotion from an RBT® is to a BCaBA® or BCBA®. Within most organizations, there are other positions that could benefit from the expertise and insight of an RBT®. For example, positions involving scheduling, client intake and billing, and training and quality assurance could all be positively impacted by the skills and knowledge of an RBT®. Sometimes having a peer or someone who has worked in the field can add a good perspective for training, scheduling, and mediation, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Values-based leadership implies that the quality of each employee is a direct reflection of the leader’s own values. Without stifling growth, employers should set individualized standards and benchmarks for employees so that the quality of services remains consistent throughout the company. Employees and companies that have similar core values create a sustainable symbiotic relationship. Furthermore, empowered employees who continue to foster personal growth can more easily increase responsibilities or transition into more leadership positions.
Fostering an employee’s growth is accomplished by being an approachable employer or supervisor. The clinical director does not necessarily have to meet one-on-one with every employee, but he or she does need to have an approachable demeanor, be readily available, and always actively reflect the values of the company. If one-on-one meetings are not always feasible, personalized surveys and small groups meetings can be ways to encourage more candid conversations and generate feedback for the leadership team. One key component that greatly improves the ability to encourage reciprocal feedback is having a peer, such as an RBT® Advocate, coordinate off-site team outings and meetings. The feedback derived from these meetings often reflects what the group feels rather than the opinions of only a select few.
Fostering an employee’s personal and professional growth within the company is also a way to ensure tenure within the organization. It is important to remember that the qualifications of a Registered Behavior Technician® can be valuable in other components within the company outside of direct therapy. In the experience of ABA Across Environments, the employees who typically demonstrate a desire to advance professionally have values and beliefs that are strongly aligned with those of the company. For those who wish to teach more, peer-training opportunities are provided that have the potential grow into larger-scale trainer positions. Some supervisees are incredibly organized and find value in helping others better organize operations, which can develop into office managerial opportunities.
Feedback from employees should be sought out regularly and often (Reid et al., 2021). However, more importantly, actionable items must develop from the feedback received. Such committed actions that have resulted from such meetings include adding caveats and addendums to the Employee Handbook, providing an all-staff or small-group client training session, modifying an employee’s schedule from full- to part-time, or adjusting case relationships to better account for driving time and personalities.