“Because of my compunction to help, I had been saying ‘yes’ to everyone and everything, and unnecessarily adding items to my to-do list that weren’t my responsibility. I realized that to do my job well, I had to become comfortable saying, ‘no,’ and instead focus on the high-leverage work that only I could do.”

CHALLENGE: Post-Pandemic Workforce Volatility

Debbie Simons is the Chief HR Officer for the state of Oregon’s Northwest Regional Educational Service District (NWRESD) in Hillsboro, OR. As the state’s largest ESD, NWRESD serves 20 diverse school districts and over 100,000 students. Debbie is a critical resource for the organization’s stakeholders, helping them to navigate complex personnel processes, including hiring, labor relations, benefits programs, and substitute management.

The post-Pandemic era brought with it a considerable amount of workforce volatility. Most of NWRESD’s employees returned to the physical office however, a significant number chose to maintain a “work-from-home” status. In response, Debbie’s HR team had to quickly invent ways to connect with, train and develop remote employees, while simultaneously implementing a myriad of return-to-work mandates. The team was also spending an inordinate amount of time – 2 months on average – interviewing, hiring, and onboarding new employees because their pre-COVID procedures for doing so were now insufficient. The situation had Debbie’s team drowning in backlog and significantly behind on their goals.

At the same time, Debbie was working a hybrid schedule of remote and on-site work. “My actual residence is four and a half hours from Hillsboro. For three days every week I lived out of a hotel near my office. Typically, I would put in 12-hour days onsite, labor another 4-6 hours in the evening, sleep for 5 hours, then wake up and do it all over again. Two days a week, I would commute nine hours round trip to be with my family.”

Like many HR professionals coming out of the pandemic, Debbie’s “juggling act” was completely unsustainable. “It was a lot of time away from the people I loved, and I was missing important family milestones. Outwardly, I projected confidence, but inside I felt overwhelmed, out of control and extremely stressed.”

SOLUTION: Confronting The Do-It-All Mentality

After completing The Breakthrough Coach’s educational leadership training, Debbie was forced to confront the fact that she had allowed herself to become the “tail wagging the dog.”

“Because of my compunction to help, I had been saying ‘yes’ to everyone and everything and unnecessarily adding items to my to-do list that weren’t my responsibility. I realized that to do my job well, I had to become comfortable saying, ‘no,’ and instead focus on the high-leverage work that only I could do. I also realized I needed to get myself some help.” 

To that end, Debbie reassigned one of her office assistants, Isabell, to be  her executive secretary. Debbie handed over her calendar to Isabell, who took on scheduling, confirming and adjusting the 30-40 weekly meetings in which Debbie was involved. Debbie and Isabell then met daily to align her calendar with her stated priorities, running notes and internal dialogue.

“During this daily meeting, we reviewed the requests that had trickled in for me in the past 24 hours. Rather than simply allowing me to say ‘Yes, I’ll handle that,’ Isabell would interject with, ‘Who else on the team could do that?,’ followed by, ‘What would that person need to learn to complete that task?’ She pushed my thinking in a way that completely changed the game,” says Debbie.

Isabell proceeded to schedule regular, 30-minute, bi-monthly, meetings between Debbie and each of her fourteen staff members. In these meetings staff got a chance to ask their questions, and Debbie provided targeted coaching, support and feedback for her administrators. These meetings kept Debbie “in the know” and helped advance her team’s strategic goals. 

OUTCOMES: HR Unstuck + Work-Life Balance…CHECK!

Debbie’s personal transformation, combined with her coaching efforts, has produced incredible results. NRWESD’s hiring process, which previously took two months, now takes two days, making staffing gaps less burdensome for her component school districts. “I’ve had the time and opportunity to cross-train everyone in our department so that multiple people can contribute to the process,” says Debbie. Also worth noting: Her department’s retention rate for its 800 field staff is at 92%, up from 79% in 2021.

Debbie has reduced her 70-hour workweek down to a manageable 45. “I arrive at work at 8:00 am and leave the office by 4:30 pm each day. On days when I commute back to Hillsboro, I leave early and arrive in time for dinner with my husband.” She also makes it to her 11 grandchildren’s sports games and never misses a high-stakes competition. These changes have delighted her family and dramatically increased her personal satisfaction.

““I’ve cut 25 hours off my work week, every week and my schedule is now predictable! My family and staff know when and for what they can count on me – they trust me more. I am successfully managing work and home and making a difference for our NWRESD stakeholders.”

CONCLUSION: 

Debbie Simons’ experience with The Breakthrough Coach educational leadership training transformed her department and her life. By shifting her focus to high-leverage executive coaching work and implementing structured systems, she dramatically improved hiring timelines and staff retention across NWRESD. She also reclaimed her time, creating a healthy work-life balance that allows her to be an effective educational leader and be fully present at home.