We are grateful to HR Consultant Chrystal Ellis Sweazey for guiding us through many difficult HR processes and new and emerging policies and practices. Read more about her work with the Partnership in this interview.

• Can you describe what the desktop retreats entailed, and how they’ve been helpful in identifying and being more intentional about work equity in and across teams? 
  
  A workflow retreat examines an organization’s workflows or how we do things. The purpose of the workflow retreat is to review and improve operational efficiency. It identifies areas of process improvement such as redundant tasks or processes, inefficient workplace layouts, and bottlenecks in the workflow. Additionally, it highlights the efficient workflows within the organization. For the last two months, the HR department has met with each team to discuss their workflow and day-to-day tasks to better understand where there are areas of opportunity. The workflow has been most helpful in hearing the voices and perspectives of the Partnership team. Through these conversations, we’ve heard firsthand the struggles and challenges with some of the current policies and practices. 
   
• Based on our values and the outcomes we’re seeking, how did you help the Partnership address challenges, develop strategies and identify solutions? 
  
  The process for the workflow retreat is still in progress, but to date, we’ve been able to identify challenges by engaging employees in an interactive and collaborative process. The process for identifying and developing strategies and solutions will be the same. We will engage the people who are impacted by the decisions that are being made. With this approach we will gain buy-in from the Partnership team members, and apply relevant and practical solutions. 
   
• How did you support the Partnership in assessing and updating our HR handbook & policies for more equity? 

• I have assisted with the Medical Stipend Policy, Adjustment in Full Time Weekly Schedule, Grievance Policy, and PTO policy.