January 2023 Employee Newsletter

The Results Are In

The marketing and communication team sent a survey to all ISMHS staff late last year regarding internal communication efforts. We asked for your input to help guide efforts to further enhance the communication and engagement opportunities we currently use, and to help influence new communication activity. Thank you to the 63 staff members who replied. The findings and suggestions below are reflective of those replies.

Among the findings:

• 83 percent of staff members feel that they get adequate and timely information about system-wide news.

• 71 percent said their department members communicate frequently with one another. Some 23 percent said “somewhat, but it could be better,” while 3 percent said their department operates in silos.

• 51 percent felt the ISMHS Leadership Team should communicate more frequently with staff.

• 96 percent indicated that email is the preferred method of communication, followed by 69 percent who prefer face-to-face communication.

Suggestions from staff included:

• Distribute information across multiple platforms to ensure it is getting to everyone in a timely manner.

• Provide details of upcoming events and programs in the newsletter.

• All-staff meetings are worthwhile, but they need to be shorter - no longer than one hour.

Keeping the results and suggestions in mind, we’re making some changes – including tweaks to the format of the employee newsletter. The survey showed that 88 percent read this newsletter. In this issue, you’ll find more news, including a column from a member of the ISMHS Leadership Team, the continuation of a feature started last month highlighting ISMHS in the news, and a schedule of upcoming exhibits and programs. The HR feature will be shorter going forward and the security information will recur when necessary.

The newsletter will continue to be distributed on the last workday of each month both by email and now in print for part-time employees and those who don’t have easy access to email. Hardcopies will be placed around the museum in the volunteer center (3rd floor next to the accounting office), call center (1st floor behind the ticket counter) and the resource center (2nd floor inside the Education Center). Site managers will print and distribute a copy of this newsletter and/or post it in a location for their staff to see. Additionally, future issues of the newsletter will include photos and mini bios of all new staff and retirees that month, easy-tounderstand information about attendance and finances, and the option to ask and get answers to your most pressing questions via an online form.

This new format and distribution plan will help ISMHS staff feel better connected and informed. If you have suggestions for ways to improve our communications, please contact Marc Allan, director of communication, at mallan@indianamuseum.org

TASK FORCE UPDATE PULSE SURVEY

ISMHS LEADERSHIP TEAM COLUMN

The goal of the new Pulse Survey Task Force established last summer was to have colleagues review the data generated by the Pulse Survey and Listening Sessions that Tapestry held last summer with Cathy Ferree. Over the last five months, task force members worked together to identify where we could have an impact and/or make a difference in issues that were identified.

A big thank you to the task force members – Matt Anderson, Brad Baute, Beth Breymier, Dustin Chavez, Peggy Fisherkeller, Daniel Lasiter, Chuck Lockman, Crystal Necessary, Robin Penny, Rebecca Swanson, Andrew Weller and Emily Winship – for their time and willingness to think through, prioritize and offer solutions to identified issues. Below is a list of items already implemented and other items still being worked on.

In a few months, members of the task force will be asked to replace themselves with other members from their department, who will continue the work that’s been started. This will give us an opportunity to be sure we are making progress on the items in the “working on” list. It will also be an opportunity to discuss new items that may arise.

If you have any questions, please see Cathy Ferree or any member of the ISMHS Leadership Team. We will continue to update you as we progress.

Implemented

• New salary bands with increases

• Updated employee handbook including updated policies and procedures posted to the ISMHS intranet

• ‘What’s a quasi?’ explanation added to handbook and addressed at Jan. all-staff meeting

• Marketing/communication survey leading to:

o Updated all-staff meeting format

o Updated staff newsletter with ISMHS Leadership Team interviews every other month

• Coffee chats with ISMHS leadership

• Beginning to change messaging from the State to messaging from ISMHS

• Staff departure announcements now include who to contact with questions and plans for the open position

• Open job positions are now posted to the ISMHS “Join Our Team” webpage

Working On

• Ensure staff are experiencing consistent access to professional development across departments (conferences, local trainings, offsite trainings, department trainings, PeopleSoft trainings, visiting like institutions, podcasts, webinars). Define how professional development opportunities are determined (including by who) and what the budget parameters are.

• Continue to change messaging from the State to messaging from ISMHS

• Share tuition reimbursement details when available

• Implement an ISMHS climate survey instead of participating in the State’s Pulse Survey

o Create our own questions that allow for anonymous feedback yet still identify specific issues

o Determine a vendor

• New Hire Orientation and Onboarding

o Incorporate ‘What’s a quasi?’ into new hire orientation and discuss annually with all staff

o Create a staff map – an organizational chart with names, titles and pictures (if possible)

• Determine location for staff lounge

• Update the ISMHS intranet to be inclusive of our partners (White River State Park and Asante staff)

IN THE NEWS

Channel 13’s Dave Calabro visited in December and shot two of his “good news” segments at the museum – one in the Tea Room and one by the 92 County Tree Celebration Crossing was highlighted in roundups in the Indianapolis Star, Columbus Dispatch, Southwest Ohio Parent, Indianapolis Recorder and WRTV (Channel 6). The Recorder also wrote a roundup story about where to see a Black Santa. And then there was this – a family who recorded their visit to the museum –and this travelvlog.

The new ornaments for the 92 County Tree earned some attention from the Seymour Tribune – a feature on our own Brian Johnson and the ornament he made for Jackson County – and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Visit Indiana also gave us a great blog post. And Christmas at the Vincennes State Historic Sites received a writeup in the local paper, the Sun-Commercial

The day before New Year’s Eve, Stephanie Kazmierzak was invited to Fox 59 to promote Family New Year’s Eve. Prior to that, Family New Year’s Eve was featured in roundups in the Indianapolis Star, The Daily Journal (Johnson County), the Indianapolis Recorder and Indy’s Child WTHR (Channel 13) also was on hand for the balloon drop, and WANE-TV in Fort Wayne also aired the story.

Bethany Thomas was interviewed by WISH-TV, and we earned attention in roundup stories by WRTV (Channel 6), WTHR (Channel 13), WXIN (Channel 59) and the Indianapolis Star, about having a free day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Columbus Republic ran this story on the Dudley exhibit

The announcement of the $2.5 million Lilly Endowment Inc grant for Angel Mounds generated stories in the IBJ, Inside Indiana Business, the Philanthropy News and Around Indy, and in Evansville from the Evansville Courier Press, 14 News and WEVV.

Keith Woods’ Covid quilt, which was featured in the museum’s Collecting Indiana exhibit, was named one of the top stories in the Kokomo Tribune, and ISMHS’s Lincoln collection earned a mention in this Fort Wayne Journal Gazette story

Finally, in case you missed it, take a look at Visit Indy’s video of Celebration Crossing and read blogger Rebekah Barton’s account of visiting the museum for the first time in 25 years.

Click on the blue names below to see the news.

Artist Artur Silva’s “136 Images from the Collection” in Gallery One was selected as Best New Mural by Indianapolis Monthly in their December issue.

How long have you worked at the museum?

Six glorious months.

What’s your title and how do you explain your job to someone outside ISMHS?

My official title is executive assistant. I coordinate the executive office in the areas of board, governance, scheduling, correspondence, editing and more. My goal is to ensure that everything we do is done with a spirit of excellence.

Tell me about your family.

I married the funniest man I ever met, Robert Penny. We’ve been married almost 24 years and have been a couple about 30. He’s my lobster. We have one child – a fiery 15-year-old redhead named Jaedyn. We have three pups – two maltipoos named Buhbee (aka Stabby Legs) and Arlo (aka Squishy) and Max the long-haired chihuahua (aka Mr. Sassy Pants).

When is your birthday?

May 24. Birthday celebrations last at least a week! I’m a Gemini.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

We love the American road trip. The destination is simply the journey! In March we are trekking from Colorado to Arizona and back. Come see me in April, and I’ll tell you all about it or send me a Facebook invite and follow along in real time.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT: ROBIN PENNY

Robin is the executive assistant to the president and CEO of ISMHS. Her responsibilities include administrative duties related to the ISMHS board of directors, as well as administrative support to the president and CEO.

Do you come from a small or big family? How big or small?

I have a pretty crazy family that would take too much space to explain. Basically, I’m an only child and I have four stepsisters and three stepbrothers.

What’s your favorite song?

I don’t have favorites of anything. I love everything from heavy metal to folk to pop to classical to hymns to rock. I will always stop on a station when they are playing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. My husband and I recently went to the Guns N’ Roses concert and The Stadium Tour with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Poison, Motley Crue and Def Leppard. Stellar shows.

How do you spend your free time?

I play way too much Scrabble Go on my phone. I spend quite a bit of time with Girl Scouts as the treasurer and in leadership with the Westside Indy Service Unit and as a troop leader and cookie mom for Troop 128 (a group of eight freshman scouts we’ve been working with since they were kindergartners).

Are you a morning or a night person?

Night owl all the way.

What is your favorite holiday and why?

Halloween. I love the spooky season. We have over 650 trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

What do you value most in a friend or partner?

Honesty and humor.

What is your biggest fear –rational or irrational?

The dentist and confined spaces.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten or given?

I have two, both from a former CEO I worked for. 1 - Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission. 2 – Working in the president’s office, you’ll find that everything is a “front-burner” item, but not everything will fit on the front burners.

GALENTINE’S TEA

Winter can feel long, cold, dark and depressing, and Devin Payne, site manager for the Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site, wanted to do something to brighten the mood.

She came up with a novel idea: A Galentine’s Tea with The Hygge Gathering, a combination tea party/hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) experience to celebrate friendship, togetherness and intentionality. The event, from 3-6 p.m. Feb. 12, will include small sandwiches and desserts, cozy conversation by candlelight and a tour of the mansion focused on the Culbertson women.

To create the event, Payne teamed with Kim Morrison (pictured here), whose Louisville, Ky.-based business is called The Hygge Gathering. Hygge originates in Denmark, roughly translating in English to “cozy.” It’s about living in a way that’s conscious of being in the moment and sharing in togetherness with others. Meaningful connection is the heart of hygge.

READ MORE at indianamuseum.org/blog-post/what-is-hygge/

Dates to remember

Jan. 28-June 25:

“Inspired by the Dunes: Paintings by Frank V. Dudley”

Jan. 31:

Summer camp registration opens to ISMHS members

Feb. 17-19:

GeoFest

Feb. 18-Oct. 15:

“Vintage Vision: Cars of the 1920s”

Feb. 20:

Presidents’ Day – Free Day (at all open locations)

March 13:

“Nikon: Small Worlds” closes

March 18-Oct. 29:

“Influencing Lincoln, The Pursuit of Black Freedom”

March 20-24:

T.C. Steele spring break camps

March 20-31:

ISM spring break camps

March 27, 31:

Angel Mounds spring break camps

March 29-April 8:

Pinewood Derby

FEBRUARY ANNIVERSARIES

Collections – 21 years

KISHA TANDY

Collections – 21 years

Gene Stratton-Porter – 11 years

DUSTIN

Security – 10 years

How to Choose a

MENTOR

Having a mentor can make it easier to succeed in work or life. Knowing how to choose a mentor can help you make the most of that valuable relationship. Here are some essential qualities to look for in an advisor and a step-by-step guide to finding the right one for you.

Qualities to Look for In a Mentor:

• Focus on integrity.

• Seek a mentor with relevant experience.

• Find someone with complementary strengths.

• Look for a good counselor.

2023

might be your year to select a mentor.

Step-by-Step Guide to Finding The Right Mentor For You:

• Start with people you know.

• Research additional prospects.

• Ask for help.

• Get references.

• Discuss your objectives.

• Communicate regularly.

• Thank your mentor.

Working with an advisor allows you to learn from their experience and expertise. Choose your mentors wisely, and you'll be one step closer to the career and life of your design.

Your HR on Demand team is here to help you optimize mentoring relations and is happy to make connections. We look forward to hearing from you at 866.HR.FOR.ME or IN-HR@deependstrategies.com .

MICHELE GREENAN

TIFFANY PARKER

CHAVEZ

SARA JOHNSON Security – 1 year