Awakened and empowered
As you know, we are witnessing a great shift in the workplace and the workforce from what we knew. The COVID crisis has exposed the value that our skills bring to the world and to MSU. These changes also brought on a new definition of work life balance, while we revised our own priorities. Remote work, hybrid schedules, and virtual meetings have become a new normal for some. Others don’t have those options due to the nature of their positions. But that combination of all our talents is what keeps MSU running.
The whole country is now competing for the skills previously taken for granted. Now there is a sense of empowerment for our support staff professionals. For far too long, these positions have not been valued or rewarded properly. It was not until the COVID crisis tore open that wound and exposed the truth about their importance to the university. A recent shortage of staff caused the university to ask staff from other units to donate their time, because the critical support positions could not be filled. This is not an isolated issue. It exists campus wide. These actions have not gone without notice as we now hear members speaking up. The tide is turning as the importance of keeping talented staff grows.
The APA represents nearly 350 classifications covering roughly 2,800 talented professionals. Our members should be proud of themselves and what they provide. Opportunities are opening up all around and finding that new balance is more possible than ever before. The power to affect the needed changes now rest with the skilled individuals of the APA membership. Standing up and saying I am worth more can be scary but the time to speak up is now.