From the Workforce Development Department of the Southwestern Commission, this course was designed to help employers create a workplace that promotes a positive culture and increases employee retention.

Through this course, business owners will learn effective leadership strategies, including how to find and keep the right employees, how to offer affordable benefits, how to handle challenging customers and employees as well as ways to improve their workplace environment. Got Your Back Academy Online offers tools that employers can immediately put to use in their business. Industry experts bring their own expertise and offer new ways to maneuver the current workplace challenges.

CREATE BRIDGES is in WNC to help rural communities build their capacity for strengthening the retail, tourism, hospitality and entertainment sectors. These sectors, which have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, provide jobs and business opportunities that frequently boost rural economies.We've discovered that a primary concern of local business owners in WNC is how to deal with the current workplace shortages.  The Got Your Back Business training gives you tips on how to recruit, but more importantly, also how to retain employees.  

A Got Your Back Business is a regional business in Western NC that focuses on maintaining a healthy, committed, and thriving workforce. A Got Your Back Business provides career pathways for employees, while investing in their longevity and committing to their growth in their field. Obtaining the Got Your Back Business recognition shows customers, clients, and current or potential employees that as a Got Your Back Business, your business cares about your workforce. 

To obtain Got Your Back Business status, business owners must complete a review of this online Got Your Back Academy 8-part video series and answer a few questions after each video. These brief videos will emphasize various data-driven strategies to promote employee retention and skill development, improve leadership, support diversity and inclusion, and develop positive work culture. After completion of this program, you will walk away with actual strategies to implement in your business to support both your workforce and your bottom line. 

Businesses who complete the Got Your Back Academy will earn the Got Your Back badge to display in your business and on your marketing materials. This badge shows dedication to providing a safe and desirable workplace for employees. 

Source: Southwestern Commission