Nonprofit Helping Las Vegas Women Get Back Into The Workplace

Unshakeable is a local nonprofit that began in 2016. Their mission in Las Vegas is to guide women recovering from various types of trauma. They help survivors of human trafficking, domestic and sexual violence, addiction and homelessness.

Founder Debbie Isaacs started the organization when she was a video producer. The idea came to her after seeing a court hearing that she intended to film for a reality show. After hearing the stories of the women she was filming, Isaacs realized she wanted to not just tell their stories of trauma, but help to change them.

Today, Unshakeable works with several other nonprofits in Las Vegas to achieve their mission. Including SafeNest, ShadeTree, Safe House, Foundation For Recovery, and West Care. In partnership with these organizations and many more, Unshakeable brings life-changing recovery help and training to women in need.

The organization does this with their "Power To Employ" Career Development Program. Which includes three phases. First is the "I Am" Series. Which is a two-day women's conference consisting of 8-10 workshops that teach women the skills they need to return to the workplace. Including business acculturation, building self-esteem, and basic life skills.

Phase two of the "Power To Employ" program involves individual career coaching. This phase includes assessments of the individual's skills and passions to help them find a job they thrive in. This phase also aims to identify the barriers that hinder clients finding employment and encouraging growth in those areas.

Phase three is a business alliance partnership. Where Unshakeable works with Las Vegas employers who are willing to give these women a chance in the workplace. The partnership includes Unshakeable mentoring these women in their new jobs and the employer offering schooling or other opportunities for the employees to grow within the workplace.

Debbie Isaacs joined Talking Solutions to give details about Unshakeable's programs and resources available to women in Las Vegas. She also gave information about the organization's upcoming fundraiser on October 19.

Original air date of this interview as August 20, 2023.

- Wendy Rush, 96.3 KKLZ

More and more, and especially since the pandemic, people are getting burnout in the workplace. Emotional exhaustion is on the rise. As is just a general displeasure with being at work. And while this may not seem like a big deal, especially from the management's perspective, it actually is.

Surveys have shown that an increasing number of employers are blaming their employees for their burnout. Saying they're just not resilient enough to do the work asked of them. These same employers are often the ones guilty of what causes burnout, rather than it being on the fault of the employee's side.

The result is high employee turnover or a less-productive employee. Either of which hurts the bottom line. Plain and simple. When an employer doesn't take care of those that are making money for them, they're hurting themselves in the process. It's not rocket science. Yet it seems to evade many at the executive level, according to this article from forbes.com.

Greater Good Magazine provides "science-based insights" in their articles. They published a story about things that cause burnout in the workplace. In the article, it was stated that three basic things should be provided in the workplace for people to thrive: a sense of mental and physical safety, proper tools and resources to do their job, and a pay reflecting what they are worth.

If one or more of these elements are missing in your workplace, you have legitimate reason to feel frustrated. There are things you and your employer can do to work together to avoid burnout. If there are higher-up people you can safely talk to about it, you should. If you don't feel like you can, or if you've tried to no avail, it might be time to start looking for another job.

Here are 5 things many employers do that lead to employee burnout. - Wendy Rush

Studies have shown that if an employee feels overwhelmed with their workload, they start to feel hopeless and stop performing altogether. This is especially true if there's no one in a management position who is advocating for the employee and how they are feeling.

A workload can feel unrealistic and overwhelming to an employee for many reasons. One of the most common are that an employer is suddenly demanding more work for the same (or less) pay. Another common reason is that an employer has started demanding work for which the employee isn't best suited or wasn't hired for.

Whether it be unfair bias toward another employee or unequal pay for the same work, when a worker feels they're not being treated fairly, they're more than twice as likely to burnout.

Gallup.com says that when expectations from employers are moving targets, employees can quickly become exhausted. Good managers provide a clear understanding to their employees regarding what is expected of them. And those expectations don't keep changing.

It's no secret that positive reinforcement leads to happier people. That's true for employees too. If someone doesn't feel appreciated in the workplace, or if they see others being praised for doing the same thing they're not being recognized for, it leads to animosity. And according to Greater Good, the recognition needs to be genuine and not manipulative.

This is a big one. When employees feel like they're not trusted at work, especially when they've given no reason to be, it's incredibly demotivating. This is especially true if an employee was trusted and suddenly becomes more micromanaged than they were.