I need two copies. One for my and one for my friend. Total 6 pages. It’s 3 Pages each. I attached the articles. You can choose any of the articles but choose separate articles. Read the Instruction what you required to do. 

Due in 18 hour.

HCA 502 ARTICLE APPLICATION PROJECT – SPRING 2020 (online)

As you know the articles for this course are broken down into 6 parts (topical areas). The main purpose of this assignment is to have you use some of these articles for various HR initiatives that are relevant to your current or former workplace. To accomplish this goal you need to do the following:

1) For each of the 6 parts identify ONE article that you believe is relevant to an organization that you work (or have worked) for. Please note you
must select one article per part
. You cannot skip one part and do two articles from another part. By the end of this course you will have selected a total of SIX articles for this assignment.

2) For each selected article your first paragraph or two will be a summary (about 5 or 6 sentences) of that article. Label this section:
PART 1

: SUMMARY
. Make sure you put the title of the article above this section.

3)

The next section will be a brief description of a company you work at (or have worked at) and a problem that this company has (or had) that relates to the article you selected above. For example, your company may have had a problem with: high turnover in a given job, poor employee morale in a certain department, weak customer satisfaction, sexual harassment claims, etc. This section should also be a paragraph or two. Label this section:
PART 2: PROBLEM
.

4) The third section will be a description of a HR initiative (e.g., new policy, revised procedure, additional benefit regarding…) that is relevant to the selected article and the situation you described above in part two. In this paragraph please indicate why this initiative will address the problem/issue you described in part 2. Label this section:
PART 3: HR INITIATIVE
.

5) In the fourth section identify the main implementation challenge you anticipate to your HR initiative. For example will your initiative cost the company a significant amount money? Do you expect resistance to your initiative from any particular individual or group? If yes, why? How much time might it take to get people on board with your idea or to get your idea up and running? Will there be any structural changes needed to the company (e.g., division of labor, supervisory changes, revisions to labor agreements)? Label this section:
PART 4: IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE
.

6) The final section should describe how you would evaluate your initiative. What criteria will be looked at to see if your initiative was effective? How much time after implementation should this data be collected? Who should do this assessment? Label this section:
PART 5: EVALUATION
.

In summary, you are writing five sections on each of the 6 articles you select. Each article analysis should not exceed three-spaced pages. Each article analysis will be scored based on the scoring system below:

Scoring Guide (20% for each section)

Part 1: Article Summary

In 3 or 4 sentences the student correctly and clearly summarizes the key points in the chosen article. Make sure the exact title of the article and the author(s) is identified in the first sentence or in the heading above this section.

Part 2: Problem section

In a paragraph or two the student briefly describes their current or former company. Then the student describes a problem or issue this company is having that relates to the article in part 1. The student’s writing is clear, complete, and professional.

Part 3: HR initiative section

The student comes up with a HR initiative that addresses the problem described in part 2. The student’s writing is clear, complete, and professional.

Part 4: Implementation challenge section

The student identifies a major implementation challenge associated with his/her initiative described in part 3. The student’s writing is clear, complete, and professional.

Part 5: Evaluation section

The student describes how he/she would evaluate the success of his/her initiative. The criteria that will be used and when the data will be collected is also described in this section. The student’s writing is clear, complete, and professional.

Please make sure you
use these headings in your paper
so it’s clear to me when one section ends and the next one begins.

www.reliasmedia.com/articles/145305-how-to-make-performance-evaluations-useful-for-everyone

How to Make Performance
Evaluations Useful for Everyone
October 31, 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Annual performance evaluations should be conducted year-round and in a thoughtful way that increases
their usefulness and helps staff improve their work skills.

• One approach is to ask employees for a self-evaluation that includes a list of their three work goals and
three personal goals.

• Use findings and the employee’s goals from the previous year’s evaluation to compare with the current
year to see if performance has improved and the employee’s goals were met.

• Goals for administrators can include taking the Certified Administrator Surgery Center exam,
participating in a state association, writing professional articles, and speaking at national meetings.

Mention the annual job performance evaluation, and chances are everyone will run in the opposite
direction. Many employees and managers dislike them. But they must be conducted, so why not do them
well? “Performance evaluations are done sort of haphazard,” says Ann Geier, MS, RN, CNOR, CASC, chief
nursing officer, Surgical Information Systems, LLC in Alpharetta, GA. “There’s a lack of training for
managers on training evaluations. The forms are usually poorly designed, and it’s very subjective, just a
matter of opinion.”

Geier offers a few suggestions for improving the performance evaluation process and making it useful as
part of a surgery center’s mission to deliver high-quality care:

• Make performance reviews a year-long process. Some surgery centers will conduct all employee
reviews at the start of each new year or on a predetermined date. While there might be some appeal to
setting aside time once a year for these, it is not necessarily the most efficient or best way to handle the
annual review process.

“A lot of companies do it on a calendar year basis where everyone’s evaluation is due on the same day,”
Geier observes. “If you have 50 employees to evaluate at one time, it opens a whole slew of issues.”

When performance reviews are conducted at the same time each year, they might start off strong, but fall
off toward the end, she notes. “You will get tired of doing them and go through them quickly,” Geier says.
“By the time you get to the last eight or 10, you’re hardly looking at what you’re reading and are not
paying attention to the actual evaluation.”

The better process is to stagger evaluations, perhaps handling them on the anniversary of employees’
hiring dates. Also, Geier recommends managers keep notes on employees’ performance throughout the
year. When there are issues or opportunities for praise, managers should notify employees in real time.

“There shouldn’t be surprises,” Geier says. “If you give bad news at the evaluation, then that’s your fault;
there should be feedback all year.”

• Empower employees to participate. “I empower employees to remind me a month ahead of their
work anniversary that my evaluation is due,” Geier says. “When I schedule time for an employee’s
evaluation in my calendar, that says to the employee that this is important.” One of Geier’s first steps is
to hand employees a self-evaluation to complete.

“What’s important to me about the self-evaluation are the employee’s goals,” she says. “What are the
employee’s three work goals and three personal goals?”

Employees bring their self-evaluations with them to the performance evaluation meeting. The manager’s
evaluation is completed before the manager sees the self-evaluation. One way to make performance
evaluations useful is to compare the employee’s self-evaluation with the supervisor’s evaluation and to
discuss any differences in the meeting with the employee, Geier says.

Also, Geier compares the employee’s professional goals from the previous year’s evaluation with the
goals the employee met in the past year. The idea is to see if the employee succeeded in achieving those
goals, she explains. “If employees didn’t succeed, I ask, ‘Where did I let them down?,’ not ‘Where did they
fail?’” she says.

For example, if one of an employee’s goals is to become a certified infection preventionist, but the
employee never earned this certification, Geier would consider how she, as the supervisor, never did
anything to help the employee sign up for classes for certification. “I have a different take on evaluations,
but I take them very seriously,” Geier says.

Another approach for making employees comfortable during the performance evaluation meeting is to ask
the employee to sit at a right angle to the supervisor, Geier explains. “If you sit straight across from one
another, it’s a power play,” she says. “If you face them, then it’s you against them, and it’s not
collaborative.”

But when the pair sit at right angles to each other, it creates an environment open to dialogue, Geier
adds. Meeting at a round table also can be effective. “It removes that barrier between management and
employees,” Geier says.

• Keep it personal, confidential, and fair. When supervisors hold performance evaluation meetings,
they should keep the meetings private, confidential, and behind closed doors. A ‘do not disturb’ sign could
be placed on the door to prevent interruptions. “Make the encounter comfortable, and give the evaluation
to the employee to read,” Geier says.

Supervisors should explain their findings and scoring on the evaluation form. If each performance item is
scored from a one (poor) to three (meeting expectations) to five (best), a supervisor should let employees
know a little about how those numbers are determined. A performance indicator about wearing OR
clothing might only receive a score of three. “You can meet that expectation, and you can’t exceed it,”
Geier explains. “Some employees think their performance is perfect and they should get all fives. I have
to explain to them that in some situations, you can never achieve a five. You either do it or don’t do it.”

Any scores of one or five should include a comment explanation. “If it’s a five on a performance item
related to working with the patient and family, it can be a comment, saying, ‘You excel in conversations
with the family,’” Geier says. “Then, you can use an example about how one family was upset about
something while waiting in the waiting room, and the employee gave the family a restaurant gift card.”

If a score is a one or two on the attendance performance indicator, then the comment might note that the
worker had been late three days out of 20 days in March, Geier adds. Any performance reviews that
include ones and twos, indicating poor performance, should not be a surprise to the employee. These
problems should have been discussed with the worker when they occurred, Geier notes.

• Discuss findings and set goals. “We should be in agreement on the evaluation, and if not, let’s
discuss it,” Geier says. “’I rated you this, and you rated yourself this, so let’s discuss it.’”

Geier focuses on the employee’s goals and helps them provide specific actions they’d like to take. For
example, an employee might set a personal goal of creating a better work-life balance. The supervisor
can ask the employee to specify what might need to change for the worker to meet this goal.

“We can discuss it, and the employee might say, ‘I’d like to leave on time every day,’” Geier says. “An
employee might make it a personal goal to take vacations because the person had been carrying the
vacation days over from one year to the next.”

Another worker might make a professional goal to become a certified infection preventionist, so the
supervisor can suggest they talk about that after the evaluation is complete. Geier once encouraged a
business manager to take coding classes to become a certified coder. The employee did this and became
certified.

It is the supervisors’ role to help employees grow professionally through setting goals that stretch their
skills. For administrators, Geier suggests they set four goals: Take the Certified Administrator Surgery
Center exam, be an active participant in a state association and serve on a committee, write an article for
a national publication with a surgery center focus, and speak at a national meeting.

“Their immediate response to being asked to speak is to say, ‘I can’t do that,’ but I say, ‘You can do that,
and I’ll help you do that,’” Geier says.

• Make process positive. “Set up your employees and managers to succeed,” Geier says. “It’s a
positive experience.” Clear communication helps with creating a positive environment. Supervisors should
explain how pay raises resulting from the performance evaluation results are determined. If there’s a cap
on the percentage of increase, explain what that percentage is and who is eligible for the maximum.

“Not everyone is at a 5% increase level,” Geier notes. “You have great employees that meet all
expectations and do their job well, but they won’t get to the next level. Then, you’ve got employees who
have initiative and volunteer to do extra projects, and they deserve a bigger increase.”

Geier shows employees she cares about their professional development, even to the point where she will
help them move up to a position outside of her own organization.

“I’m asked all the time, ‘Why do you do that?’ I say, ‘Because, you’re going to lose them anyway; they’ll
find something else to do, so we help each other, and it never stops,’” Geier explains. “It’s paying it
forward, and at some point, I’ll have to retire. I am training my replacement, somebody to return to take
my place. I hope it’s somebody who has the motivation and love for this industry that I have.”

Copyright of Same-Day Surgery is the property of AHC Media LLC and its content may not
be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.

• How to Make Performance Evaluations Useful for Everyone

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

HEALTHCARE REGISTRATION MAY 2019

PAGE9

Good Coaches Find Balance
Tips to apply coaching in the workplace
By Joan Lloyd

E very manager is supposed to be a coach these days. Also, if you’ve ever taken on the challenge of a coaching job—from little league to adult
volleyball—you know it’s not easy.

You’ve got to balance a lot of factors at once. For
example, the desire to win needs to be balanced with
having fun and letting everyone play. Your new coach-
ing role at work isn’t much different. Corporate goals
must be met while helping everyone participate and
stay challenged on the job.

But even though the word coaching is thrown
around a lot, I’ve found that few people are able to
actually define what coaching really means when you
apply it to the workplace. For instance, most bosses
err on one side of the spectrum or the other. They say,
“Just do it right. Figure it out for yourself,” or, “Here’s
a list of everything you’re doing wrong. Now fix it.”

If you were on an athletic team and heard that
“coaching” would it help your performance?

Coaching Techniques
I’ve studied master coaches as a part of my work in

organizational change and leadership development.
I’ve watched them and analyzed their techniques.
Then, I’ve worked with them asked them to coach
me—to see if their techniques made a difference in
my performance. They did.

Here are a few ideas to try with your employees.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t catch on right
away—these master level techniques take a while to
learn.

1. Identify what I call the “performance gap” between
employees’ current performance and the desired
performance. Here’s an example: “What Linda’s
doing is taking the customer’s order. What I’d like
her to be doing is taking the order and then cross-
selling other products.”

Once the gap has been identified, the master
coach begins to closely observe and analyze the
behavior patterns that are contributing to the gap.

For instance, in a retail store the manager might
observe a new sales representative working with
a customer and study the way she greets the cus-
tomer, suggests products, and other behaviors.

2. Pick out and isolate one thing in the performance
gap and create a “drill” for the person to practice.
Etch the new behaviors one at a time.

Master coaches don’t try to close the performance
gap all at once. They know that the gap is made up
of numerous little skills that need to be isolated
and improved. Sometimes coaches even work on
the isolated behavior to an  extreme  in order to
put a spotlight on it. Then, when the new skill has
been learned, they ask the performer to refine it
down to where it can be integrated into the whole
process. This is a technique I learned from Jerry
Warren, master coach for the Professional Ski
Instructors of America and member of the U.S.
Demonstration Team.

An example of this is the golfer who practices swing-
ing the club with only the left hand to create a new
mental “groove” to etch the sensation of letting the
left hand lead. Once the groove is made, the golfer
can go back to a two handed swing. Similarly, the
retail sales rep could isolate and practice a new sug-
gestive selling technique until she is ready to inte-
grate it into her whole approach.

3. Use the Warren learning model: See, feel,
understand.

Most of us just coach by explaining things to the
learner. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t audi-
tory learners. Instead, try to combine talking with
showing and doing.

See, Feel, Understand Approach
In the See, Feel Understand approach to coaching,

first show the person what the performance looks like
when it’s done correctly. Either demonstrate it your-
self or ask someone else to do it. Employees will see
what correct performance looks like. Together with
the learner, analyze the good performance and isolate
one thing to practice.

MAY 2019 HEALTHCARE REGISTRATION

PAGE10
To feel the new behavior, employees need to

try it out for themselves while the coach watches.
The coach looks for anything that is even close to
“right” and reinforces it with comments such as,
“That’s the idea!” Master coaches don’t wait until
it’s perfect to praise. They know that self-esteem is
a powerful factor in learning. If they constantly say,
“No, that’s not quite right,” the energy for learning
drains quickly.

Understanding comes when the performer starts
using the skill on their own and internalizes it. When
they can describe what they’re doing and  why,  they
have integrated the new behavior.

Here’s an example of a leader who used this
approach recently with his construction foremen
who needed to learn public relations skills with
residents who lived near a new construction site: He
took a small group of foremen with him to visit five
homeowners.

First, he did all the talking and answered all the
questions. After each visit, he asked employees to ana-
lyze what he did to isolate what made it work.

Then, he asked each employee to take different
parts of the presentation. As they walked between

houses, they gave each other feedback and further
refined their skills.

Next, he asked employees to divide up the remain-
ing homeowners and do presentations on their own.
Then, they got together periodically to discuss how it
was going and to share approaches.

In Summary
These coaching tactics make people love learning.

They will willingly try new behaviors without prodding
from you. With effective coaching, employees will
experience progress and will feel like winners with the
self-confidence to pursue more. And isn’t that what
“continuous improvement” is all about? ■

Reader’s ResourceReader’s Resource
Joan Lloyd is a Milwaukee-based executive coach
and organizational and leadership development
strategist. She is known for her ability to help lead-
ers and their teams achieve measurable, lasting
improvements.

For more information, call (414) 354-9500, email
info@joanlloyd.com, or visit JoanLloyd.com.

To gauge the adequacy of health care coverage for
working-age U.S. adults, the Commonwealth Fund
survey relies on three measures:

• Whether individuals have insurance;

• If they have insurance, whether they have experi-
enced a gap in coverage in the prior year; and

• Whether high out-of-pocket health care costs and
deductibles are causing them to be underinsured,
despite having continuous coverage.

For those experiencing financial difficulty due
to medical bills and debt, 30% were underinsured,
47% had a coverage gap, and 40% were uninsured.
Furthermore, Commonwealth Fund researchers note
another troubling finding: “The greatest deteriora-
tion in the quality and comprehensiveness of cover-
age has occurred among people in employer plans.”
Also, more than half of Americans—or 158 million
people—gain coverage through what now are often
inadequate employer-based health plans. Among the
survey highlights:

• 45% of U.S. adults ages 19 to 64 are inadequately
insured, nearly the same as in 2010.

• Fewer adults are insured today when compared
with 2010, although the duration of coverage gaps
people experience has shortened significantly.

• Attempts by the Trump administration and a
Republican-led Congress to weaken the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act failed, as
the 2018 adult uninsured remains statistically
unchanged from 2016.

• More insured Americans are underinsured now
than in 2010, with the greatest increase occurring
among those in employer plans.

• People who are underinsured or spend any time
uninsured report cost-related problems getting
care and difficulty paying medical bills at higher
rates than those with continuous, adequate
coverage.

• Federal and state governments could enact polices
to extend the Affordable Care Act’s health cover-
age gains and improve the cost protection pro-
vided by individual market and employer plans.

See Good News, Bad News …
Continued from page 1

mailto:info@joanlloyd.com

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Professionals is the property of Aspen Publishers Inc. and its content may not be copied or
emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Healthcare Executive
NOV/DEC 201

8

8

Perspectives

ACHE believes healthcare leaders—
ranging from C-suite executives to
early careerists just out of graduate
school—have a responsibility to take
charge of their professional and lead-
ership development throughout their
career, even if employer support for
such efforts is not available. And, as
the professional home for healthcare
leaders, ACHE is committed to
enhancing and enriching your life-
long learning through experiences,
education, increasing self-awareness
and networking.

Experiences. Changes in both the
delivery of care and reimbursement
are continuing to occur at a rapid
pace, requiring healthcare leaders to
develop expertise and skills to
respond appropriately to the resulting
challenges.

As such, the need for healthcare
executives to strengthen their profes-
sional competencies and leadership
capabilities has never been greater.

ACHE’s 78 chapters, for instance,
are ideal for early and mid-careerists
seeking educational programming,
networking and volunteer leadership
opportunities close to home. In this
environment, emerging leaders can

develop crucial leadership skills
and stand out in our dynamic
healthcare landscape, while mid-
and senior-level careerists can use
their chapter as a way to give back
to the profession.

Senior healthcare leaders know how
to lead complex and multifaceted
organizations, and they likely have
experience doing so at national or
international levels, overseeing orga-
nizations within and potentially out-
side the field of healthcare.

Completing a competencies
assessment can have a
powerful impact on a leader’s
transition from good to great.

Given their experience and knowl-
edge, it is their responsibility to stra-
tegically develop a workforce capable
of navigating today’s—and tomor-
row’s—rapidly changing healthcare
environment.

Education. It is only through an
ongoing personal commitment to
lifelong learning—essential at all
career stages—that healthcare execu-
tives can thrive.

Deborah J. Bowen,
FACHE, CAE

Leading Yourself

Leaders should invest in their own
professional and leadership development.

Developing management and leader-
ship skills within an organization is
an investment in the future and
should be supported at both the indi-
vidual and employer level because
fostering leadership talent is key to
sustaining an organization.

At the same time, developing
professional skills is a personal
responsibility, necessary to enhance
individual effectiveness, growth
and advancement.

To fully engage in professional and
leadership development activities, it is
essential that leaders—particularly
mid-careerists—participate in both
employer-based and external educa-
tional offerings that contribute to
developing a balance of healthcare
management competencies and gen-
eral business skills.

Traditional, and highly valuable, in-
person educational offerings provide
a rich environment for gaining insight
from and sharing knowledge with experts
and peers, and can be supplemented
with less formal learning formats
such as webinars and online seminars.

To advance innovation, leaders also
should consider learning opportunities

Healthcare Executive
NOV/DEC 2018

9

outside of our field and comfort
zone, and volunteering for assign-
ments that could infuse new and
different approaches to our work,
products and services.

Self-Awareness. Feedback is an
indispensable element for effective
career management at any stage of an
executive’s career, but it can be par-
ticularly useful for the early careerist.
Advice can be generated through self-
assessment instruments or quantita-
tive performance data provided by
colleagues. No matter what form the
feedback takes, its full value cannot
be realized unless it is acted on.

Completing a competencies assess-
ment can have a powerful impact on
a leader’s transition from good to great.

Undertaking periodic self-assessments
involves taking stock of one’s career
in terms of individual professional
strengths and weaknesses, and spe-
cific competencies needed for current
and future responsibilities.

Self-assessments can be particularly
useful for leaders in middle manage-
ment to identify career aspirations,
ensuring a professional development
action plan is in place to achieve
goals and progression.

Numerous leadership-assessment
tools exist, and ACHE offers several
of its own within the Career Resource
Center. One that many leaders use
is the Benchmarks® Workshop, a
360-degree assessment that provides
feedback on 16 key executive

competencies and an individual’s lead-
ership potential. Such an assessment
involves a leader and his or her col-
leagues, direct reports and supervisors
completing assessments on the execu-
tive’s leadership behaviors and gaining
insights on the essential competencies
that successful leaders must possess.

These assessments provide personal-
ized feedback reports and help in pre-
paring a development plan designed
to enhance an individual’s leadership
effectiveness.

Networking. The demand for quali-
fied candidates in healthcare settings
who possess leadership competencies,
such as an aptitude for change man-
agement and emotional intelligence,
is only increasing. To prepare for this
demand, organizations should focus
now on developing a pipeline of
future of leaders.

An important component of any suc-
cession activity, no matter the position,
is mentoring. When used strategically,
mentoring improves retention, boosts
morale, accelerates leadership develop-
ment, provides ongoing career develop-
ment, builds teams and facilitates
organizational learning.

Growing through mentoring relation-
ships is an important factor in a
mentee’s lifelong learning process,
particularly for early and mid-level
careerists.

In turn, by sharing their wisdom,
insights and experiences, senior
leaders can give back to the profession

as mentors while deriving the personal
satisfaction that comes from helping
others realize their potential. For orga-
nizations, mentorships can lead to the
development of management talent,
more satisfied employees, and a gener-
ation of new ideas and programs.

Similarly, working with an executive
coach also can help leaders increase
their knowledge base and enhance
their skills through the discovery of
individual weaknesses and knowledge
gaps and creating a plan for
improvement.

As an objective observer, a coach
also can serve as a mentor, giving
leaders the benefit of his or her expe-
rience to help executives make more
informed choices and possibly point-
ing out potentially problematic pat-
terns in behavior.

Executive coaching does not preclude
the need for mentoring; rather, it is
another tool to help leaders—including
seasoned senior executives—improve
their skills and become even more suc-
cessful leaders in the field of healthcare.

By continually developing professional
and leadership competencies and sup-
porting the development of others,
healthcare executives can better serve
patients and communities, advance
their careers and prepare the next gen-
eration of healthcare leaders. s

Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE,
is president/CEO of the American
College of Healthcare Executives
(dbowen@ache.org).

Copyright of Healthcare Executive is the property of American College of Healthcare
Executives and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a
listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.

58 TD | October 2018

JPS HEALTH NETWORK | FORT WORTH, TEXAS17

A
s the community public health network serving the

Fort Worth, Texas, area with a 578-bed hospital and

more than 40 sites of care, the JPS Health Network

pursues three strategic goals daily: to be the employer of

choice throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, to develop

and engage its employees, and—its number 1 priority—to

provide the best possible care for its patients.

“We are only as good as our people,” says a succinct Pia Walker, senior vice pres-

ident of HR and learning. The statement may be casually dismissed as a bromide,

except for the innovative and exhaustive efforts that Walker’s department under-

take daily to implant it into the organization’s culture.

It starts, of course, by hiring the right people and nurturing them to provide ex-

pert patient care. A variety of steadily evolving talent development initiatives help

achieve that goal by ensuring that team members are proficient in their jobs, feel

connected to the organization, are wholly engaged, and are confident that they

belong. Particular attention is devoted to team building.

JPS is a 6,600-person organization whose employees predictably run the

gamut from GED to MD and PhD. As executive director of talent acquisition,

learning, and organizational development, Jennifer Bailey-Jackson heads a

24-person team of clinical and nonclinical members who collaboratively design

and develop all educational and training materials, courses, programs, and ini-

tiatives to meet its diverse needs.

The team’s concerns include all the usual development categories: skills, work-

force, professionals, teams, and leaders. There’s also career pathing, diversity and

inclusion, change and performance management, and succession planning. It ad-

dresses this with targeted training and education as needed.

NURTURE
EMPLOYEES
AND THEY’LL
REWARD YOU

Encouraged by a passionate
CEO and a tireless talent

development department,
a Texas health provider is

developing a truly engaged
and proficient workforce.

BY PAUL HARRIS

Pia Walker, SVP, HR and Learning; Jodi Bell,
Director, Learning & OD; Jennifer Bailey-Jackson,
Executive Director, Talent Acquisition, Learning &
OD; Renette Toliver, Director, Clinical Education;
Theresa Wilson, Manager, Learning & OD

IMAGE | TOM HUSSEY

October 2018 | TD 59

P O D C A S T

60 TD | October 2018

The learning and organizational development

(OD) team’s primary mission is to “develop highly

motivated and innovative individuals with hearts

for public service who thrive on challenge in the

ever-changing environment of patient-centered

care.” It’s one of six key pillars that guide all activities

within JPS. The others are quality, stewardship, popu-

lation health, service, and academics.

Focusing on the front line
Improving engagement is a top priority that has

spawned several development initiatives. One is the

Ambassador Development Program, a three-year-old

initiative aimed at developing frontline employees

who exemplify the network’s core values and key

competencies. Nominated by leaders from across the

network, these employees serve as brand champions

to help spread a culture of engagement throughout

all areas of the organization.

Taking the program one step further, the organiza-

tion created the Ambassador Development Institute

(ADI)—a quarterly symposium focused on learning

and collaboration. During these day-long sessions, am-

bassadors receive fundamental tools for added insight

into the organization’s purpose and vision, includ-

ing important metrics for its success. Walker calls it a

“transformative experience” for participants because

it enhances their connection with the organization.

The mission of the two ambassador programs is to

engage, educate, align, and ignite top frontline talent.

“We connect them back to the purpose of why they’re

here and how they make a difference in the lives of pa-

tients,” Walker explains. “They take that message back

to their departments and team members and impart

what they learn about metrics and engagement.” More

than 500 employees have participated to date.

An eager participant at ADI and other learning

events is the network’s energetic CEO, Robert Earley,

who instills the art of engagement with his three

simple “Rules of the Road”: Own it. Seek joy. Don’t

be a jerk.

“From dressing in costume to FaceTiming partic-

ipants, there is nothing Mr. Earley won’t do to make

a training event fun and impactful,” insists learning

consultant Shane Mckee. “He inspires and motivates

by always sharing his authentic self while simultane-

ously making everyone around him feel comfortable

enough to be their true selves. He embodies his Rules

of the Road in everything he does.”

The learning and OD team focuses intently on its

frontline employees—and for good reason. It consid-

ers them the organization’s eyes and ears, who learn

before anyone else what is working and what isn’t.

They are typically the first to be affected when pro-

cesses and systems are changed, yet they are seldom

asked to share their insights with top leaders. “ADI

solves this problem,” Walker insists.

Other talent development programs for frontline

employees include Empower, which engages team

members interested in furthering their professional

development. Topics include effective communication,

time management, and healthcare fundamentals. The

department has also hired a career guidance and OD

consultant to coach and mentor frontline employees

ready to advance their careers. Similar programs are

offered for employees throughout JPS.

Training programs for those
further up the org chart
One of the organization’s most successful learning

initiatives is its Leadership Acceleration Program

(LAP), a 10-month cohort-based program for ex-

perienced directors and managers. It is aimed at

inspiring competencies and instilling the servant

leader concept throughout the network’s ranks.

Principal topics include team building, employee re-

tention and engagement, leading change, employee

relations, and conflict resolution.

The leadership program has been so successful

that the team unveiled a follow-up series last year

named LAP 2. Restricted to graduates of LAP 1, its goal

is to build leadership bench strength and “hardwire

excellence.” It introduces new learning experiences

and opportunities each year, helping leaders contin-

uously grow and evolve—a vital mission as JPS copes

with constant growth and change in healthcare.

Participants also dive deeper into areas of com-

munity involvement and enhanced management

skills, Walker contends. In addition, JPS offers the

Engagement Mentorship Program each year for

leaders who need more support and assistance in

employee engagement.

So how is all this engagement-related instruction

working out? The network’s latest employee en-

gagement survey ranks the organization in the 90th

percentile, up from 86 during 2016, Walker reports

proudly. “That demonstrates that we have a work-

force that is confident that they’re able to do their

jobs.” She says it reflects steady progress from its re-

lentless campaigns to do right by its employees.

JPS can justly celebrate, because such transfor-

mations reportedly take from five to eight years to

complete. Yet, its real victories are in the reduced turn-

over and other metrics attesting that JPS is indeed an

employer of choice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Paul Harris is a freelance writer in Alexandria,
Virginia; pcharris007@comcast.net.

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and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without
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© 2019 Joule Inc. or its licensors CMAJ | JULY 29, 2019 | VOLUME 191 | ISSUE 30 E845

C ultural safety training for working with Indigenous people is becom-ing a common part of physician
education. The Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada has said all medi-
cal residency programs will be required to
include cultural safety training.

“We know that Indigenous people have
a very different experience in the health
care system, for reasons related to racism
and a lack of understanding of history and
different perspectives on health and well-
being,” said Dr. Lisa Richardson, cochair of
the college’s Indigenous Health Commit-

tee. “It is imperative that all health care
providers have that understanding.”

C u l t u r a l s a f e t y t r a i n i n g g e n e r a l l y
includes education on foundational con-
c e p t s , l i k e t h e p o w e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s
between patients and health care pro-
viders, as well as the history of coloniza-
tion and self-reflection on the provider’s
own biases. But Indigenous people are
not a homogenous group, and training
programs are not always suited to every
local context.

Wayne Clark, director of patient services
for Indigenous Health at the Winnipeg

Regional Health Authority, is developing a
cultural safety training program focused on
the treatment of type 2 diabetes that is spe-
cific to Inuit people and culture.

“The Inuit community became aware
of other cultural safety training, which
included some pan-Indigenous context
about colonization, but nothing about the
unique aspects of Inuit culture,” he said.

For example, most cultural safety
training programs focus on metaphors
related to the First Nations context, such
as the medicine wheel, a concept used by
many Indigenous peoples to represent

NEW

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Indigenous people are not a homogenous group, so cultural safety training programs should reflect context of individual communities.

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Tailoring cultural safety training in health care
to local context of Indigenous communities
n Cite as: CMAJ 2019 July 29;191:E845-6. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.1095780

Posted on cmajnews.com on July 11, 2019.

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EW

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E846 CMAJ | JULY 29, 2019 | VOLUME 191 | ISSUE 30

the alignment and continuous interaction
of the physical, emotional, mental and
spiritual realities. Inuit culture, however,
uses a different concept based on mind,
spirit and soul. “The medicine wheel is
very prevalent, but the Inuit structure is
not as well known,” said Clark. “It’s a
common problem because of geography.
Unless you’ve been in the North, you
probably haven’t been exposed to much
Inuit culture.”

Clark, whose mother is Inuit, is focus-
ing on type 2 diabetes because members
of the Inuit community asked for it, as the
prevalence of the disease is increasing
rapidly among Inuit people. The goal is to
develop an online training module that

will help non-Inuit doctors understand
the factors driving diabetes in Inuit com-
munities, so they can treat it in more
effective and culturally appropriate ways.

Clark is developing the project using a
concept called Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ),
an interconnected approach to sharing Inuit
knowledge between generations. He will
work with Inuit elders across the North, dis-
cussing the triadic concept and its impor-
tance to individual wellness, as well as how
Inuit people would like to be treated and
understood by physicians. “A big part of this
research is on how to engage the commu-
nity,” said Clark. “Often we only see health
policy and education developed within non-
Indigenous institutions.”

The result will be a community-driven
education program, guided and approved
by the communities in which it will be
used. Although the project focuses on dia-
betes, the same strategy could be applied
to multiple health conditions, said Clark.

“The idea of having locally specific
input and knowledge is really important,”
said Richardson. Not only are the needs of
Inuit, Métis and First Nations people dif-
ferent, there are also differences between
the various First Nations. “Training needs
to be tailored to understand your local
context, grounded in the broader history
and self-learning.”

Brian Owens, St. Stephen, NB

Copyright of CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal is the property of Joule Inc. and
its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email
articles for individual use.