Inside Duke Medicine

Q&A with Leadership: Employee development

Durham Regional Hospital leadership has many goals for 2010, and at the top is building a more satisfied and engaged work force.

The 2009 Work Culture Survey results revealed that employee development is a key driver of satisfaction for Durham Regional employees. That’s why the Executive Leadership Team and two employee-led committees have focused their attention on employee development. The following Q&A with Peggy Baker, associate nursing officer and director of education, Katie Galbraith, chief hospital operations & business development officer, and Rich Walsh, chief human resources officer, provides details about how the hospital plans to develop each employee in 2010. Baker, Galbraith and Walsh are leadership champions for the employee-led Diversity Committee and Work Culture Employee Development Committee, which have been instrumental in employee development research and planning. Here are some examples of employees who have developed in a number of ways

What did you learn about employee development at DRH?
The Work Culture Survey results and committee work revealed that while there are some departments at DRH that do a great job developing employees, development is not taking place for everyone. Consistency across departments is essential when building a culture of inclusiveness, fairness, respect and trust. For this reason, and because employee development has been identified as very important to employees, we want to make sure it is occurring for everyone. This is our charge for 2010.

What is employee development?
Employee development means more than just attending a class or conference. In fact, research shows that the most valuable development is actually on the job, often in the form of “stretch” assignments (assignments that are outside one’s normal responsibility, such as committee work). Other examples include cross-training, participating on project teams, making a presentation at a staff meeting, receiving or providing coaching, reading or writing articles in your profession, or having the opportunity to learn something new whether it be big or small. It is based on both the individual employee and department priorities. Development doesn’t necessarily mean preparing for a promotion. We respect the fact that not everyone wants to take on a management role—many employees want to be the best they can be in their current positions. Regardless of your goals, the Executive Leadership Team is committed to making sure you have the conversation with your manager as you begin your journey to accomplishing them.

How will employees be developed?
As part of mid-year evaluations, every manager will have a development conversation with each person who reports to them. And, each employee will be working with their manager to create their own development plan. Hospital directors, managers and supervisors attended a retreat in December, and the focus was employee development. Managers were trained about how to begin and support development for employees, and were provided with tools to assist them, including sample development plans.

Who is responsible for employee development?
Employee development is a shared responsibility. As employees, each of us has the responsibility to communicate what we want to achieve and/or learn and to follow through with our plans. It is the responsibility of managers to initiate and support each employee’s development and to help identify opportunities and resources. Human Resources functions to support employees and managers in this process.

Is there anything to add about employee development?
We want to emphasize that the entire Executive Leadership team is serious about every employee having a development conversation and plan at midyear evaluations. If you have any questions, please talk with your manager or contact one of us.

Did You Know?
Durham Regional Hospital employees have access to many resources to help us develop skills and knowledge. The Employee Development Toolkit is available online on the Employee Intranet, under the “DRH Links” menu.

DRH recently updated the Career Enhancement Program that provides $500 towards continuing education programs that are part of a non-degree program. With this change, registration fees will be covered upfront rather than reimbursed after the class.

We hope this will make classes and workshops more accessible. Information about this and other reimbursement programs is included in the online toolkit. Be thinking about how you can develop at Durham Regional.

Here are some examples of employees who have developed in a number of ways.

The Clinical Engineering team found a creative way to train. Mike Glasgow attended training and used what he learned to train his co-workers.

Bonnie Daniel, an administrative assistant for Engineering & Security, always takes on additional responsibilities and assignments when asked. She helps with the severe weather command center, coordinates holiday activities for the hospital and is staffing the Copy Center several hours a day to provide coverage.

Durham Regional supported Kenneth Ball so that he could go to school to become a surgical technician. In 2003, he moved from Environmental Services to the Operating Room, fulfilling his dream.

Claudette Meeks, Volunteer Services manager, was prepared to move to a managerial position because of her on-the-job experience and graduation from the First Time Supervisors Program through Duke Professional Development Institute.