Belonging drives innovation and impact. Learn how building an inclusive culture through community engagement, associate-led initiatives, and strong communication empowers teams to bring their best ideas forward and make a difference.
Transcript:
Yolanda Walker:
So when we think about these live your purpose values, Robert, that really lends to a sense of belonging. People feel like they belong as a part of the organization. We’re family.
Robert Tindell:
Yeah. I mean, I think once you have a culture of belonging and team members leaning into an organization, the client wins because what that team member’s doing is bringing it, making it personal. It’s not a job. It’s not punching a clock and coming in and doing our work and going home. But they’re coming in and they care about their mission. They care about the company’s mission. They’re bringing their whole self to work and they’re delivering. They’re delivering for the patients. They’re delivering for our caregivers and they’re delivering for our clients.
Yolanda Walker:
And that gives them an opportunity to innovate.That’s where we get our best ideas is now because people feel a sense of belonging, so they want to innovate and they want to share their ideas, which many of the things we’ve rolled out came from those innovative ideas from our associates.
Robert Tindell:
Yeah. So we often talk about innovation and we always go to the big things, right? Those big rock innovations, the technology rollouts, the complete system overhauls. But those come across, we get one or two of those great things, maybe every year or 18 months. We have hundreds of what we call little eyes. Those are the small innovations. Those are the solves that are being figured out in hospitals and in different departments around the country. And those highly engaged associates that feel really, really attached, they’re solving those problems and they’re bringing those best practices to us. And we’re able to share them around the country to all of our associates so that everyone’s on the same page and we’re all driving to the same mission. Not only does this a sense of belonging drive innovation, but it drives a sense of community and a sense of purpose.
Talk a little bit about PACC, what it is, how it’s designed, and how it’s really driving a sense of purpose for each one of our team members.
Yolanda Walker:
PACC, which is our People and Culture Council, really starts at the top, Robert. It starts with you being the executive sponsor. And so your support has allowed us to expand throughout every state, and now we have a PACC in pretty much every state. And so this is an opportunity for us to take our sector level of objectives and goals around community and serving and giving back and allowing our associates to be their authentic selves. And our PACCs really deliver on all the things we’re doing at the sector level, community impact, community impact projects, giving back to the community. Also inclusive recognition, how we recognize inclusive milestone anniversaries, all the things we do, giving out gift cards at the sector, at the unit level. And then also just the fact that we have leaders in every market, our RDOs serving as executive sponsors, which leads to extensive community for that culture.
We have our microcultures, I guess that’s the best way to say it. So it leads to the micro cultures and now they’re leaning into what’s the culture in my region, in my market? And so it’s been very rewarding to look at that and not to mention how we’ve elevated communication with the shift TVs. And now we have a consistent newsletter that goes out every single month. So I think that lends to a sense of belonging when people can see themselves in their market.
Robert Tindell:
Yeah. And I’m extremely excited about the new communication tool. We’re able to talk directly to [inaudible 00:03:23] associates as opposed to going through emails and bulletin boards. Obviously that’s really exciting about where we’re going to be going with that. But talk a little bit about how PACC is supporting the associates and team members that are in every single state. Talk a little bit about how we’re identifying programs for some that are underserved, that need something or need some additional support, how we’re communicating that information to them instead of them having to figure it out on their own.
Yolanda Walker:
And to your point, Robert, we’ve had built some great relationships with community-based organizations that’s really helped. And so we’ve been able to translate a lot of that, like English as a second language, courses that have helped us elevate our associates that don’t … English is not their first language, and now they can speak fluent English. Also, partnering with the community partners to elevate giving back and building for our associates, like giving cult drives and school supplies. That was a big one. That’s probably the number one, backpack drive. And so we’ve served over a thousand of our associates and their kids. And some of the things that we just simply sometimes take for granted that we’re giving that back to our associates and they are truly appreciative for every bit of it.
Robert Tindell:
And some of the community-driven events. So right now we’re in the process of starting a whole bunch of walks. Talk a little bit about some of those partnerships with the walks that we’re doing in each of the major cities in the different states.
Yolanda Walker:
So in the midst in April, Community Inclusion and Impact Month [inaudible 00:04:50]. And so we’ve partnered with Best Buddies, which is a great organization that focuses on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We’ve had about a four-year relationship with them. So think about, we’re doing 10 walks in 10 states, raising thousands of dollars for a great organization. The partnership is amazing, not just because we’re raising money, but because we have Best Buddies that work for us in many of our markets as well. So it’s really a truly a great partnership to see how we’re impacting the lives of those, not just we think about the disabilities, but really finding their abilities to come work with us as well.
Robert Tindell:
Sure. No, it’s been a highly successful program. It’s obviously something we’re passionate about, you and I, we’re passionate about as an organization, and it’s about the greater good.
Yolanda Walker:
That’s right.
Robert Tindell:
It’s taking individuals with disabilities, it’s up-training them, developing, helping them develop life skills so they can be on their own, they can work full-time jobs, they can support themselves. And that’s rewarding just seeing it in itself. You can see the light bulbs go off in these individuals when they’re contributing to society, when they’re excited to come to work, they’re excited to learning a new skill. It’s really rewarding.