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Last month marked the one-year anniversary of Children's Hospital Boston's employee lunch series with Sandra Fenwick, chief operating officer (COO), who says they couldn't be going better. "It's a wonderfully informal way to get to know people I never otherwise would have been able to meet, and to understand the kind of work they do and challenges they face," she says.
The open-agenda lunch meetings were suggested by Inez Stewart, vice president of Human Resources (HR), who thought that informal meetings with Fenwick would be an innovative way for employees to discuss hospital strategy, plans for Children's future and day-to-day issues impacting their jobs with one of the hospital's key leaders. "The idea was to get an ear as close to the ground as possible," Fenwick says. "We already had the employee survey to generate feedback, but we wanted a real-time way to hear what makes people proud to be here and what concerns they have."
"It's exciting to be bridging communication between employees and senior management," say Elvira Paulino, director of Employee Relations in HR, who oversees the program. "It's a great opportunity for our employees, and they've felt so honored to be invited to these meetings." Last year, Fenwick presided over 24 lunches, some with managers and others with non-managers. Each gathering brings together 10 to 12 employees who work in various departments throughout the hospital and at the satellites. Some have worked here for three months; others for 40 years. "That's what's great about getting groups together like this," Fenwick says. "Some people are just starting to feel what it's like to work here and others have seen all the changes. So it's invaluable to hear from each of them what they think is working well and what's broken."
So far, discussions have been focused more on the positive than the negative. "I've heard an extraordinary number of good things about Exceptional Care, Exceptional Service," Fenwick says. Other positive comments have related to communications improvements, like Small Talk, the weekly e-newsletter, and Breeze, which allows employees to watch the Open Meetings via their computers. But Fenwick finds that hearing people's concerns is important, too. Common concerns relate to parking, traffic, advancement opportunities and communication. "I always ask about communication in particular," Fenwick says. "I want to hear what people think works well and find where we can still make significant improvements. I keep hearing that people want to get more information from their managers. I can then take that feedback when I meet with supervisors and managers and say, 'We're still not there'."
A secondary advantage to the lunches is that the randomly selected employees have the chance to meet one another. "It was good to sit down with people from across the institution and hear the details of what is going on at their level," says one participant. "It makes you realize that it takes all of us to provide care to our patients and families."
Employees are also appreciative of the simple fact that the COO is making an effort to meet with individuals and is willing to discuss anything they wish to bring up. "The meeting itself sends a great message to us that upper management is interested in feedback," said a participant. "I found Sandi very approachable, concerned and genuinely interested in what people are thinking," said another. This kind of reception has led Fenwick to start planning a new series of dinner-time meetings so off-shift employees can also have a chance to meet with her. "Every time I walk out of these meetings, I'm so enriched and so enthused about the passion, spirit, devotion and dedication of the people who work here," she says. "It's really amazing."
Some of the changes that have come about as a result of feedback from the employees are:
Improvement in internal communications
• Public Affairs and Marketing is developing a communication strategy and marketing and advertising campaign to promote Martha Eliot Health Center (MEHC) and our satellite locations.
• A new HR newsletter was created to inform managers and directors of the latest changes, programs and upcoming events taking place in the department.
• On-site HR support is now offered at more off-campus facilities, and HR representatives have been participating in numerous departmental meetings to explain benefits.
• At department head meetings, directors can borrow videos about Children's and the work various departments are undertaking to show at their own departmental meetings.
• All employees now have the ability to participate in Open Meetings via Breeze.
Learning and development
• Quarterly communications on new programs and classes will be announced in Small Talk and on the intranet.
• The new HR newsletter will feature updates on development programs each month.
• Direct communications from HR generalists alerting managers and other employees about upcoming special trainings and encouraging them to attend.
Mandatory Yearly Review (MYR)
• A new, paired-down MYR for administrative and support departments is about to launch. It will focus on information relevant to employees who work in non-clinical areas.
Professional development
• Many new programs are in development, including Management 101, which will cover policies, legal matters, budgets and systems. The five-part manager series is being piloted now. Other new programs will be introduced this year.
Parking and Transportation
• A new shuttle service between Children's and Waltham is in place,
leaving every hour. A shuttle to
MEHC is under consideration.
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