Episode Transcript
Alan Helgeson (announcer):
“Reimagining Rural Health,” a podcast series brought to you by Sanford Health. In this series, we explore the challenges facing health care systems across the country from improving access to equitable care, building a sustainable workforce, and discovering innovative ways to deliver high-quality, low-cost services in rural and underserved populations. Each episode examines how Sanford Health and other health systems are advancing care for the unique communities they serve.
In this episode, Courtney Collen with Sanford Health News talks with “future of work” expert and bestselling author Eric Termuende and Ashley Wenger-Slaba, Sanford Health senior vice president of employee experience, education and workforce relations. The conversation is on workplace culture and the future of work.
Courtney Collen (host):
Thank you both so much for your time.
Eric and Ashley (guests): Thanks for having me.
Courtney Collen:
Eric, what are the top three opportunities you see when it comes to building a resilient and thriving workforce?
Eric Termuende:
Yeah, so first of all, let’s get a better understanding of resilient. To me, resilient is able to navigate change, able to bounce back from uncertainty, able to navigate whatever the future of work is for sure going to promise us. So given that that’s an understanding of what resilience is, a foundation of trust on the team is imperative.
We have to make sure that people feel seen, heard, and understood. You know, a sense of belonging, I think is a better way of saying that. And there has to be an opportunity or a forum to do things different than the way we’ve always done it. Because, in the work that we did, what we found is that the actual root of happiness is a sense of contribution. And when we’re able to contribute, try new things, feel seen, heard, and understood, built on a foundation of trust, resilience is present, and the future of work is not something we have to shy away from.
Courtney Collen:
Where have we made progress when it comes to workplace culture? Where does work remain? How will this shape strategy and policy moving forward?
Ashley Wenger-Slaba:
Courtney, when I think about the progress we’ve made over the last several years, one of the things I’m most proud of is how we have really grown our listening culture at Sanford. We’ve built out a number of different strategies where we are actively listening to our employees in a number of different ways, trying to really stay in tune day-to-day with the employee sentiment across the organization. Whether that be our employee survey work, our SAFE rounding, our employee connection process – just a number of different ways that we are getting real-time feedback from our employees and utilizing the information to pivot our strategies and offerings as an employer.
Eric Termuende:
I think we’ve identified that culture is an important thing. And we’ve also identified that it’s very nuanced. So something that might work at Sanford Health might not necessarily work at the media company downtown or for the sports team, and that’s totally fine.
We recognize that culture is important, but it’s not necessarily universally the same. I mean, even if we were to just look at the best places to work in the country according to Fortune magazine, one of them, well, let’s say Sanford Health, of course, we’ve got that one there. But, but another one is like Cisco, out of San Francisco, internet infrastructure. And another one is the Hilton hotel chain. And I guess the point that I’m trying to make is that yes, three great places to work, but that doesn’t mean that somebody who’s a valet at a Hilton wants to work at Cisco in a server room, or somebody who’s making a bed at a Hilton wants to work at a hospital and that’s fine. We’ve got three great cultures, but not necessarily great for each other.
So where’s there progress that needs to be made? We have to understand that culture is not static. You know, we heard this throughout the pandemic so often: How do we preserve, how do we maintain the culture we have? I think the answer is you don’t. With every new hire, with every person that retires, with every new patient, with every new customer, culture changes and is supposed to recognize that it’s a moving target that we’re always looking to move forward. And I think we’ll get there eventually and continue to get to wherever we need to be.
Courtney Collen:
Fascinating, great insight. Thank you. You talk about one-degree shifts that build communities at work. In other words, small changes can have a big impact on workplace culture. Eric, can you share some examples of that?
Eric Termuende:
Yeah, let’s make it a little easier and make it more on a personal level. Let’s just say I wanted to lose 10 pounds or gain 10 pounds. Instead of just setting that goal of losing 10 pounds, which of course we need to do, what are the little shifts that I can make right now that will eliminate excuse, eliminate distraction and eliminate any reason for me to not ultimately get that done?
So maybe I’m putting my shoes beside the door so that they’re there. Maybe I’m blocking a spot in my calendar because my calendar’s been busy and I haven’t been able to make time. And the excuse that I tell myself is that I’m too busy – relatable. Maybe I just have that, you know, clothes that are folded at the base of my bed. Maybe if I’m looking to lose 10 pounds, I might say, well, I’m not just going to go on an all salad and juice diet. Maybe I’ll just take the sugar out of my coffee this morning. You know, which might be a bigger than a one-degree shift change for some people. But instead of saying, how do I cut everything? What’s the small change that I can make? And I found that in the workplace, the same thing happens.
We often have our big strategic initiatives, our five-year plans, and they can be overwhelming. They’re huge. Right? They’re daunting. They’re exhausting. Instead, set that goal, but then say, what’s the one small shift we can make to get a little bit closer to that goal today? And I found that that often lies in how we communicate and connect with each other.
So the best tip that I’ve got is, ask that one extra question that you’ve told yourself you didn’t have time for. My favorite question when we’re trying to build camaraderie is what are you most excited about? It’s just such an easy way to find out what people are looking forward to, what they’re passionate about, and what they’re excited about.
Courtney Collen:
Well, that segues nicely into our last question, Eric, because I’d love to know what excites you most about the future of work.
Eric Termuende:
Sure. The pandemic obviously has hopefully long, long passed us. But we had this rhetoric around going back to like a new normal. And I think based on how fast the world around us is changing, there is, and there never will be a new normal, which again, can be daunting and anxiety inducing. Sure.
At the same time, it can be very optimistic. It can be very exciting. What I’m most excited about for the future of work is that it might be a turbulent time right now. But as we settle into change being constant, as we settle into a new way of doing things, what I think is going to happen is that the workplace will reconfigure itself a little bit. We’ll see short-term turbulence, but in the long-term, we’ll see people landing exactly where they need to be, working in places they love to work, doing work they love to do with people they love to do it with. And ultimately on Monday morning, not dragging their feet to work and on Friday afternoon, not necessarily skipping out of the office. I see the future of work is very positive, very optimistic, and very human centered.
Ashley Wenger-Slaba:
What I think excites me the most about the future of work at Sanford is that I think we have just this incredible group of people with such a diversity of talents. And as we build upon that listening culture, as we increase trust and that psychological safety in the workplace, we’re really able to just better leverage and pull out those diverse talents, those diverse lived experiences, and we really truly are stronger, too – better and better together because we’re able to do that.
Courtney Collen:
Yeah. I love to know, Ashley, what do you love most about what you do?
Ashley Wenger-Slaba:
I’m a lawyer by background. And so I started my career trying to mitigate risk in the employment law world. Stop bad things from happening in the workplace. And now I’m able to do preventative, proactive things to make the workplace better and try to avoid ever having to be in those situations, and that’s just a really rewarding and engaging shift for me professionally.
Courtney Collen:
Well, we appreciate all that you do. Thank you both so much for your time.
Ashley Wenger-Slaba:
Thanks, Courtney.
Eric Termuende:
I’m grateful to be here.
Alan Helgeson:
You’ve been listening to “Reimagining Rural Health,” a podcast series brought to you by Sanford Health. Hear more episodes in this series or other Sanford Health Series on Apple, Spotify, and news.sanfordhealth.org.
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Posted In Behavioral Health, Community, Healthy Living, Leadership in Health Care, People & Culture, Rural Health, Workplace Health
