1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:19,860 Hi and welcome to Be The Flagship with our podcast host Jeff Parsons. 2 00:00:19,860 --> 00:00:24,160 This is where we tackle the day-to-day talent management challenges you face, particularly 3 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,800 in hospice and small healthcare organizations. 4 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,560 And now over to our host. 5 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:30,120 Take it away, Jeff. 6 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,280 Hello again and welcome to Be The Flagship. 7 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,940 I'm your podcast host, Jeff Parsons. 8 00:00:35,940 --> 00:00:42,340 We have another great episode for you today with guest speaker Heather Thompson and our 9 00:00:42,340 --> 00:00:46,240 topic today, workplace culture. 10 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,520 But before we get started with Heather, let's take a quick break. 11 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:54,460 At Flagship Talent, we work with our clients to find and place the right talent. 12 00:00:54,460 --> 00:00:56,320 What do we mean by the right talent? 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,920 We mean we find talent who will commit to your organizational goals and align with your 14 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,640 values and behavior expectations. 15 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:06,160 Talent who will perform to your expectations. 16 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,600 Talent who will stay and grow with your organization. 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,700 How are we different from our competitors? 18 00:01:11,700 --> 00:01:14,540 We offer the lowest fee structure in the industry. 19 00:01:14,540 --> 00:01:17,360 We offer the best talent guarantee in the industry. 20 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:22,200 We provide selection and interviewing support to our clients at no additional fee. 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:27,600 We want to save you money, deliver high quality talent, become an extension of your organization, 22 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,160 and be your preferred provider of talent acquisition solutions. 23 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,900 To learn more, contact Jeff Parsons by email at Jeff at FlagshipTalent.com or by phone 24 00:01:36,900 --> 00:01:42,600 at 1-800-530-4189, extension 101. 25 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,240 Okay, we're back. 26 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,320 Our guest speaker today is Heather Thompson. 27 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:54,280 Heather, thank you for joining us today and could you tell us more about who you are, 28 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,960 what you do, and the organization you serve? 29 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,240 Hi Jeff, thank you for having me on. 30 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:06,120 I'm Heather Thompson and I am the Vice President of Hospice for Ultimate Plus Hospice. 31 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,960 I got my start honestly as a nurse's daughter. 32 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:11,680 My mom is a hospice nurse. 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,800 She's retired now, but growing up, I always saw what she did and the impact that she had 34 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,720 on family members and patients that she served. 35 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,520 I just thought it was such a beautiful thing. 36 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:28,040 That being said, my father was always in sales and I had that passion for sales and to be 37 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:33,520 in the community and selling something, whether it be a business or a product. 38 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,440 Years went by and I realized there was actually a position that was encompassing of the two. 39 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:44,760 I started my career about 15 years ago working for a company that had both home health and 40 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:49,440 hospice and I was in business development for them. 41 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,720 Loved the company, enjoyed what we did, enjoyed learning, and then they closed down the home 42 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:55,720 health division. 43 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,440 So, it was only a hospice organization at that point. 44 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,980 In my early 20s, I thought anybody that worked in hospice was completely crazy after having 45 00:03:04,980 --> 00:03:07,160 dealt with it for a little while. 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:12,520 And so, I left and worked strictly in home health for several years. 47 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,240 Over the course of those years, my heart just of course pulled me back to the hospice world 48 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,860 and it's something that I am truly, truly passionate about and cannot imagine spending 49 00:03:20,860 --> 00:03:24,480 one second doing anything other than what we're doing in hospice. 50 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:25,480 Okay. 51 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:27,280 So, I have a question for you. 52 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:34,360 So, I asked this question of other hospice professionals when I interview them. 53 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:40,320 Do you feel that hospice work is a calling, if you will? 54 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,960 Do you feel like you were led into that or it just sort of happened? 55 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,160 No, it did not just sort of happen. 56 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:47,920 I feel like it's in my blood. 57 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,680 My mom always says, you know, she's a retired hospice nurse and she's always said that hospice 58 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,920 care is the love of her life. 59 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:59,080 And after having been doing this now 15 years, I completely understand that. 60 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:05,240 And I don't think that people can be successful in hospice care or in home care of any kind 61 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,440 without the passion because we're serving people. 62 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:09,880 You know, we're serving families. 63 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,680 We're trying to help during the most painful times of someone's life. 64 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,040 And without having that passion for that, I just don't think that you have that full 65 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:24,100 draw to be able to give really all of yourself and all of your emotions and all of your skills 66 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:29,000 and knowledge all, you know, kind of wrapped up into one little package for a family. 67 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,600 So, yes, I definitely feel like it's a mission. 68 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:33,600 Got it. 69 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:39,000 So, when you say you're the VP of hospice, so is what is your primary focus? 70 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,560 Is it clinical operations? 71 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:41,560 Is it business development? 72 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:42,560 What is it? 73 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,240 So, I'm mainly involved in the business development side when it comes to the operations. 74 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,680 However, I do have a hand in the entire company. 75 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,640 So that's been very exciting. 76 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:53,640 Good. 77 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:55,960 And you're down in Texas, right? 78 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:56,960 Yes, sir. 79 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,700 We have an office in Mesquite, Texas. 80 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:01,100 That's our main office. 81 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:06,240 We also have an office in Fort Worth, Texas and one in Greenville, Texas. 82 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:11,040 And we're hoping within the next several months to open one in East Texas around the Maybank 83 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:12,480 or Canton area. 84 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:13,480 Gotcha. 85 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:14,480 That's exciting. 86 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:15,480 All right. 87 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:16,480 This growth, right? 88 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:17,480 Absolutely. 89 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,400 It's been so thrilling to see, you know, in the last two and a half years, every one of 90 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:27,280 these three current offices are brand new and we've either moved into them or you just 91 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:29,360 started an operation in that area. 92 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,200 We've got plans to grow further in Texas. 93 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,400 So it's been very, very exciting. 94 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:34,400 Gotcha. 95 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,780 Well, congratulations on the growth. 96 00:05:36,780 --> 00:05:41,200 So Heather, could you give us more detail about your organization, please? 97 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:42,200 Perfect. 98 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:43,200 Thank you. 99 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:44,200 I will. 100 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,120 It's one of my favorite things to talk about. 101 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:50,360 So we're unique in the fact that we have three different divisions within our organization 102 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,260 in Texas and we have the home health division. 103 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:57,960 We also have a private caregiver, a PHC division. 104 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,520 And then we have my passion, which is hospice. 105 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:05,560 So we have all levels of care and really we are able to give the full continuum of care 106 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,880 to any of our patients. 107 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:13,040 We're very, very proactive when it comes to patients on home health that are declining. 108 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,880 We can then move them to the higher level of care within hospice or maybe a patient 109 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,940 on hospice that needs additional care that Medicare won't cover. 110 00:06:20,940 --> 00:06:25,320 We then have the private caregiver division that we can have a caregiver come and stay 111 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:26,880 for hours at a time. 112 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,800 And then of course with hospice patients, those that improve, we call that extended 113 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:35,680 prognosis, we can take them off of hospice care and not leave them high and dry, but 114 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,760 put them back on home health care for therapy or rehab or just nursing care. 115 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:45,720 So we're an organization that has all levels of care and we all work very, very well together, 116 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,920 yet independently at the same time. 117 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:48,920 Gotcha. 118 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,360 Sounds like a great place, Heather. 119 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,680 Thank you. 120 00:06:54,680 --> 00:07:01,080 And today's episode, we're focusing on workplace culture. 121 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,720 My favorite. 122 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:09,600 And you know, you struck, yeah, you struck me with some of the LinkedIn posts you put 123 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:15,200 out there, you know, recognizing your team or various teams and it's like, you know, 124 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,960 she understands, she gets it in terms of a workplace culture. 125 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,920 And, you know, that's why I reached out and said, Hey, you know, could you contribute? 126 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:25,000 Could you help? 127 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:31,320 So in your view, and again, the purpose is to interview practitioners, those who are 128 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:37,760 actually in the field or in the industry and get their views on these matters. 129 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:39,780 And in this case, again, workplace culture. 130 00:07:39,780 --> 00:07:44,880 So how important is workplace culture in your organization, Heather? 131 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:46,720 Well, thank you for asking that, Jeff. 132 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,220 It's very important. 133 00:07:48,220 --> 00:07:52,760 And you know, I am so proud of the fact that you recognized that we celebrate our team 134 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:54,600 members. 135 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:59,360 Because I'd rather be applauded for, you know, having a happy group of people and being in 136 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:04,560 a happy environment at work in what we do, which is so, so very difficult and emotionally 137 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,880 draining than I would be to, you know, talk about how many patients we have on census 138 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,860 or whatnot, because it's hand in hand. 139 00:08:12,860 --> 00:08:19,360 Our company will not be successful unless our employees and our team members are happy. 140 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,920 And so, you know, when I came to the company, that was one of the very first things that 141 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,480 the owners, you know, even brought up was the company culture and how different it is. 142 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:34,280 And I really, really am proud of the way that our company organization and leadership really 143 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,580 instills the culture into our daily life. 144 00:08:37,580 --> 00:08:42,600 So how do you think your work culture impacts your organization? 145 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:44,120 Can you give me some examples? 146 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,160 Oh, sure. 147 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,120 You know, we work with hospice care. 148 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,120 We work in end of life care and it's a sensitive topic. 149 00:08:52,120 --> 00:09:01,120 And if our employees are miserable and they feel undervalued or they feel underappreciated, 150 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,760 no matter how sensitive their day to day job is in the home, they're still not going to 151 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,840 feel that pride and ultimate and not they will. 152 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,620 They'll carry some kind of burden or resentment. 153 00:09:11,620 --> 00:09:13,600 And I think that that comes off in front of family members. 154 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,260 It comes off in front of patients. 155 00:09:15,260 --> 00:09:19,600 It comes off in front of referral sources and physicians and the people that we market 156 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:20,680 too. 157 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:26,360 And so, you know, how hard is it for us to share our appreciation for what we each do 158 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:31,520 because nobody on our team could do their job without everybody else on our team doing 159 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:32,920 the job. 160 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:37,400 And so we understand how important each person's job is and it's easy to appreciate somebody 161 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:41,920 and tell them thank you or recognize something that they've done above and beyond. 162 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,680 So it definitely carries through the community. 163 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:49,640 And I think we've really built a great reputation for ourselves as far as our culture and our 164 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:55,520 happiness because people come to me asking for, you know, jobs or interviews quite frequently 165 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,800 based on the fact that the people that they've talked to within our organization are so happy. 166 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:04,300 And you just answered the next question I was going to have in terms of work culture 167 00:10:04,300 --> 00:10:07,640 and how it's demonstrated outside your organization. 168 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:13,640 So I heard you say that you really feel strongly that your work culture, whether it's positive 169 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:20,400 or whether it's toxic, is demonstrated and people can see that outside your organization, 170 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,560 patients, patients, families, communities, that sort of thing. 171 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:24,560 Is that right? 172 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:25,560 Absolutely. 173 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:30,800 You know, in what we do, our emotions are involved in every single visit that we make. 174 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:31,800 These are hard visits. 175 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:32,800 These are hard conversations. 176 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,520 You know, sometimes these patients and their family members are finding out that there 177 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:42,140 is no cure and there is a shorter life expectancy than they expected. 178 00:10:42,140 --> 00:10:45,040 And those are very, very hard conversations to have. 179 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,520 So we already have our emotions on our sleeves during the day. 180 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,600 Then if you were to top on being miserable because you can't work with somebody or they're 181 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:57,560 not nice to you or they're not complimentary or, you know, they're not supportive, that 182 00:10:57,560 --> 00:10:59,180 just makes it 10 times worse. 183 00:10:59,180 --> 00:11:03,200 And that's when we go home, we're miserable, we can't stand the thought of getting up the 184 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:04,720 next day. 185 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,200 And it's detrimental to what we do. 186 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,120 And I will say this is the very first company I've worked at in 15 years that I have felt 187 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:17,600 these types of emotions when it comes to what we're doing, how we're doing it and the utter 188 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:18,600 happiness. 189 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,400 I mean, complete and total happiness in my line of work and in the company that I'm with. 190 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,120 And it starts from the owners. 191 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:30,800 That's what they built this company from is the idea that culture is going to be at our 192 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:31,800 core. 193 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:32,800 Mm-hmm. 194 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,720 And which leads me, has a nice bridge to my next question, Heather. 195 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,480 So what do you feel are the components of workplace culture? 196 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:46,080 You know, I look at it as a puzzle box with all these pieces in it, right? 197 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:52,520 And these various pieces, when you put them all together, can either form a pretty picture, 198 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,240 the one that's not so attractive as it relates to workplace culture. 199 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:01,040 So how would you define the components of workplace culture? 200 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,760 Well, I believe it starts with respect for one another. 201 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:10,960 You know, we're with these people the majority of the day and we're balancing ideas off of 202 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,880 one another, getting help from one another. 203 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:18,480 And what my boss says on almost a daily basis, Michael McGibbon, he's the president of our 204 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:19,480 company. 205 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,560 He says everyone has a voice. 206 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:26,840 And from the moment we have our first interview with somebody to the day that they decide 207 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,900 to leave the company or whatnot, everyone has a voice. 208 00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:36,600 And so, you know, titles don't mean a whole heck of a lot when it comes to spreading ideas, 209 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,120 sharing what you think might work better. 210 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,700 You know, everyone has a voice. 211 00:12:41,700 --> 00:12:47,920 And so whether it's a good idea, a small idea, or a big idea, we're going to talk those through. 212 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,000 We're going to figure out what would work best for us. 213 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:51,600 And we're going to put it into action. 214 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:55,200 And so whether it's somebody that's out in the field, it's a nurse, it's one of our medical 215 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:00,200 directors, or if it's somebody that's, you know, doing intake or in the office doing 216 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,520 administrative work, we want to know what ideas people have. 217 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:10,560 And so I feel like that gives people a really strong sense of community within our company, 218 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,680 because every voice does matter. 219 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:17,400 And again, like I said earlier, each of our jobs depend on the other. 220 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:22,680 And so, you know, if somebody has an idea that we can do better in any type of situation, 221 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:24,640 let's put it into action. 222 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:26,720 That's really important. 223 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:31,640 We also have a weekly issues call, where if there's problems going on, whether it's big 224 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:37,280 or small, and it's a operational issue, we put it on paper, we all get together as a 225 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:42,600 team and a company, we go over the issues, how it happened, what the suggested resolution 226 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,800 is, and we assign somebody to that issue to make sure the following week when we're in 227 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:51,800 our next meeting, we're following up with the issues from the week before. 228 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,400 And so that gives everybody kind of ownership in what we're doing. 229 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,480 It's a very transparent and flat organization. 230 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,160 Talk to me about your field staff, Heather. 231 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:06,880 One of the other things that we started whenever we decided to really grow this hospice organization 232 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:10,920 is making sure that our field staff was taken care of and that they were happy. 233 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:15,240 Because these are the nurses and the aides that are going out to see multiple patients, 234 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,960 you know, a day and a week and having to chart on it, then having to deal with their own 235 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,360 children and their own families. 236 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:22,360 And it's a lot. 237 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,880 It takes its toll on people. 238 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:31,920 Because most hospice organizations right now, each nurse and each aide has 20 to 25 patients 239 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:32,920 on their caseload. 240 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:37,360 That's 20 to 25 people they're seeing a week. 241 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,240 And that just seemed too much to us. 242 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,840 And honestly, that came from when I was a kid and remembering my mom going to work and 243 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,200 being gone all day long, and then coming home and huffing and puffing because she was sitting 244 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,880 on the couch doing documentation for hours and hours and hours. 245 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:57,720 And so we decided to have a very low nurse to patient ratio and a very low aide to patient 246 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:58,720 ratio. 247 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:03,360 So we only allow our nurses and our aides to have about 12, maybe 15 patients on their 248 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:08,560 caseload if we get a big pop in in referrals, you know, throughout that one week. 249 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,920 That way they can go home and spend more time with their family, relax. 250 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,080 They're not charting all night long. 251 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,200 But then on the flip side of that, our patients can be seen more often. 252 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,240 They can have longer visits. 253 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,240 Their families can be educated more thoroughly as well as the facility. 254 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,120 If they're in a facility, their staff can be educated better. 255 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:30,760 And so I just feel like even though that's patient care, that still is surrounding our 256 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:35,000 culture of the company because we want to make everything better for not only our patients, 257 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,840 but also for our team members that work so hard at what they do. 258 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,480 You know, that's that's really interesting. 259 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,560 And I made some notes. 260 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,000 And there are a couple of things. 261 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:48,760 But before we leave this, you know, nurse patient ratio. 262 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:54,640 So what I heard really is there is a focus on work life balance. 263 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:59,960 But you took a little different sled on it than what I typically hear, because not only 264 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,960 does it benefit your employees. 265 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:09,040 I heard you, you know, it's really interesting comment that you feel that it also benefits 266 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,040 the patients as well because they get more attention and more care. 267 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:13,040 Is that right? 268 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:14,040 Absolutely. 269 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,520 And not only the attention from the care side of things, but their nurse can go home and 270 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:23,440 relax and be with her family and regroup and come back at 100 percent tomorrow and not, 271 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:28,800 you know, having to jump from patient to patient to patient and just be exhausted all the time 272 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,640 and not having spent time with the family and that kind of thing. 273 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,480 And so all of that was very crucial when we were coming up with a game plan for how we 274 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:36,920 were going to build this organization. 275 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:37,920 Gotcha. 276 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,900 The other thing I made note of is the comment you made. 277 00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:47,120 You know, everyone has some voice and that I believe you mentioned that that came from 278 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,280 one of your owners. 279 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:56,040 And you know, it's a very powerful statement and just a few words. 280 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,040 And so, but talk can be cheap sometimes. 281 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,120 How is that demonstrated in your organization? 282 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,400 Everyone has a voice. 283 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:04,840 So when is it communicated? 284 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:07,520 Is it during orientation? 285 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,560 How was it communicated to your employees and how is it demonstrated? 286 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:17,320 It's the beginning of that communication is started in the interview process actually, 287 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:21,480 because we want people to know that they're going to be empowered in this company and 288 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,360 their voice will be heard. 289 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:26,960 Each one of our team members, they do something specific and they're an expert at what they 290 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:34,720 do, whether it's, you know, the intake coordinators or medical records or, you know, clinical 291 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,440 staff. 292 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:37,600 Everybody has an expertise. 293 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,160 I could not go out and do a nurse's job. 294 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:45,840 I could not sit down at an intake position and put patients in to the system and pull 295 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:47,880 records and that kind of thing. 296 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,920 And so we rely on their expertise to come up with ideas that might make our organization 297 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:53,920 slow better. 298 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:58,760 So several years ago, one of our team members came up with the idea of doing pet therapy 299 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,920 and felt like we were in a really good position to start that. 300 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:06,440 And within the next week, there was an animal, there was a pet therapist, the pet was in 301 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:12,280 training and we were on the right track to start that therapy process within the next 302 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:13,280 month. 303 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,200 So everything's in full force with us if it's a good idea. 304 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,840 If it makes sense, we're going to do it and we're going to do it as quickly as we can 305 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,640 because our patients will benefit from it now rather than later. 306 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:30,240 So that's always been very important to our organization and how we kind of hear everybody's 307 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,680 ideas and thoughts and good ideas. 308 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:33,680 Wow. 309 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:35,200 Those are great points, Heather. 310 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,560 Let's take a quick break and then we can wrap things up. 311 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,400 Did you know that most employees quit their boss before they quit their company? 312 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,360 At Flagship Talent, we take your bosses and create organizational leaders. 313 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:52,560 We bring over 30 years of leadership development and coaching expertise to your organization 314 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:58,080 and have developed leaders in most parts of Europe, mainland China, Thailand and the Americas. 315 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:03,600 We have also developed leaders in most industries, including hospice and other small healthcare. 316 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:08,020 Our approach is always customized to your specific organizational needs. 317 00:19:08,020 --> 00:19:12,260 We utilize a leadership coaching approach for individual managers, identifying their 318 00:19:12,260 --> 00:19:16,540 skills gaps and providing just-in-time training to address the gaps. 319 00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:21,180 We then coach the manager in a way that facilitates the application of new learning and skills 320 00:19:21,180 --> 00:19:26,480 in their unique work environment and helps them overcome their specific challenges. 321 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:31,040 We also offer customized leadership training on your site to develop your entire leadership 322 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:32,040 team. 323 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:36,360 Our managers are committed to meeting your scheduling challenges and within your budget. 324 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:37,640 Need a virtual option? 325 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:38,800 We have that too. 326 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,640 We offer online development for your managers and make it available on their schedule. 327 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:49,640 To learn more, contact Jeff Parsons by email at jeff at flagshiptalent.com or by phone 328 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:54,680 at 1-800-530-4189 extension 101. 329 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:59,640 Your managers have the greatest impact on employee engagement, performance and retention. 330 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:00,640 What are you waiting for? 331 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,640 Let's take your managers and create leaders. 332 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:04,640 Okay. 333 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:11,920 We're back with Heather Thompson, Vice President of Ultimate Home Health and Hospice. 334 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:18,160 And we're nearing the end of our discussion, Heather. 335 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:23,560 I'd like to thank you again for your willingness to contribute to the thought leadership for 336 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,200 hospice and other small healthcare. 337 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:31,200 Is there anything else you'd like to say regarding workplace culture? 338 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,800 You know, one of the things that's most important to me that I love to do on a monthly basis, 339 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:43,520 our HR director is incredible and she's very encompassing of everybody's time, their workload, 340 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,880 but she's also very passionate about celebrating one another. 341 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:52,320 And so once a month we get together for a party and we celebrate birthdays or anniversaries. 342 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:59,440 Here recently we've even expanded to new home ownership and children graduating, you know, 343 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:05,000 amongst our team and just celebrating everybody's personal lives and their accomplishments, big 344 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,300 and small. 345 00:21:06,300 --> 00:21:11,680 We eat together, we have cake together, we talk, we laugh and we just stop working for 346 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:12,800 an hour. 347 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,860 And it's so, so valuable. 348 00:21:14,860 --> 00:21:16,840 We get to know one another on a personal level. 349 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:18,240 We get to be friends, you know. 350 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:23,840 I feel like I've gained more friends working at Ultimate than I have in the last 15 years. 351 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,480 And so, you know, we just kind of take the badges off and we sit down and we celebrate 352 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,280 each other. 353 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:36,920 It sounds as though you look for an excuse to recognize other people and you look for 354 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,040 an excuse to celebrate. 355 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:40,040 Absolutely. 356 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:41,240 Absolutely. 357 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:46,540 It helps us not only with the heaviness of our jobs, but it helps us just to appreciate 358 00:21:46,540 --> 00:21:51,760 one another better and really learn to like one another on a personal level because that 359 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:53,360 makes everybody happier at work. 360 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:56,800 If you're working with your friends, how could you fail at that? 361 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,800 Gotcha. 362 00:21:58,800 --> 00:21:59,800 Anything else Heather? 363 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:06,440 No sir, I truly appreciate everything that we've discussed and your time and willingness 364 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,300 to hear about Ultimate. 365 00:22:09,300 --> 00:22:10,300 It's been fun. 366 00:22:10,300 --> 00:22:16,320 It sounds like a fun place to work, you know, sounds like an enjoyable place to work. 367 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:22,920 And I really do appreciate your thoughts around workplace culture and the importance of recognition. 368 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:30,240 So keep that up and you always have an open invitation to contribute to this podcast, 369 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:31,240 Be the Flagship. 370 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:32,240 I really appreciate it Heather. 371 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:33,680 Thank you, Jeff. 372 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,440 Okay, so let's end with a quote today, shall we? 373 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:44,020 And this quote is very relevant to the discussion with Heather Thompson and it certainly hits 374 00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:45,520 on some of the points that she made. 375 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:53,200 And the quote is by Albert Schweitzer and the quote is, success is not the key to happiness. 376 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,160 Happiness is the key to success. 377 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,400 If you love what you're doing, you will be successful. 378 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:01,920 What a great quote. 379 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,120 Have a great rest of your week. 380 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:08,800 Be the Flagship in your industry and we'll catch up next time. 381 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,800 Bye now. 382 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:15,160 Thank you for listening to this episode of Be the Flagship with Jeff Parsons. 383 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:16,400 We hope you enjoyed it. 384 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,480 If you did like it, please subscribe and share with others. 385 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:46,120 Until next time, take the step to become the flagship in your marketplace.