Ann Camp: Hello and welcome. Thank you for checking out our podcast, Elevating the Caregiver Experience. My name is Ann Camp, and I am an HR Business Partner at San Juan Regional Medical Center, new to the organization as of May this year. I am joined by my partner, Sarah Martens.

Sarah Martens: Hello, everyone. As Ann mentioned, my name is Sarah Martens, and I am also one of your Human Resources Business Partners. Like Ann, I joined San Juan Regional in May of this year.

Ann Camp: Sarah, you have a wealth of HR experience. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about your HR background, and what is your why for joining the San Juan Regional team?

Sarah Martens: I would love to. I have been in Human Resources for over 20 years. Early on in my career, I specialized in specific areas of HR, such as employee benefits, recruitment, and compliance. However, much of my recent experience has been as an HR manager or director, wearing many HR hats for various industries, such as mining, behavioral health, and the ski industry.

I chose HR as my career because I truly believe that an organization cannot be successful without engaged employees. Employees are, after all, the heart of an organization. Specifically in healthcare, we can't take care of our patients if our employees aren't taken care of first. The opportunity to be an HR business partner with San Juan Regional honestly provides me with the opportunity to do what I find to be the most fun part of HR. And that's focusing on supporting our caregivers towards a fulfilled career. And you also bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to San Juan Regional Medical Center. Would you please share your background and reason for choosing San Juan Regional?

Ann Camp: Sure. I often tell people that I never knew what I wanted to do professionally, but I eventually found my career home in HR. And all of my experiences along the way contribute to my success. I worked in restaurants, a ski resort, a bank, I worked in sports media relations for a university, even worked as a wildland firefighter for a period of time.

Eventually, I settled in Durango and managed the Durango Community Recreation Center for 15 years, gathering a wealth of people, operations, experience. I've got some stories, believe me. In 2020, I had the opportunity to transition into HR, and I joined an incredible team at San Juan Basin Public Health, where we all worked on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, regardless of our position. At San Juan Basin, I found my home in HR and realized that my passion revolves around removing barriers for employees so they can be their best selves at work and they, in turn, can provide the best service and care for our community.

When San Juan Basin Public Health dissolved at the end of 2023, I sought out a position at San Juan Regional because the values here align with mine, and I feel strongly about working for a service-oriented organization. So, both of us joined San Juan Regional Medical Center as HR business partners. The current HR business partner role and responsibilities are very different now at San Juan Regional than in the past. Sarah, how do you explain the role of an HR business partner?

Sarah Martens: Well, the term business partner is really intentional. We aren't just focused on traditional HR tasks, like payroll, benefits, and recruitment. Our role has evolved into being strategic partners, helping to align HR practices with business goals. We are in a position to be more proactive versus reactive, considering the bigger picture of how people management can drive the organization's success.

Ann Camp: That's a great way to define our role. I'd also add that we're involved in making sure the organizational culture aligns with the organizational goals. It isn't just about hiring the right people. It's about creating an environment where caregivers can succeed and they want to stay long term.

Sarah Martens: That's right. Along those same lines, we are often asked about the ways we approach strategic partnerships. How do you usually answer that question, Ann?

Ann Camp: I talk about the fact that we work closely with leadership to understand the business strategy. And then, we tailor HR initiatives to support that. This can be done through workforce planning, engagement initiatives, performance enhancements, leadership coaching, and team training. We attempt to work as translators between the business needs and the caregivers. We understand what the business needs to thrive, but we also advocate for the caregiver experience and development.

Sarah Martens: So, essentially, it really is all about partnership. We bring data, insights, and strategic perspective to the table. And that helps the organization make informed decisions about its people, who are one of its most valuable assets.

Ann Camp: Well said, Sarah. With us being new to the organization and with the HR Business Partner role changing here, what are some of the specific initiatives that we're focusing on?

Sarah Martens: Well, as we've already touched upon, engagement and performance of the caregivers are our primary objectives. We partner with the well being and engagement team on engagement initiatives, such as recognition programs and well-being, but we also focus on career development and growth opportunities, employee feedback and engagement surveys, communication, training, and coaching, and continuous performance management. Speaking of performance management, which is near to both of us, Ann, what does that look like to you long-term?

Ann Camp: First, I hope everyone listening took note that you asked about performance management, not just performance evaluation. Thank you. It's not just about the evaluation. The performance management cycle is ideally an annually reoccurring occurrence. It's the process of setting goals aligned with the strategic objectives of the organization, assessing the progress and results of those goals along the way, and then developing or enhancing skill sets needed to reach or even overreach those goals, and then reviewing the goals with a formal evaluation at the end of the cycle.

If a goal is met before the end of the year, new goals should be developed. If a caregiver is struggling to make progress, the caregiver and leader need to reevaluate that goal, examine obstacles. The leader should be providing some coaching and potentially additional resources. The process should have elasticity. Although we say the evaluation comes at the end of the process, no one's getting off the bus here. We're simply resetting and rolling back into the cycle. What the evaluation does is to provide that formal opportunity to look back at what went well, what did we accomplish, what didn't go so well, and what were those obstacles. It's a time to reset and identify new goals as we re enter the cycle. It's a truly continuous process with ongoing conversations between the leader and the caregiver throughout the year.

Sarah Martens: Wow, I can see that you have a lot of passion for performance management.

Ann Camp: I really do. I think it's the cornerstone of a healthy, productive, and professional culture. You know, in addition to our current focus on performance management, we're also involved in leadership coaching. How would you describe the leadership opportunities that we are able to provide as HR business partners?

Sarah Martens: As an HR business partner, leadership coaching is a key responsibility that involves guiding and developing leaders in order to enhance their effectiveness, performance, and leadership skills. We begin by identifying leadership needs and then tailor our approach based on what has been identified as areas of improvement. This could be enhancing leadership skills in the form of soft skills, such as conflict resolution, empathy, and influencing others. It could also come in the form of change management coaching, guided strategic thinking, encouraging self-awareness and reflection, succession planning, mentoring and talent development, such as creating and fostering career paths.

Ann Camp: Thanks for sharing that information, Sarah. With all of these exciting initiatives, we are just scratching the surface in our role. I'm really looking forward to our next big initiative, the Employee Engagement Survey, because I think the results and response will guide our work for the next year. You and I, as HR nerds, are excited about the Engagement Survey. But why is it such a great opportunity for caregivers? And when is it going to happen, anyway?

Sarah Martens: Well, we have set the date for the next Engagement Survey. It will kick off for all caregivers on January 13th 2025, and will remain open for three weeks, closing on February 3rd. We partner with a third party, Press Ganey, to conduct the survey. So, all results and comments are anonymous to us and all San Juan Regional employees, including leadership. Press Ganey analyzes the data for us and highlights trends regarding issues affecting caregivers, which include compensation, benefits, professional development, safety, belonging, overall engagement, productivity, retention, and satisfaction. As HR business partners, we are charged with taking action on issues or concerns identified from the survey. Once we dive into the results, we plan to identify specific action items to enhance the workplace culture and experiences at San Juan Regional Medical Center. Helping us along the way is the Caregiver Experience Committee, made up of a committed group of caregivers dedicated to helping us put the actions into place.

Ann Camp: Well, even though I'm new to the organization, I'm going to fill out that survey right away on January 13th.

Sarah Martens: That's great, and you might even win a prize for filling out the survey. We're going to be randomly giving away small prizes to thank caregivers for taking the time to provide their honest feedback.

Ann Camp: That's great news, Sarah. And we will be getting more communication out to all caregivers soon.

Sarah Martens: So, we've provided a lot of information about our role and our initiatives today. Like you mentioned, Ann, we have only scratched the surface in our roles as we pursue our goal of enhancing the caregiver experience at San Juan Regional Medical Center. Please reach out to me or Ann with any questions or resource needs. And we will work together to determine how we can best support you and your teams. Thanks again for listening.