You Spoke, We’re Acting- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
You Spoke, We’re Acting- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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May 4, 2001
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In This Issue:
ASCEND, At It Again
You Spoke, We’re Acting
Service Hero
Celebrating the Givers
Mother’s Day
5 Digit Dialing System Q & A
Partners Town Meeting
Fitcorp News
Making Work Work for You:
Respect Action Team
In line with the advice of Aretha Franklin, the Respect Action Team was determined to find out what R-E-S-P-E-C-T meant to the employees of BWH, and has made plans to reintroduce and increase awareness of the importance of respect to the hospital’s culture. To get started, the team studied data from the June 1999 Staff Survey and conducted its own interviews with staff to gain a better understanding of what respect means to individuals throughout the institution. The Survey data indicated that “embracing change” and “respect for the individual” were two areas that needed improvement at BWH. The results of the team’s own interviews indicated that most employees feel that treating others with respect is not consistently practiced throughout the hospital. From both sources of feedback, the Respect Team concentrated on a short-term campaign to bring respect to the top of employees’ minds as they interact with coworkers and patients. According to team leader DeeDee Mariano of Clinical Laboratories, “We want to return the cherished value of respect to the BWH culture.” The team plans to introduce a Respect Campaign over the summer months, which will continue during the next year. The team envisions the campaign to follow the lead of the “May I Help You” campaign, in that its message is easily recognized within the BWH culture. The campaign will include buttons, memo pads, and neck lanyards (ID strings), all having a different message imprinted on them to encourage an increased demonstration of respect. The team will also provide employees with thank you cards to hand out to colleagues who go above and beyond in showing respect to others, as well as educational materials to further enhance respect awareness. “Respect is intangible, so our assignment was a difficult one to clarify and our results will be challenging to measure,” said team member Carolyn Bianchi of Pharmacy Services. “However, working with such an enthusiastic and diverse group of people to attain our steep goals, has been wonderful.” Mariano and Wendy Gondek of Hospital Administration are the designated team leaders for the Respect Team. Team members include Bianchi; Arline Broberg, Thoracic Surgery Administration; Christopher Farrell, Human Resources; Bea Harris-Lane, Transport Services; Maureen Montegari, Materials Management; Lissa Olbeter, Women’s Health; Deborah Robbins, Parent-Childbirth Education; Gaiel Thompson, Human Resources; and Karen Burns-White, Care Coordination. Others include Diane Pressley-Capers (liaison), vice president of Clinical Services; Martha Pyle Farrell (member and consultant), director of special projects; Margaret Hanson (liaison), senior vice president, Network Development; Mairead Hickey (executive sponsor), vice president of Women’s and Specialty Services; Arthur Mombourquette (executive sponsor), vice president, Support Services; and Robin Vann Ricca (consultant), Diversity and Multicultural Services. “I have gained a great deal of satisfaction from being involved in a project that I know will improve the quality of work life for my coworkers,” said Broberg. “During my involvement, my greatest impression has been that senior management really does care about all BWH employees.” This article concludes the Bulletin series profiling each of the five Action Teams, which were formed to react to comments and data collected from BWH’s first ever Staff Survey in June 1999. Look for more details in future issues of Bulletin on more of the teams’ progress and on the next Staff Survey scheduled for fall of 2001.