1 00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:03,960 This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 2 00:00:04,630 --> 00:00:09,040 Thrilled today to be joined by an absolutely remarkable leader. We're, 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,040 we're joined today by Sean Smith. 4 00:00:11,310 --> 00:00:13,720 Sean's got one of the most interesting roles in healthcare. 5 00:00:13,950 --> 00:00:15,600 He's the Chief people officer, 6 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,520 and I think the Chief Culture Officer at New York Presbyterian. 7 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:22,280 New York Presbyterian, of course, is one of the leading health systems, 8 00:00:22,430 --> 00:00:25,480 always a top five system in the, in the, in the, in the country. 9 00:00:25,830 --> 00:00:29,960 A magnificent health system, Cornell Columbia, part of New York Presbyterian. 10 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,360 And more. Sean, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your career, 11 00:00:34,580 --> 00:00:37,440 and then we'll talk about your role in the big priorities in it. 12 00:00:38,150 --> 00:00:39,640 Sure. Scott, and first, 13 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,200 just thank you for having me on with you this morning. Uh, 14 00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:47,320 my role, um, which I'm very excited about, is, uh, 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,040 particularly the people and culture part of it, um, 16 00:00:51,170 --> 00:00:54,920 is I think one of the most critical roles, uh, 17 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,560 that an organization can really have. Right now. 18 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:02,120 People are fundamentally most important. They matter, 19 00:01:02,420 --> 00:01:07,360 and it's important for an organization to spend time really thinking about 20 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,800 all the facets of people and how to engage people. 21 00:01:11,970 --> 00:01:15,840 My career, uh, over the last few years has really spanned, uh, 22 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,480 in working for three magnificent healthcare organizations as I've grown within 23 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,360 the field of human resources and have really, uh, 24 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,040 transcended to the point of really how do we think that people 25 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:34,520 and people and organizations really mesh together to be able 26 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:39,490 to create something great. The fundamental here is that in healthcare, 27 00:01:39,490 --> 00:01:42,050 particularly when we think about patient care, 28 00:01:42,500 --> 00:01:45,210 it is our teammates who actually are out there, 29 00:01:45,470 --> 00:01:49,250 who are actually ensuring that not only are we providing great patient care, 30 00:01:49,250 --> 00:01:52,210 but also that we're providing connecting care to our patients. 31 00:01:52,900 --> 00:01:56,520 And, and talk about this issue of connecting care, because it, 32 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,800 it seems like in this very overcrowded world, 33 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,680 this very complicated world, this concept of connecting and, and, 34 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,400 and making sure people feel taken care of has become almost 35 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,120 today superpower in business and in the world. Mm-hmm. , 36 00:02:12,140 --> 00:02:15,120 can you talk about that? Cause you mentioned the world of connecting care. 37 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,280 Obviously that's different than the very best surgeon or the very best 38 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,920 oncologist, which of course are so, so important as well, our table stakes. 39 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:28,520 But talk about this concept of connectivity with people, officer and, 40 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,280 and people and culture and patient experience. 41 00:02:31,790 --> 00:02:33,800 Absolutely. Look, well, 42 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:38,280 my role focus is mostly on our teams who support our patients. You know, 43 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,760 the universal part of this is really where people are today. 44 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:47,130 We just went through three years of a crisis in all of our lives, 45 00:02:47,230 --> 00:02:48,770 and for each one of us, 46 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:54,170 I think everyone has a story about what Covid might have meant to them, 47 00:02:54,170 --> 00:02:56,010 their families. Overall, 48 00:02:56,010 --> 00:03:00,950 it was a pandemic that was really about solitude in many instances. 49 00:03:01,650 --> 00:03:04,350 But the notion of the core of people is really that we're, 50 00:03:04,350 --> 00:03:07,150 people need to connect with other people. 51 00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:11,990 People need to feel and experience a sense of care and 52 00:03:12,020 --> 00:03:12,570 love. 53 00:03:12,570 --> 00:03:17,110 And I use love deliberately around how they're gonna show 54 00:03:17,390 --> 00:03:22,070 up at their most critical time in their lives when there's a 55 00:03:22,070 --> 00:03:25,270 healthcare where health crisis, it's not asked for, 56 00:03:25,270 --> 00:03:27,550 it's not a choice in most instances. 57 00:03:27,650 --> 00:03:32,590 And it's important for teams to recognize that, recognize that our teams are, 58 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,830 uh, may also even themselves have challenges that they're 59 00:03:38,150 --> 00:03:39,190 facing personally. 60 00:03:39,290 --> 00:03:43,230 And so when a patient shows up or when a team member shows up to work, 61 00:03:43,460 --> 00:03:47,630 it's important for us to think about the human factor associated with that. 62 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,390 So I think connectedness is really more important now post pandemic, 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:56,190 because that's part of the healing that we have to do now to get 64 00:03:56,190 --> 00:03:59,710 beyond the pandemic. But again, 65 00:03:59,710 --> 00:04:03,230 from a patient care perspective or a consumer perspective, 66 00:04:03,980 --> 00:04:08,110 ensuring that it's not all about the needle stick, 67 00:04:08,110 --> 00:04:11,350 the blood draws those things that people of course have to experience, 68 00:04:11,730 --> 00:04:15,830 but that overall, there's a sense of trust and comfort, 69 00:04:16,370 --> 00:04:17,910 and to a great extent, 70 00:04:18,340 --> 00:04:22,720 a very positive attitude around healing this. 71 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:24,400 Our teams do very well, Scott. 72 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:25,740 Thank you. 73 00:04:25,740 --> 00:04:30,180 And talk about how do you sort of cascade a great culture 74 00:04:30,180 --> 00:04:35,100 throughout an organization so that the organization lives and 75 00:04:35,100 --> 00:04:38,500 breathes it? I mean, as a chief people officer, chief culture officer, 76 00:04:38,980 --> 00:04:41,780 obviously you could say the right things, 77 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,900 but you're in a massive and a great organization. 78 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,980 How do you try and make sure that that attitude, that connectivity mm-hmm. 79 00:04:50,020 --> 00:04:54,460 that extra step towards intimacy in people and love cascades 80 00:04:54,460 --> 00:04:56,980 throughout an organization becomes pervasive in an organization? 81 00:04:57,330 --> 00:05:01,820 Absolutely. Now, Scott, I'm not sure which is the, the, the, uh, 82 00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:06,100 the right side of the coin here is that you start with your cultural pieces 83 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:09,060 first, or you're starting with the work with your teammates. 84 00:05:09,060 --> 00:05:11,180 But what I will say to you is, um, 85 00:05:11,180 --> 00:05:15,220 what has really served us very well is the strength of our culture. And, 86 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,540 you know, this culture, each strategy for lunch. 87 00:05:18,630 --> 00:05:23,620 So it's important to focus on the fundamental behaviors 88 00:05:24,820 --> 00:05:28,700 together and the togetherness that's gonna allow us to jointly be successful. 89 00:05:28,700 --> 00:05:33,620 And that is really, when I think about culture, it's really about that. 90 00:05:33,620 --> 00:05:38,020 How do we behave? What's the set of agreements that we have? 91 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,380 Who did we hire? Do we hire, uh, you know, the best of the best? 92 00:05:42,380 --> 00:05:43,420 Which I think we have, 93 00:05:43,650 --> 00:05:48,460 have we spent the time to ensure that we're hearing and 94 00:05:48,460 --> 00:05:52,940 listening to our teams and allowing them to be part of shaping the culture 95 00:05:52,940 --> 00:05:56,340 within an organization, which is a really critical part, 96 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,840 but I find that in healthcare, which we're very fortunate for, 97 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,240 is that healthcare professionals are attracted to this field because of their 98 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,680 commitment to purpose. It's a higher level calling. Um, 99 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,720 and that I think allows us to really, from the, the, the, 100 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:17,520 the point of cultural balance to really extent what we're focused 101 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:18,920 on in and around the patient. 102 00:06:19,340 --> 00:06:24,000 Our teams want to simply know that that patient is going to be well when they 103 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,960 leave the hospital. And our teams get the notion that comprehensively, 104 00:06:29,490 --> 00:06:30,960 in order to care for someone, 105 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:35,400 you also need to care for their physical and their emotional needs as well, 106 00:06:36,250 --> 00:06:40,240 by providing empathy for us on our journey, what we did, 107 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,400 and I'm going back now to 2015, is that we stepped back, 108 00:06:45,130 --> 00:06:46,500 listened to our teams, 109 00:06:47,490 --> 00:06:52,420 really experienced tremendous dialogue in various levels through our engagement 110 00:06:52,420 --> 00:06:52,780 program, 111 00:06:52,780 --> 00:06:57,660 and walked away from that thinking we really needed to create a respect 112 00:06:57,660 --> 00:07:02,350 credo, which really guides us in how we behave as an organization 113 00:07:02,890 --> 00:07:05,990 and the agreements that we have with each other. Now, 114 00:07:05,990 --> 00:07:10,710 that sounds like utopia, it requires a lot of work, 115 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:12,910 uh, in and around all of that. 116 00:07:13,130 --> 00:07:18,070 But it was really a great way to center the organization in and 117 00:07:18,070 --> 00:07:22,750 around what are the agreements about our 118 00:07:22,950 --> 00:07:24,550 behavior and respect really stood out. 119 00:07:24,550 --> 00:07:28,590 Respect stands out now that people want to be respected. 120 00:07:28,930 --> 00:07:32,990 You know, I'm sure as we look at what's happening across the world, 121 00:07:32,990 --> 00:07:37,590 people are in spaces of anger, grief, uh, 122 00:07:37,940 --> 00:07:41,790 optimism, uh, various stages as we look towards the future. 123 00:07:41,790 --> 00:07:44,310 And it's important to tap into that, 124 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,950 to acknowledge it and ensure that our teams are really seen. 125 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:50,750 So as we think about the respect credo, 126 00:07:50,750 --> 00:07:54,150 we also think about how do we listen through our engagement survey? 127 00:07:54,150 --> 00:07:58,270 How do we act as a result of what people are telling us, 128 00:07:58,810 --> 00:08:03,200 and how do we create an environment that people feel 129 00:08:04,110 --> 00:08:07,120 really was built for them? And today, 130 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,680 and I'll talk a little bit more about this with you, we're very, 131 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,920 very focused around how you create a sense of belonging, 132 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,520 which is a harder journey in and around diversity, inclusion, 133 00:08:19,130 --> 00:08:22,760 um, that in fact, I think we've done all of the great work around diversity. 134 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:24,240 We've got a very diverse team, 135 00:08:24,870 --> 00:08:29,840 a very diverse team that's allowed to be part of what we're creating here at 136 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,360 Near Presbyterian. But it's a very inclusive team. 137 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,880 And I like to think about inclusion is just being invited to the dance and the 138 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,760 notion that when you feel like you belong, 139 00:08:38,780 --> 00:08:43,040 you are participating in choosing that song, um, 140 00:08:43,090 --> 00:08:46,680 or you like the song that's being played. So it, 141 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:50,600 it really takes a village to do this, especially at scale. 142 00:08:51,330 --> 00:08:53,080 It starts with our leaders. 143 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,880 It ensures that we don't forget our teams, that we see them, 144 00:08:57,880 --> 00:08:59,120 that we're listening to them, 145 00:08:59,350 --> 00:09:02,240 that we're incorporating the things that are most important, 146 00:09:02,460 --> 00:09:06,960 particularly when you have 45,000 people as we do. 147 00:09:07,860 --> 00:09:11,640 But it's important then from an organization perspective to have standards that 148 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,480 we believe in and that we're gonna stand for. 149 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:16,040 Thank you. And, 150 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,840 and talk about your love for the work that you do in trying to improve 151 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,440 the culture and take care of the people. Mm-hmm. at, 152 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:24,760 at such a great organization. 153 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,800 Can you take a moment about your love and passion for what you do? Mm-hmm. 154 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,440 . Oh, thanks for that. God, it's making me smile. 155 00:09:31,900 --> 00:09:35,280 I'm passionate about what I do, and it, it, 156 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:37,840 it sounds cliche to say you love people, 157 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,320 but I've had choices in my career to go in very different directions 158 00:09:42,780 --> 00:09:47,400 and have always decided that I wanna be in 159 00:09:47,550 --> 00:09:52,520 a profession that's really allowing me to support people in becoming 160 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:53,880 the best that they can be, 161 00:09:54,540 --> 00:09:58,560 and in supporting organizations to be the best that it can be through people. 162 00:09:59,170 --> 00:10:01,000 So I'm, I'm, I'm definitely very passionate. 163 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:02,840 I'm passionate about the work that we're doing with culture. 164 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:07,120 I'm passionate when I see our team members on the front line. 165 00:10:07,190 --> 00:10:09,680 I love to walk around and hear their stories, 166 00:10:10,100 --> 00:10:14,720 and it actually fuels me and excites me about what 167 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,640 we're doing here at New York Presbyterian. 168 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:22,360 But the other thing that I really love about my job is that years ago I left, 169 00:10:22,810 --> 00:10:23,160 uh, 170 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,960 the for-profit arenas because I wanted to work in an environment where I felt I 171 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,440 was doing something good. And that, 172 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,280 that feeling within healthcare is an everlasting one, 173 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:36,880 that when I go home at night, 174 00:10:36,990 --> 00:10:41,800 I know that the work that I did fueled someone to be able to 175 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:46,000 do their best, which cares for a patient. It doesn't get more simple than that. 176 00:10:46,490 --> 00:10:48,040 Uh, seeing people thrive, 177 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,560 watching people really advanced their careers forward, 178 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,840 changing their lives have been stories throughout my careers that has really 179 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:02,460 kept me going in and around the notion that my work and my 180 00:11:02,460 --> 00:11:07,340 team's work really, truly does matter, as do the leaders across our org. 181 00:11:08,130 --> 00:11:10,410 Thank you. And, and, and one more question, Sean. 182 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,410 What are you most focused on and excited about this year? 183 00:11:13,890 --> 00:11:17,410 Right. The big thing I'm excited about is getting beyond the pandemic, 184 00:11:17,670 --> 00:11:22,610 and it informs a lot of things that we're doing overall as we 185 00:11:22,610 --> 00:11:26,250 think about our work. Uh, I'll go back to passion for a moment, 186 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:31,370 that while we're focusing on enhancing wellbeing programs, 187 00:11:31,410 --> 00:11:36,370 while we're thinking about recruiting really rapidly to fill 188 00:11:36,470 --> 00:11:41,450 our vacancies, I'm reminded that our teams on a whole, 189 00:11:41,450 --> 00:11:43,410 and I'm truly excited about this, 190 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:48,810 that we can and are developing career pathways that could change 191 00:11:48,810 --> 00:11:52,770 people's lives. I'm a strong believer that in building pipelines, 192 00:11:52,770 --> 00:11:57,400 it's a big response to some of what we've all talked about 193 00:11:57,450 --> 00:12:01,840 in the human capital field, which is, uh, the resignations, 194 00:12:02,130 --> 00:12:06,120 or some people say great resignations, which is a term that I really hate. 195 00:12:06,630 --> 00:12:10,880 I liken it to people really moving towards their passion, 196 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:12,720 realizing those passions. 197 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:17,600 And the greatest gift is to be able to allow someone to 198 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:18,800 live the life that they want. 199 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,760 So we're thinking a lot about microlearning programs that we've rolled out, 200 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:27,720 creating career pathways that would allow many of our teams, for example, 201 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,800 our support services team to choose to go on a nursing path, 202 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,080 on a path towards radiology, 203 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,480 maybe even in other parts of the organization, facilities and otherwise, 204 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:44,480 so that they know what's expected of them. We've partnered with, uh, 205 00:12:44,540 --> 00:12:47,120 organizations on the outside, uh, 206 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,800 particularly the CEO Jobs Council to create a hundred thousand jobs in New York. 207 00:12:52,050 --> 00:12:57,040 We created a partnership with Iona. It's now the, uh, 208 00:12:57,110 --> 00:13:01,840 N Y p Iona School of Health Sciences to really be able to allow us to 209 00:13:02,030 --> 00:13:06,400 really drive some of the learning that needs to take place to do this. 210 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,920 But we've got a big audacious goal. It's 60% internal job fill. 211 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,280 It'll be a journey. But that, 212 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:18,000 that is exciting to me because my career was really 213 00:13:18,590 --> 00:13:23,280 a product of mentors who ensured that I knew what my next step 214 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:23,960 ought to be. 215 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,240 I had great guides and I had the benefit of tuition assistance that allowed me 216 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:29,073 to go to school. 217 00:13:29,330 --> 00:13:33,560 We wanna really make sure we're amplifying that and amplifying that through 218 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:35,890 partners. The other thing I'm excited about, 219 00:13:35,890 --> 00:13:37,610 and you've heard me talk a little bit about this, 220 00:13:37,610 --> 00:13:41,890 is really moving towards a culture of belonging, 221 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,650 really, that our teammates would thrive and, and, 222 00:13:45,650 --> 00:13:49,690 and have that sense of belonging, which transcends, I think, 223 00:13:49,690 --> 00:13:52,970 the work on diversity and inclusion, necessary fundamentals. 224 00:13:52,970 --> 00:13:57,290 But we want our teams to feel part of this organization, 225 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:02,010 that their voice actively is a part of 226 00:14:02,010 --> 00:14:04,290 everything that we do, and that in fact, 227 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:08,130 people can truly be their authentic selves. 228 00:14:08,130 --> 00:14:12,330 And we've done some great work there, really proud of the team's work, uh, 229 00:14:12,330 --> 00:14:17,290 in and around that. We are, Scott, really at this point, 230 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,290 really saying to our teams and our new approach, 231 00:14:20,290 --> 00:14:25,130 our new brand with our teams together, we will together, we have, uh, 232 00:14:25,370 --> 00:14:26,110 together we will. 233 00:14:26,110 --> 00:14:30,890 And that optimism is truly one that I believe that as we go through 234 00:14:30,890 --> 00:14:34,670 2023, not only will we continue to recover, 235 00:14:35,250 --> 00:14:39,270 but that in 2024, hopefully we're at the next normal. 236 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:40,660 We, 237 00:14:40,660 --> 00:14:45,510 N Y P have hired over 7,600 people last 238 00:14:45,510 --> 00:14:48,950 year. Uh, our turnover is really starting to decrease. 239 00:14:48,980 --> 00:14:52,600 Some of those elements are indicators of how we're doing, 240 00:14:52,900 --> 00:14:57,520 and I'm excited that we can start moving 241 00:14:57,730 --> 00:15:02,600 forward in resettling our lives and 242 00:15:02,670 --> 00:15:04,520 really focusing on the patient. 243 00:15:05,420 --> 00:15:09,030 Sean, I I wanna thank you for joining us today. It's such a critical role. 244 00:15:09,030 --> 00:15:11,270 You played probably nothing more important than an organization. 245 00:15:11,270 --> 00:15:15,510 So also as you talk about sort of the old adage, culture, beach strategy, and, 246 00:15:15,510 --> 00:15:17,870 and, and people, and the right teammates with the right people, 247 00:15:17,870 --> 00:15:19,150 the right teammates, the right culture, 248 00:15:19,290 --> 00:15:22,030 you can really attack almost any strategy. But you gotta have the right people, 249 00:15:22,030 --> 00:15:24,310 the right teammates in the right culture for that. And, and, 250 00:15:24,310 --> 00:15:27,870 and thank you for your leadership here. Just phenomenal. Again, Sean Smith, 251 00:15:27,870 --> 00:15:31,310 thank you again so much for joining us on the Veeck Healthcare Podcast. 252 00:15:31,310 --> 00:15:34,390 What a pleasure to visit with you and always a pleasure to visit with New York 253 00:15:34,390 --> 00:15:36,030 Presbyterian. Thank you so much. Pleasure. 254 00:15:36,030 --> 00:15:37,230 To be with you too, Scott. Thank you.