‘Rounding’ Out Employee Well-being at Scarborough Health Network [Part 1]

[Welcome back to?Cultivating Vibrant Workplaces.?We so appreciate your interest in our newsletter series. In this Issue #8, we profile the inspiring work and achievements of Philippa Dawood, a talented Workplace Wellness leader and graduate of our Executive Wellness Leadership Program. Be sure to check out the video links of her below, they will undoubtedly put a smile on your face and warm your heart.]

Philippa Dawood knows a thing or two about inspiring and motivating employees (and particularly in challenging times). Her energy is so unbelievably infectious. As a Zumba trained instructor myself, watching this short video of her, I found myself getting up from my chair to dance also!

Yes, that was my reaction to Philippa's energy and passion the first time I watched a video of her leading the Scarborough Health Network (SHN) staff in one of her 'Rounding' (aka a mini Zumba session in this instance). If you want to be further inspired, check out this other video of her rocking it out to Christmas tunes with their staff.

By way of a formal introduction, Philippa Dawood is the Wellness Coordinator with the Scarborough Health Network (SHN) in Ontario, Canada. She’s also a graduate of our 2021 Executive Wellness Leadership Program . I got to know her quite well through our program. Her enthusiasm for and creativity in leading Workplace Wellness initiatives knows no limits!

Her passion for wellness, and subsequently, Workplace Wellness was ignited by her own personal journey when she started eating more mindfully and exercising at her local YMCA. (She shared in this interview for our book that from 2011 to current day, she has lost more than 100 pounds, something she is most proud of, and rightly so!). However, aside from the personal benefits, her wellness efforts have also paid off professionally in many ways. She shared that before shifting gears and becoming a Workplace Wellness professional, she worked in the travel industry. Unfortunately, downsizing by her employer resulted in a reduction of their workforce. Yet, because Philippa’s manager was most impressed by her positive energy, wellness accomplishments, and the positive effect she had on others in the organization, she created a new position for her. Being provided with these second chances in life and her career led Philippa on the path to becoming a Workplace Wellness professional, and to her current role with SHN.

Taking care of YOU. As a Workplace Wellness Coordinator in the People and Transformation division, Philippa (with the support of a wellness team) leads a dynamic wellness program for the Scarborough Health Network. A sizable healthcare system by comparison to others in Canada, it is responsible for three acute hospital sites and nine satellite sites with a combined total of over 6000 employees and medical staff plus contractors, students, and volunteers.

Philippa plans and develops SHN’s wellness programs from a strategic, responsive, and mission-driven approach using their four key SHN Strategic Directions as her north star.

1.?????Build Our Culture to Empower and Inspire Our People

2.?????Improve Population Health, Health Equity, and System Integration

3.?????Transform the Patient Experience through Innovation, Education and Research

4.?????Set a New Standard for Exceptional Quality and Patient Safety

Intrigued, I invited Philippa to offer more insights into her role as a Workplace Wellness leader within a complex hospital network. She shared that she’s purposefully situated in SHN’s People and Transformation Division to help support the strategic direction and development of a culture that empowers and inspires its people. As she elaborated, “Our employees, medical staff, and volunteers represent the rich diversity of our community. They are dedicated people who come to work to make a difference and go above and beyond in everything they do. A cohesive culture of excellence allows us to attract and retain outstanding team members who are integral in our journey of shaping the future of care.”

SHN's Workplace Wellness strategic planning: inspiring & empowering through inclusive culture building. Working from within the domain of Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) and as evidenced throughout this profile, Philippa engages a most inclusive approach with their wellness program initiatives. Summarized below are SHN’s short-and-long-term goals developed in 2018 in support of their new five-year strategic plan. (Please be reminded that wellness program goals and priorities should be created in response to the unique needs and priorities of the organization and its employees.)

Short-Term Goals. Enhance our focus on workplace health, safety and wellness to create an environment that is physically and psychologically safe for employees, professional staff and volunteers; Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership rounding (i.e. department visits) and mechanisms to follow-up on observations; Create and empower staff to be change agents and problem solvers, including collaborating with patients as partners; Develop and implement a robust and meaningful leadership development program for all leaders, and Develop and implement an inclusion strategy.

Long-Term Goals. Year-over-year increase in patient satisfaction scores. Year-over-year increase in employee, professional staff, and volunteer satisfaction/engagement scores.

Wellness Program Scorecard. As we know, program success is largely dependent on goals that are strategically developed, operationalized, monitored, and evaluated. To this end, Philippa has been most instrumental in leading the creation and enhancement of SHN’s Wellness Program Scorecard via the following core objectives, initiatives, and assessment criteria.

• Prevention of Harm: Support employee psychological health and safety through the prevention of harm and identification of potential hazards. (Monitored by the current overall percentage of incidents and cases as reflected on the WHS Dashboard.)
• Promotion of Health: Optimize employee psychological health and safety by encouraging a culture of wellness that is inclusive of physical, mental, and social well-being. (Assessed by the percentage and feedback of individuals reporting an increase in knowledge of self-care following one or more reported instances of education and activity participation.)

The efforts of the SHN Wellness team are paying off in so many ways. Here are two images of Philippa 'stepping into wellness' with those she serves and supports. A proud moment was experienced by all during one of her wellness Rounding sessions when a very happy employee came up to her to show how many steps she had completed!

• Resolution of Occurrences or Harm: Support employee psychological health and safety through the respectful resolution of occurrences or by taking corrective action against potential harm scenarios. (Evaluated by the percentage of employees involved in an investigation who receive a conclusion meeting to explain the outcome, and the number of appeals filed at the conclusion of a formal investigation process.)
• Build our Culture: Promote a work environment of psychological health and safety by tracking employee engagement and perception of the workplace. (Monitored by the percentage of surveyed employees who perceive SHN as a healthy and psychologically safe workplace, as indicated by our WHS dashboard.)
• Sustainability & Continual Improvement. Assess the work environment on a continual basis to improve employees’ psychological health and safety. (Evaluated by the percentage of improved scores for identified psychological factors on the units, departments and the organization as indicated by our WHS dashboard and Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) Usage dashboard.)

Wellness checkpoint survey. Philippa shared that the wellness rounding team offers year-round wellness surveys accessible by QR codes, two of which focus on physical health and nutrition. These surveys provide SHN employees with a conduit to share their feedback and concerns in real-time, enabling prompt follow-up and expedient responses to their needs. During the pandemic, through their “Staff Connections Task Force,” she and the mental health working group created and provided self-check surveys for depression and anxiety. Submitted surveys were automatically followed up with mental health resources responsive to the issues indicated in the survey replies.

One of the many things I admire about Philippa is the effort she puts into her role. An example being the detailed qualitative and quantitative data risk assessment and analysis of survey responses she prepares to provide the wellness team and SHN with insights into employee wellness needs and program outcomes/successes. She impressively organizes and codes wellness data against these and other criteria: Recommended programs; Recommendations relevant to program goals and resource availability; Requests that required approval; Recommendations accepted by staff and employees; Delivery requirements of program requests; Potential outcomes of requested initiatives and measures to assess and evaluate such; Risk level of requests, etc.

Aligning wellness pillars to national standards. She shared that SHN makes every effort to align its wellness program goals and outcomes to the 13 factors of psychological health and safety in the workplace created by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. As outlined above, SHN’s current Scorecard objectives are very much focused on these National Standards to help facilitate a proactive versus reactive approach to employee and organizational well-being.

SHN Wellness Committee. A key driver of successful wellness programs is the formation and leadership of an engaged Wellness Committee (i.e., with executive sponsorship). SHN’s inclusive 20-member Wellness Committee is sponsored by the VP of People and Transformation and chaired by the Director of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS). Additional committee members include an Employee Engagement Specialist, HR leaders, Manager of Spiritual and Religious Care, Clinical Practice leaders, Nurses, Physician Representatives for their Emergency Dept. and Mental Health, Manager of Pharmacy, Manager of Surgery and Ambulatory Care, Respiratory Therapist (who also serves as a union representative), Unit Clerks and others.?She emphasized that these individuals provide immeasurable support to the wellness team and that SHN’s wellness program would not be the success it is without their assistance and belief in the program’s mission and objectives.

Connect and Engage: Wellness ‘Rounding’ to SHN departments. As per my opening comments, Philippa and the entire wellness team are a tremendous source of inspiration and a valuable resource to SHN employees through their Wellness Rounds, aptly named, Connect and Engage. The inspiration for these Rounds came from seeing how excited and engaged employees were by the mobile massage program (i.e., mobile massage therapists provide scheduled, onsite massages to SHN employees). Once established, the Connect and Engage Wellness Rounds became so popular that they were eventually offered to all three SHN hospitals. During these appointment-scheduled rounds (with permission from department heads), Philippa often leads staff in 5-10-minute Zumba or stretch routines, arriving with her cart filled with wellness resources, healthy snacks, and a speaker to play upbeat music. These Rounds are a big hit with staff and became a highlight for many during the tremendously stressful days of the pandemic. They also provide Philippa and other team members with the opportunity to promote upcoming wellness initiatives and the means to tap into employee wellness challenges, needs and interests in real-time.

‘Code Lavender’ peer support program. As one of the primary contacts for SHN’s Mental Health support during the pandemic, Philippa often helped triage critical emotional health issues with employees. In addition, she would refer employees out to appropriate mental health professionals and services where warranted. (She shared that she triaged over 51 cases in three months alone.) From this experience, and under the guidance of Michele James, the VP of People and Transformation, Philippa and the wellness team came up with the idea to create a ‘Code Lavender’ Peer Support Program to help formalize a peer support process.

Wellness is a two-way conversation. Philippa is often invited to present to and speak with managers on various wellness topics, highlighting opportunities for them to support and manifest SHN Wellness Program goals. She also periodically meets with leaders through one-to-one coaching and has been an advocate for including wellness coaching in their VIP Chats (these involve a variety of topics such as performance and leadership coaching strategies and techniques.)

Joining forces—key to success. Philippa and the wellness team play a vital and active role in fostering cross-silo leadership and forging partnerships with other SHN departments. Examples include their work with the Safety Team’s Musculoskeletal Disorder Prevention Program. A key objective of this initiative is to cultivate Stretch Champions through the training of staff volunteers who would lead stretching sessions during shifts. She also partners with the SHN Foundation and Retail Operations for wellness program funding support and advice.

In PART 2 of my profile of the Scarborough Health Network's Wellness Program, you will discover from my fascinating interview with Michele James, SHN’s VP of People and Transformation, how senior leadership can do their part in fostering healthy, thriving workplaces.

WWCOE Announcements and Upcoming Programs

HR and Workplace Wellness...discover our "Executive Wellness Leadership Program"!

The?Workplace Wellness Centre of Excellence?is excited to be launching the next offering of its?Executive Wellness Leadership Program ?(EWLP) this fall, beginning on Sept. 26/22.

In this nine-week, highly interactive, skill-building program, 10 selected?leaders in HR and Workplace Wellness related roles (i.e., currently employed in internal full-time roles within organizations) will acquire advanced/progressive skills and toolkits for fostering healthy, vibrant, and thriving work cultures in these dynamic times.

Also, HR professionals with SHRM designations will accrue 31 recertification PDCs!

EWLP graduates have benefitted from career advancements in HR and Workplace Wellness and have become valued 'strategic business partners' to their senior leadership.

Graduates also benefit from post-program support and networking opportunities through our?"Executive Wellness VIP Mastermind?Group."

We have also added three incredible Early Bird bonus offerings--career game-changers for the 10 chosen participants who register early--more details will be shared in the program consults.

Check out our EWLP program page?here ?and?sign up for our?'Interest Registry'. Shortlisted candidates will be?notified of?Discovery Consults?to be considered for one of?10 spaces?in the program.

Book Update!?Our book is in the final production stages, and we are most excited about its launch this fall. Visit our website to sign up for our?Book Interest List? to receive book release notifications and special promotional offers!

Sign up for our CVW newsletter!?If you have not already, subscribe to our?CVW newsletter ?to receive future issues in your inbox and notifications of our?soon-to-be-launched podcast,?Cultivating Healthy & Vibrant Workplaces.?Our?kickoff episode will feature Part 1 of a three-part discussion between Philippa Dawood, of Scarborough Health Network, Jesse Gavin of Baylor College of Medicine, and Ryan Wolf, of Gallup, Workplace Wellness leaders who are blazing trails with their respective organizations.