By Liz Shifflett & Jessie Copeland<\/p>\n
Tell me about when you first started your position. <\/strong><\/p>\n When I started this job two and a half years ago, I observed that we operate as 14 individual businesses, with over 100 faculty and over 100 staff members between the divisions. Because of these silos, there was limited: team building, best practice sharing, standard work, and process ownership.<\/p>\n On my first day, someone came to me and said, \u201cHow do I order a sign for the door?\u201d I didn\u2019t know how to do that. This person was disappointed and frustrated that the administration didn\u2019t have an answer. I realized that it was my job to put a structure in place to make the answers easier for everyone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once you realized that changes needed to be made, where did you begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n We focused on positive leadership and engagement and investing in the staff. We started a team-based initiative with administrative assistants.<\/p>\n The challenge we faced was that we had three administrative supervisors for over 100 staff, making it impossible to do work in a meaningful manner. Now, we have four teams, each with leads that supervise their team, which means the supervisors can focus on engagement and defining shared culture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was the next step? <\/strong><\/p>\n After the administrative assistants, we began creating the same structure for education admin, specifically continuing medical education work. Now best practices are reaching across the departments \u2013 everyone is part of a team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How did you implement this idea? <\/strong><\/p>\n We knew we wanted to focus on continous improvement and engagement to boost workplace moral. We selected a shared competency across the department. This year, it was technical and professional knowledge.<\/p>\n From there, we created an incentive program. If team members attend staff meetings and trainings, they receive points. They can use these points for what works for them.\u00a0 Last year, we had about 40 team members that qualified for points and it was great to see the excitement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How did you create the team feeling? <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why is continuous improvement so important? <\/strong><\/p>\n We wanted to change the idea that when you need to improve, you\u2019ve done something wrong. That\u2019s not the case. We want feedback to improve and to be more efficient. In order to be successful, we have to create a culture of continuous feedback. Jessica Copeland has been pivotal in this work. She managed the entire competency program, handling the training and the points system. (See below for more about the program.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What has been the most helpful part of this work? <\/strong><\/p>\n I am most proud of the core administrative contact list. We surveyed the staff and asked them what they needed. From the survey answers, we identified an expert on topics the staff said were meaningful. This has cut down on unnecessary phone calls and time wasted \u2013 now everyone knows exactly where to go for answers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Why are you passionate about this? <\/strong><\/p>\n We have amazing people who are giving 100% every single day. Before, we didn\u2019t have a structure to support their work. We have the right people, now we are helping them to create the best work product possible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How are competencies decided? <\/strong><\/p>\n Each year, we choose a competency from the list provided on Lead@. We then create a learning system based around that particular competency, which the staff can work on throughout the year. To complete the program, each person must reach a certain number of points. The points are obtained by completing the different activities for that year\u2019s program.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s competency chosen was Technical\/Professional Knowledge. \u201cIs professionally and technically accomplished to perform one\u2019s job. Achieves an accomplished level of technical and professional skill or knowledge in position-related areas; consistently staying abreast of current developments and trends in areas of expertise\u201d With this in mind, we knew we wanted to integrate some technology based learning.<\/p>\n What ways can team members earn points? <\/strong><\/p>\n To qualify, each person has to reach 10 points. Completing at least 1 training (4 pts) and attending at least 1 class (2 pts) was required. The remaining 4 points could be completed however the participant would like.<\/p>\n\n I think that this is a wonderful program because it provides the staff trainings and classes that they may never have had the opportunity to participate in otherwise. It also introduces us to new benefits of being a UVA employee. A perfect example of this is Lynda.com. When we were creating this year\u2019s Technical\/Professional Knowledge competency, I stumbled upon Lynda.com. UVA employees have access to this website at no charge. The website has thousands of training videos of all different subjects. I have taken many classes on it so far and have learned so much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do you know the program is successful? \u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n I know this program is working because I have staff members approaching me every week telling me how much they enjoyed attending one of the classes we included on the program, or something new they learned from a Lynda.com training. I had one person tell me they have completed many Lynda.com trainings now, not just because of the competency program, but because they enjoy learning new things!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do you love most about this program? <\/strong><\/p>\n Liz is so wonderful to credit me with this, but it was her idea! I have really enjoyed bringing new speakers and topics to the staff for the classes, and I love the Cheat Sheets section because it brings knowledge from the employees and allows us to share it with the rest of our over 100 staff members in our department! This not only helps the staff, but also strengthens our department by spreading the knowledge. A few weeks ago, I was trying to book a conference room. Because I am still relatively new to UVA, I did not know all of the rooms available or the contacts to reserve the rooms. One of our members came forward with a list she had of all of the conference rooms available to us at UVA and their locations along with who to contact for reservations. We were able to upload this to our shared O Drive folder, so now all of our 100 plus staff members have access to it!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What makes you passionate about this work? <\/strong><\/p>\n I am passionate about this work because I think we have such wonderful and incredibly talented staff members in our department, and I love to see them enjoying the classes and being able to learn something new. It is so rewarding when someone comes up to me to tell me how much they enjoy the program. \u00a0I think there is more to employment than just clocking in and putting your head down to work. Liz Shifflett has helped our department blossom by encouraging all employees to learn and grow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\t\t\n
Shared Company Program: An interview with Jessie Copeland <\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\n\t \nActivity<\/th> # Points<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\t Trainings (must complete at least one) Lynda.com<\/td> 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t Classes (must attend at least one)
\n<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t Books
\n<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t Cheat sheets
\n<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t Staff meeting
\n<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n
\nWhy is this program special?<\/strong><\/p>\n