Penn State Health administrative leaders demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion
Championing the organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, 52 of Penn State Health’s 59 senior administrative leaders participated in the fall 2021 Inclusion Academy session specifically geared to address the leadership team’s needs on Oct. 20. The session, which focused on driving business goals through diversity and inclusion, was hosted by the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“Diversity and inclusion is not just a made-up concept. It’s proven to drive performance outcomes in organizations, and Penn State Health is no exception,” said Dr. Sheldon Goode, president and chief executive officer of Icarus Consulting and author, who led the session. “Research has confirmed, no matter what metric you use, that if you have intentional efforts to have a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace and workforce, your organization will have better business and organizational results.”
One of the results of the COVID-19 pandemic, Goode noted, is that unsatisfied workers across the U.S. are leaving their jobs in record numbers, known as “the Great Resignation.” With an increasingly diverse workforce, it is critical that leaders remove barriers by focusing on diversity and inclusion to attract and retain this talent in order to remain competitive and drive business goals.
The senior administrative leaders then divided into small group discussions focused on six topics:
- Why diversity and inclusion is important to the health system
- Why diversity and inclusion is important to each senior leader
- What the health system needs to do differently to advance its diversity and inclusion initiatives
- What barriers need to be removed to advance diversity and inclusion
- What resources are needed to make diversity and inclusion efforts to be successful
- What success will look like in one to two years
Goode challenged the leaders to identify how they would hold themselves and their peers accountable for the change necessary to advance diversity and inclusion, to commit to learning more about their teams and their peers, and to model the behaviors they want to see in others.
Seeing actual results from diversity efforts
“We are better able to move Penn State Health in new directions when we can communicate why change is important and how it will help us to fulfill our missions,” said Penn State Health CEO Steve Massini. “We demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion at the highest levels of leadership through policies that expand diverse representation in our workforce and business partners. Additionally, emphasizing the importance of continued education will help create understanding, compassion and empathy with our peers and patients.”
“Penn State Health has been intentionally advancing its commitment to diversity and inclusion since 2015,” said Chappell-Williams. With full support of the leadership team, the health system has implemented a number of programs to bolster this commitment, recognizing that this is what will contribute to the organization’s patient quality, productivity and successful financial outcome:
- Policy HR09 increased diversity in senior leadership. In 2016, a “Rooney Rule” protocol was implemented that required gender and racial and ethnic diversity in interview pools for senior leadership positions. As a result, the overall diversity of the leadership team increased from 31% in 2017 to 48% in 2020. This protocol has now been incorporated into the health system’s human resources policy HR09 and has been extended to faculty and physician roles.
- Employee resource groups advance a culture of respect and inclusion for employees and patients. The establishment of groups that represent various aspects of diversity, including disability, interfaith, LGBTQ and allies, military/veteran, generational and multicultural populations in the health system’s four regions will assist with recruiting new, diverse staff and advancing a culture of respect for employees and patients.
- Inclusion Academy helps patient care providers offer culturally responsive care. The 20 Inclusion Academy sessions, scheduled between August 2021 and May 2022, provide the Penn State Health workforce with tools for culturally responsive and equitable care to an increasingly diverse patient population and support the mission of providing culturally responsive and equitable care.
- Policy ADM 120 imposes zero tolerance for bias and discrimination to advance an equitable workplace. In 2016, Penn State Health was one of the first organizations in the country to establish a written policy against bias and discrimination from patients and their families based on the diversity characteristics of employees. In 2020, this policy was expanded to include all entities within the health system.
Making diversity a strategic priority
In 2020, Penn State Health included diversity and inclusion as one of its four organizational goals, which included microaggression and upstander education, implementation of two policies designed to address bias and discrimination, advancement of employee resource groups, and modification of the Compliance Hotline to provide a mechanism to report microaggressions and bias.
For 2021, the health system has again included diversity and inclusion as one of its four organizational goals, focusing on increasing the number of bilingual employees; enhancing the culturally responsive skills of patient-facing employees; increasing the diversity of the leadership, faculty and physicians; providing education on the “business case” of supplier diversity; and creating a comprehensive dashboard for the health system’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.
The next senior leadership Inclusion Academy that will include health system administrative leaders and clinical enterprise senior leaders is scheduled for May 25, 2022, and will focus on the link between diversity and inclusion and organizational goals.
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