Centra recently launched a series of summer listening sessions with our DE&I Consultant, Tanya Blackmon. Join Cami, Tanya, and Kristin King, Centra’s VP of HR Talent, as they dive into an inspiring dialogue on fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Centra.
Together they answer why Centra has entrusted Tanya to spearhead this transformative journey, why genuine understanding only begins with intentional listening and how this work has already begun to instill hope for the future in Caregivers across our system.
Learn more about DEI at Centra
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Transcript
Cami Smith:
Hi, and welcome to And So Much More. My name is Cami Smith, and I am your host. Today, we are going to have a conversation that is not a new conversation by any means but it is really representing a milestone for Centra and a choice for Centra to start a journey toward diversity, equity, and inclusion.
I'm really excited today to have Tanya Blackmon, who is president of Auspen Consulting, and she is nationally recognized diversity, equity, and inclusion executive. Tanya, thank you so much for being here.
We actually have a second guest here with us today, I have Kristin King, who is VP of HR talent here at Centra. She is also leading the DEI steering committee, which I for sure want you to explain a little bit more.
But before we go too far, I want our listeners to know who are these people behind the voices. Tanya, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Tanya Blackmon:
Thank you so much for having me here. I am a DE&I executive. I've also been an executive with a large healthcare system in the C suite. I've been the president of two hospitals. I know a lot about healthcare, I've been in healthcare for about 30 years.
From a personal standpoint, one of the reasons that I'm really interested in DE&I is that I grew up military. My father was in the Marine Corps, and so when you're in the Marine Corps, the dependents feel like they're Marines too, but you move around a little bit.
Cami Smith:
Yes.
Tanya Blackmon:
One of the things that happens is that when you go to a base, no one comes from that base. You're all transferred in, so you have to learn how to get along, how to live together, work together, go to school together, so I learned a lot about different backgrounds, different cultures, and really how to make someone feel included, because when you go to a new school, you feel on the outside, and so I know what that feels like and how to make people feel included.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. That's a really beautiful thing. I think it's innate in all of us since we were kids to just want to be included, to want to feel a part, to want to feel seen, and that does not go away when we're adults. I think the work that you're doing is so important. So thankful that you're here. Thank you so much for sharing.
Kristin, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Kristin King:
Yeah. First, thanks for having me. I've been with Centra for two and a half years. Prior to that, I worked in a midsize healthcare organization in southern Illinois and about 20 years in healthcare, human resources, specifically.
In that work, one of my goals, especially around DEI is to make sure our employees and our patients feel safe, and included in all the work that we're doing. We want to make sure that diversity, equity, and inclusion is a part of our true culture, that when people come here for employment or when people are here employed, taking care of our patients, or when our community is being seen, that they feel a true part of this culture and that is, again, the importance around creating these safe and inclusive spaces.
I was very excited when we decided to take more of a commitment and in exploring this work, in making sure that it's truly embedded, in absolutely everything that we do. This isn't a policy, this isn't a checkbox. This is how are we going to truly change and embed this work into our culture.
Having the opportunity to meet Tanya I knew was just going to be a perfect relationship for Centra that will really help us as we're continuing to explore this work and just make a greater path around it.
Tanya Blackmon:
One of the things that you said, Kristin, that I think is so beautiful about Centra is that you want this work not to be a standalone but to be interwoven and you've started that. In one of your values, you have equity, diversity, and inclusion, and in your strategic priorities, cultural connectedness, it's connected to that, so that is really a great start on this journey.
Kristin King:
Yeah. Diversity is new to our values. We have had equity and inclusion, so I think that now that the organization has a formal strategy where people are moving in the right direction, cultural connectedness, one Centra, really focusing on people first, it's a priority. This is long-term planning, and so it is front and center. Our workforce is incredibly valued and important to us. We want them to feel it.
Cami Smith:
Absolutely. Tell me a little bit about the DEI steering committee that you mentioned.
Kristin King:
This is a brand-new committee here at Centra. It's made up of a few different leaders and facility presidents in the organization, and we want to see that, of course, expand as well. This is a committee that Tanya will be working with and we'll develop a charter and what our true mission is, but right now, it is the start of the committee's work is, first, creating a plan and that is where Tanya comes in with our journey.
We recently completed the AHA roadmap, specifically, with DEI work. A part of that roadmap places Centra in the exploring phase, which is allowing us to really map out what do we need to be doing? What is the focus on? More importantly, what do our patients, our employees, and our community members want to see from Centra?
That committee will be helping to oversee that work and help prioritize that work and to make sure that, again, it is all aligning with our strategy and I'm telling you, it is work that is not going to go away.
Cami Smith:
Yes. It's just the starting point, and it's so valuable. I'm very curious to hear more about this committee as it moves forward.
Tanya, tell us about your process. You've come here to Lynchburg, Bedford, Farmville. You've been in some of our facilities. I know that your listening tour is not over. What does this process look like? What does it entail?
Tanya Blackmon:
Yeah. My years of experience as a leader and in the DE&I space has taught me that the portal of entry into any culture is through its people, and so that's what I'm doing. I'm listening to your people. The people in the organization, including the community, really understand what's written about Centra, and what's unwritten.
We all know some of the things that are informal or unwritten are the most important things. What I'm doing is making sure that I am hearing the voices from all levels of authority in the organization, all facilities, all job roles, many dimensions of diversity. This afternoon or this evening, I'll be meeting with the male nurses, since there are less male nurses in Centra, and usually nationally, than female nurses. I want to hear their voices and hear their experiences.
On the listening tour, I really ask them about their experiences, their observations, related to DE&I at Centra. From that, we will utilize the feedback, as Kristin had said, utilize the feedback to develop a strategic plan on how Centra is going to truly fulfill its mission to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
As a part of the process, we will hope to strengthen relationships in the community, as well as strengthen collaboration and partnerships across the organization. Sometimes you don't realize another person's perspective until you hear that perspective, so it's really very exciting to get to know everyone at Centra, and I'm really impressed with the people.
We want people to be very candid. Amy has said in her memo, "I want you to have open hearts and open minds." We're asking people to be candid. Sometimes when people are talking, they are afraid they're going to say the wrong thing or don't have the right words and what I say to them is, "Your words are the right words. We want to know how you feel and what you think" and that's how we can develop a plan to make this truly an inclusive environment for all the caregivers as well as the patients.
Cami Smith:
Yes. It's a very vulnerable thing to sit down and in your own words, talk about your experience. Sharing their story can be a part of beginning to feel heard, beginning that forward movement, and giving them a platform to do that. That's really incredible. How has that gone so far?
Tanya Blackmon:
It's gone very well. I've traveled to Farmville, everywhere. I'm learning Virginia and Centra's footprint. It's gone very well. People are really seeing, and they've said this, hiring me as a consultant and doing this listening tour is becoming an intervention all by itself. People feel that this is really a commitment, that people want to hear my voice.
It's going very well. People are being honest about how they feel, and people are excited to work for Centra. They love this community. They know that there are also challenges in this community and there are challenges in Centra but there are challenges everywhere. The neat thing is that people are beginning to talk about it and realize that Amy and Kristin and other leaders are very interested in making a difference in this community and for the caregivers and patients.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. Kristin, on the Centra side of this, as you have watched this unfold, in front of you, this journey, what has that been like? What are you seeing?
Kristin King:
I am incredibly encouraged and it's been really interesting and nice to see that when we sent out the memo and introducing Tanya to the organization, and when I had the opportunity to present some of her roadmap to CLT, the emails started coming in. They wanted to meet her, they wanted to be a part of this work, they wanted their voices to be heard.
Leaders and employees after Amy's memo went out were reaching out and just by an email, and a 15 minute presentation on CLT, people started feeling hopeful, and that's the passion work. That is when you talk about wanting to create an environment where people want to come to work and feel and be their true authentic selves, that's meaningful work and I'm feeling that people want this to happen and they believe in it, and they are looking to their employer to commit to something different.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. I love that you said hope. That is so powerful. It just starts a ball rolling that cannot be stopped. Tanya, tell us a little bit about, you spoke a little bit about how your passion really aligns with this, but how has that really brought you to where you are now doing this work?
Tanya Blackmon:
Yeah. My mission in life, and I don't know if everyone has a mission but I do and it's to add value to the lives of the people that I touch and serve. In this work, I'm always looking for ways that you can add value to the lives of people.
I believe that it helps them to be their best selves and I want to be a part of that, so I get energized and refueled when I see that the wheels are turning or that people are looking at things in a different way.
One of the ground rules of the listening tour is that you have to listen to seek understanding. When someone else is speaking, you want to make sure you're listening to seek understanding. It's easy to say, "Here she goes again" or, "Here that person goes again" but usually when you're truly listening to see understanding, there's some gold nuggets that you can find in that conversation that will help you personally or help the organization overall.
That's a lot of my passion in this work and I don't think it ever gets old, because people don't get old. People change every day, our country is changing every day, needs change every day, so I'm always trying to figure out a way how do we better meet the needs of people in this world and this organization?
Cami Smith:
Yeah, because what worked 10 years ago will not work today.
Tanya Blackmon:
That's exactly right.
Cami Smith:
What works today will not work 10 years from now.
Tanya Blackmon:
One of the things that most people don't know about me is that I started my career as a social worker and so in social work, you really have to understand people. It's a degree where you understand systems and how things work but also how a family works or doesn't work.
That is really carried with me through all of my leadership roles, taking the time to understand the unique needs and the unique strengths or people.
Cami Smith:
Yes. I love how that ties in, I love how that has prepared you for where you are now. It's cool to see everything you've talked about and how it has just been your yeses that have led you to this work that you're doing here for us at Centra, so I'm so thankful.
Tanya Blackmon:
One of the things that I think about is what we're doing on the listening tour is bringing the things that are under the table to the top of the table, so that we can deal with them and move forward on the journey.
Cami Smith:
Uncovering things. I feel like you're going around pulling back curtains.
Tanya Blackmon:
Yes. We are. We are.
Cami Smith:
It's so important. It's so important. You have to do that to move forward.
Tanya Blackmon:
I always say that the journey forward is upward. It's kind of like climbing up a hill. You don't go backwards. You keep going, even though, it's hard work, you keep going and I love that Centra is committed to the hard work. It's a long-term journey. It's not going to happen overnight.
Kristin King:
I think from my standpoint, we want to hear from our team, from our caregivers in the community. I really hope that people listening to this will reach out if they want to be partnered along with this work, because Tanya, she's available. She has been making herself available virtually, on site, to listen to our different groups, because we want to make sure that being heard, the open mind, open heart, I love that statement.
Certainly, feel free to reach out directly to me, and I'm happy to get everyone connected with Tanya.
Cami Smith:
I'm just curious, you're hearing so many stories and I'm sure some of these stories are painful. How do you address that or how do you handle the taking on of that stress?
Tanya Blackmon:
Yeah. That's similar to social work, in that you hear that and I think what helps me is that I am working with a team of people, the leadership team here who wants to go forward and do something about it. As I'm on the listening tour, that's something that I'm able to say. I'm actually very selective about who I chose to work with, because if it's not an organization that's serious and wants to move forward, I don't know that I want to be involved, because it is a lot to take on. You feel like you have all of those voices on your shoulders.
Cami Smith:
Oh my goodness.
Tanya Blackmon:
And then you can do nothing with it. I want to work with organizations like Centra, who are committed to doing something with that information.
Cami Smith:
I love that.
Tanya Blackmon:
I do want to say, because this is important too from the business side of me, I have a MBA as well, that in this work it is all about the things that we said but it is a strategic priority and imperative for organizations. There's a business case for this.
When organizations truly create inclusive environments, they're two times more likely to meet or exceed their financial targets. They're six times more likely to have team collaboration. They're six times more likely to be innovative and creative. Those are the things that you want in an organization.
Cami Smith:
Absolutely.
Tanya Blackmon:
There's a business case for DE&I as well as the people case for DE&I.
Cami Smith:
Yes, because we're either all walking forward together or we're not going to get very far.
Kristin King:
I think that's a great point. It ties into engagement. It ties into productivity. It ties into having healthy and happy workers here. Whenever you truly feel that your workforce is contributing to your individuality and your authentic selves, you tend to give more.
Cami Smith:
Yes.
Kristin King:
I really am excited to have our organization really wrap their arms and their hearts around this work and really listen and seek to understand and have patience and know that diversity takes many shapes and forms, and to have diversity and thought and opinion and many other things just makes a stronger workplace and a stronger community.
I'm personally looking forward to seeing this work progress. It is not something that is going to be a monthly initiative, a yearly initiative. This is something again that we truly are committed to embedding in our culture now and moving forward in our future.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. I agree. It's going to be a commitment across the health system. I'm excited ... I'm anticipating what is next, in that welcoming of the stories, I hope we see more of that, I hope we see more of that vulnerability across the board, so thank you both so much for being here, Tanya and Kristin, and, again, for those who are listening, if you would like to have your voice heard, whether you're in the community, whether you are a caregiver here at Centra, we would love for you to reach out and, again, that's at Kristin.King@CentraHealth.com.
Thank you so much for listening to us today on And So Much More.