Healing Hands

OhioHealth’s Debra Plousha Moore explains why people management requires a healthy workforce.

1.5 million is the number of annual outpatient visits

“Our associates have a sense of pride, belonging and security in their work environment, where their contributions are valued”
-Debra Plousha Moore of OhioHealth

Debra Plousha Moore isn’t your average Human Resources executive. She is genuinely humbled to think that anyone could be interested in her story, querying why, before we even ask her a question, we have chosen to interview her. On several occasions, she references the “wonderful contributions of her human resources team,” as well as the support of CEO Dave Blom and the other members of OhioHealth’s senior leadership team. Put simply, she is just not decadent enough to take all the credit; however, this is the second consecutive year OhioHealth has featured on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list and one magazine even called Plousha Moore a ‘Management Superstar.’ Clearly, she is worth more than she realizes. “The ‘Management Superstar’ thing was a little bit of a surprise,” she laughs, “really I think I’m just one of those people that doesn’t want to let anyone down. I want to work very hard to live up to the expectations of the people who surround me and continuously deliver in a way that people find to be exceptional.”

Of course, at OhioHealth, exceptionality is something of a prerequisite. “Working for a high-performing organization like this allows you to create a solid structure that your associates can compare to other organizations,” explains Plousha Moore. “Our associates have a sense of pride, belonging and security in their work environment, where their contributions are valued.” The firm’s uniqueness continues right to the heart of the Columbus-based not-for-profit organization, as OhioHealth’s mission is to serve the communities that support it. The family of hospitals offers health and surgery centers, a home health and medical equipment service, insurance products and many other health services throughout its 46-county area. “We do the work because we live our mission – but its the external affirmation of being on a list like Fortune’s that allows our associates to verify their decision that this is both a good place for them to have decided to, and continue to, work.”

Of course, success in achieving these visions and goals can only occur if all of the organization’s employees can live that same vision, and it is through an organization’s people that success can be driven. “If I look at my team, I'm really looking at how we are helping shape and frame the culture for our associates.” O nly those associates who are respected and valued will feel committed to providing the service that enhances the organizational image and only then will they feel motivated to share new ideas and opportunities. “When you look at the core competencies of associate relations, education and benefits, it’s the importance of a strong HR team that is the key to success. When I talk about a strong team, I mean a team that’s intact. The majority of my team have been here since I arrived, we have grown together as professionals and enjoy the kind of interactions we have with one another, which makes our work extremely meaningful.”

Plousha Moore, who herself has been with the company since 2001, is always looking to further define her role. “My focus has always been in all of the core competencies of human resources, associate relations, benefits, compensation, executive comp and employment,” she explains. “But what I am most pleased about are the additional responsibilities here at OhioHealth that are connected to the cultural shape of the organization in customer service and protective services.”

It is interesting that Plousha Moore raises this issue. After all, many HR executives talk about the culture of a firm being more crucial to its employees than, say, the location; and cynics say there is a tendency for the word to be bandied about so much that, sooner or later, the whole concept of a firm’s culture could be lost to cliché. For Plousha Moore, that is a long way off. “We’re very blessed at OhioHealth,” she tells me. “We do have multiple facilities, and each one does have its own customers and traditions – but there is an overarching promise to the experience within the OhioHealth framework.” The key lies in being able to move an associate out of one facility and into another, creating a broader experience and encouraging associates to be more effective as employees. “What we've tried to create is an place where our associates can go from one place to another, but still have that promise of a workplace where they will be valued and respected, where they will be developed and nurtured, where we will provide them and their families with good benefits, and where they will work for an organization that lives up to and maintains a national reputation within the industry.”

Time to learn

As a former educator, Plousha Moore sees the benefits of a well-balanced mix between education and HR. “I am a believer in learning organizations because an organization can learn from inside and outside the industry and from their own moments of brilliance,” adding that it is, “the opportunities of failure that allow us to stay on a journey of continuous improvement.” As Plousha Moore explains, learning organizations that value education and development will truly build leaders. “One of the things that we are concentrating on as we move forward is improving results for performance management and succession planning,” she explains. “Healthcare is becoming an industry where people really need to look at their talent and understand what kind of work experience their teams need to take on the next role.”

Plousha Moore is aware that it’s not just the healthcare industry this is changing, but also the HR function as a whole. For one thing, the use of technology within the HR space is much more prominent today than it has been in the past. “While technology is essentially used for our decision making, our goal is to be a paperless HR team over time,” she tells me. “We know we will never get away from paper 100 percent, but we want our associates to be able to access their own records, have an opportunity to view paychecks, and be able to look at technology as a portal for information, learning and development, as well as a portal for them to be more prepared in their own careers.” One of the new initiatives for OhioHealth is to start looking at blogs and webinars and discover new ways of communicating through technology. “It’s a challenge,” she reckons, “because of the size of our organization we are sometimes actually blocked by the technology that is available. Perhaps if we were an international company, we would depend on the technology more; but we need to realize that, just because one of our closest facilities is only seven miles away, doesn’t mean a webinar wouldn’t be successful.”

A healthy challenge

“W e also have a intergenerational workforce,” she offers as an example of the further challenges that beset an organization like OhioHealth. “Often it isn't about proximity, but it's about preference.” As the Baby Boomers retire and Gen Y begin to fill their roles, HR is going to be challenged to look at preferences of intergenerational workforces and find communication tools to meet all needs. For Plousha Moore, the key is to keep focus on the diversity of the workforce and the patients and families being served and continue to be responsive and respectful. “It's got to be about stepping in the shoes of each member of your workforce and looking at their preferences,” says Plousha Moore, adding, “We promote our strategy through personal and professional development. Every associate is engaged.” OhioHealth has consistently been viewed as an organization that has exceptional, continuous improvement. Once OhioHealth sets a mark for results, it either maintains that position or continues to excel. “That has really driven our values, excellence, integrity, compassion and stewardship into every experience at OhioHealth – whether internal or external.”

Then, with regard to the current market uncertainty, rising healthcare costs and financial woes plaguing the industry, even more challenges are presented that Plousha Moore is only too aware of. “That’s one of the reasons we have proactively adopted key initiatives to distinguish us as an organization. For example through OhioHealthy, our associate wellness and prevention plan, we've looked at how to improve health, how to manage healthcare costs and how to be more transparent in the community with our costs.” Of course, that transparency also meant being transparent with OhioHealth’s own associates, which is a challenge in itself. “It’s taught us how to be competitive,” explains Plousha Moore. “For example, we had to change our whole internal pharmacy structure; by looking at what was happening outside of the healthcare industry, we've remodelled internally.”

There is of course one remaining issue currently on the radar for both the HR space and the healthcare industry as a whole. I am keen to get Plousha Moore’s take on it. When we speak, it is a mere matter of weeks before the presidential elections take place, and the outcome is likely to have a real impact on both industries. “I think there are two critical points,” says Plousha Moore, adding, as an afterthought, “and it doesn’t matter who wins.” Regarding the workforce, Plousha Moore believes that HR needs to continue to find high-quality, smart, thoughtful, compassionate people in the talent pool. “We have to be able to respond to the local needs of the community, that’s true especially for workforces in the healthcare industry, which is such a localized issue, but also for workforces across the board.”

In terms of healthcare issues, Plousha Moore believes the industry will see a change in process and that, as Americans, we need to make critical decisions about how we access healthcare and how the 50 million underserved or uninsured access healthcare too. “In this industry you have to believe that every individual deserves exceptional care,” she says, echoing the very mission at the heart of her own organization. “As a country, we have to be able to understand how we can afford to get there.”

It comes as no surprise to hear Plousha Moore talk like this. After all, the really refreshing thing about Plousha Moore and her outlook at OhioHealth is pretty simple: when she talks about everybody, she means everybody; when she talks about her successes, she means success for everybody; and when she talks about making improvements to the health of those the company serves, you’ve guessed it, that includes everybody as well. And that’s something that should leave Ohio, at least, feeling very healthy indeed.

A sense of pride.

I’m particularly proud of OhioHealthy, where we have focused on the health of our associates. We understand that the quality of life for our people is as important as productivity, and that the investment in associate health and wellness is a long-term investment for the workforce. It allows us to have better-prepared associates who can serve our patients in this community.

As an organization, in the last 18 months, we've lost over 16,000 pounds. We have walked around this world over 20 times. We changed the food in our cafeteria. We've changed the food for snacks throughout our entire organization. Our concentration as a healthcare organization is on the health of our associates and we've invested over $1 million in preventative care. These are the cornerstones of health and for these cornerstones of health we will make a 100% investment.

University challenge Q&A

HRM. OhioHealth Corporate University has just been ranked fifth as a best learning organization. What can you tell us about this achievement?
DPM. We’re absolutely thrilled with the recognition. OhioHealth University allows us to look at all educational platforms and create a learning environment, it allows us to create professional and personal development for the associate, and, for OhioHealth, it allows us to communicate within the framework of our mission and then set the business strategy framework from within.

The mission, and the values we have created, is to improve the health of those we serve. And our values are not only words. They create real meaning with our patients and our associates as they live and work within the framework of healthcare.

HRM. What role does technology play in terms of OhioHealth University?
DPM. Technology has been extremely important, and as a result we have been able to offer hundreds of classes online. We're a 24/7 shop, providing our associates access to professional and personal development from their homes, and we support their education. Technology, and the doors it opens, has been a key for success for OhioHealth University.

HRM. What else can you tell us about OhioHealth University and the benefits it offers to associates?
DPM. I think we've been very smart with OhioHealth University. It has many facets, and we are able to concentrate on diversity, wellness, leadership development, management development, clinical learning, accreditation and compliance. All of the learnings that take place formally – and even informally – throughout the organization find their portal through OhioHealth University.

We are able to run leadership briefings for our management and our executive teams, and the learning it has created is invaluable. Every time we have one of our big OhioHealth leadership briefings, it allows our president to speak from this platform and align his management accordingly. We then use the same language as we cast messages or deliver messages to our associates, so we all understand the learning environment that has been crafted.