Work that makes a difference

by Guest Blogger Debbie Thomas

Do you ever feel like the proverbial rat on the never-ending wheel? Would you like to get up in the morning and look forward to starting your work day?

In my 25+ years with Sodexo, I have not always had the passion for my work that I have today. As the Human Resources Director leading a team of “like minded” volunteer managers, I often tell people that I have the best job in the company.

My epiphany of sorts began a few years ago when I was hospitalized for the first time ever. I have worked in hospitals since high school, all through college, and later as a registered dietitian and department director. I thought I knew what to expect.

What a “jaw dropping” experience it turned out to be. I had no idea what it was really like to be the person in the bed. I experienced first hand the loss of control from the “less than flattering” hospital gown to the total reliance on someone else for my most basic needs. It was not only a humbling experience, but also a frightening experience. After all, I knew the ropes; how did people who had never had any sort of hospital experience feel? I had many interactions with caregivers and service workers during my 5-day stay. But I never felt that they “saw” me as anyone more than a patient in a bed. During this time I had plenty of time to contemplate how I had treated my patients over the years. Did I focus on them as individuals or did I also fall into the trap of de-humanizing them? Did I see my work as a “calling” to help others during the most vulnerable times of their lives or was it just another day “at the office”?

During this time Sodexo Health Care was also reviewing our business model and discussing ways to differentiate ourselves in an ever competitive market. In response to this market research, the Patient and Resident Experience was launched with the tag line “Patients and Residents are the heart of everything we do.” That certainly resonated with me and I decided to see how I could become involved in this Journey. Journey is an accurate descriptor since we were looking at everything we do and determining the benefit to patients or residents or those people who care for them. I immediately volunteered to participate on the Patient Resident Experience Human Resources Task Force in addition to my already busy “day job”. Eventually I stepped out of that “safe” day job and took a temporary project position to lead the effort to design and implement HR tools to support the Journey.

As I looked back on my own hospital experience, I realized that I came into contact with many non-clinical staff members: food service employees, housekeepers, transporters, and maintenance employees. They seemed so unengaged in their jobs, but in truth, they can make a difference with their interactions with patients. With that dedicated team of “volunteer ” like-minded managers, we designed tools to support the entire life cycle of a frontline service employee working in a hospital or senior community. As the Journey caught on within our departments across the country, service employees have realized that their jobs have meaning and that they can make a positive impact in the lives of the patients, residents, and family members they interact with. Stories of how the housekeeper cuddled a baby with no family members or the maintenance employee who ensured that a child could watch movies and play video games, or the food service employee who identified a patient in distress have poured into our CARES (Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Enthusiasm, Service) internal web page.

Work doesn’t have to be a necessary “evil ;” it can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. Even though I no longer have direct patient or resident interaction, I feel that the work I do makes a difference to that patient who feels the fear of the unknown or that family member who is worried about their loved one. As many of us age, we can only hope that people who choose to work in hospitals or senior communities do so with the knowledge that they can make a difference each and every day. I’m really proud to work for a company that recognizes the deep need that we all feel—the need to make a difference in the lives of people as they experience the most trying times in their lives.

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Debbie’s career with Sodexo has spanned 25 years in a variety of roles including General Manager-Food and Nutrition, Multi-Service District Manager, Area Support Manager-Service Redesign, and Human Resources. Her current role entails leading Sodexo Health Care’s National Human Resources Task Force focused on design and implementation of the Patient and Resident Experience cultural transformation process.