The Dream Team: Recruiting, Developing, and Retaining Amazing Staff in SPD

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a podcast brought to you by Sensus Technologies. I'm your host for today, Gabrielle. And right now, I'm thrilled to be joined by Brian Reynolds, who's assistant chief of sterile processing systems at West Palm Beach. And today, we're gonna be talking about, recruiting. We're gonna be talking about developing, and we're also gonna be talking about retaining, just amazing staff and SPD. So here to enlighten us on this subject is Brian. So thank you, Brian, for joining us in the podcast. Thank you. Absolutely. You're welcome. So to start off here, let's give, just a brief introduction to our audience. So a little bit on your background, just, your title, your facility, what your role is within your facility, and just kind of a day to day basis as well as your experience with sterile processing. Well, I've been doing this for quite a few years. Don't wanna date myself. I'm the assistant chief of the sterile processing department in the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. I've worked in the private sector for, about twenty one years and I've been in the VA system for eleven years. In my particular role, I do assist with day to day functions. I'm a hands on, Assistant chief when it comes to working in those particular areas where staffing is short. Just doing everything day to day, like my staff, I'm, I'm a firm believer of, you know, you can't expect the staff to do something. If you don't know how to do it yourself. So, leading by example is something that I feel that's very, very prevalent when it comes to developing great staff and doing those particular things. So I try to push my staff forward. So I'm I'm just a labor of love that I'm trying to do and just hopefully knowing that make a difference to know that I've been here. So No. Absolutely. And I couldn't agree more. Leading by example is it always a fantastic, managerial strategy to inspire with your own staff. Well, you know, as the sterile, processing industry has been hit a little bit hard, with a shortage of workers since the pandemic, unfortunately. So have you run into any issues in terms of, obviously, we got our worker shortage, but also in hiring quality staff? Yes. In the last, I would say, two and a half years, I've had nine positions open. In the last two and a half years, I've only been able to hire three out of the nine in two and a half years. So I still have six positions that are open just recently. I've been able to try because what I've noticed is that we would hire them and then we would lose them. During the onboarding process, we would end up losing those particular staff. And a lot of it had to do with several different things. The region that I live in is very expensive. So the cost of living itself was very expensive. That went up, pre a little bit pre COVID, but during the time of COVID, it went up to a point to where I just really couldn't offer them the money in order to sustain or to even try to look for an apartment. And now it's even worse. So with the remaining six positions, I've been able to hire four, but again, until I get them and until they're onboarded, I, I really can't count them. So finding qualified staff and just getting, trying to get them on board, it's just been really, really taxing simply because you don't I don't know what the HR part is. I can't guarantee somebody what what the money is gonna be once we hire them. That's something that has to come from the HR side. So it's been very taxing. Oh, no. Absolutely. And, I mean, to your point, I mean, it's hard enough to find people to fill the positions, but also what we're speaking to is recruiting talented people, people that you're proud to have on your staff that will really push your your your staff forward and, innovate. So how do you go about, kind of going about these challenges, working with the HR team, maybe, to recruit talented people? I have it a little bit easier than most simply because of what I do. I'm also the president of the organization for HSPA for the state of Florida. So I do go to different regions and areas to speak and talk and do those particular things. So a lot of people here, Florida, and it's like, oh, you know, I wanna come in. I wanna move to Florida. So you get to talk to different people. You get to go out and you get to network with different things. So I do find qualified staff. The problem is, can I get them there? Yeah. So I, I do know other people in the area, in the industry that do have a very hard time with trying to get and recruit qualified staff. But I would tell anyone, you know, one of the things that I, that I love is being able to go to other, presentations. A lot of times people expect for you to pay for them to do things. I pay my own way. And I do that because I want to be invested in what I do. I want people to know that when I speak about what still processing professionals do then I not only speak about it, but I do it every single day. So if I have to pay to go to a seminar in California or in Wisconsin, I'd I'd do it. I I I'm not saying that everybody else has to do it, but I do that because I get to meet people that I probably would have never met before. And it also gives people an opportunity to get to know me and I recruit that way. I'm a just be honest. I really do. And I get qualified people that way. So, it's a little bit out of the norm, and it's not something that everybody does, but still processing is a big industry, but it's a small industry. You know, everybody knows someone, and everybody there's always six degrees of separation. So someone that you know know somebody that you know that you really don't know so I I like to try to make sure that I go out and I meet people and I ask questions and I do those particular things you wanna make sure that you pick the right person that's going to join your team Because I think if you just pick someone just because the resume says all of these things, but you don't do the research to find out, it's a disservice to your team because it can cause havoc for what you've already built. No. For sure. I mean, you want to find out who they are as a person, not only what they can attribute contribute to your company, but, overall as a staff, as an individual. Because one of the things we hear a lot about in the industry is that retaining a great staff is just really hard because, you mentioned the money. Sometimes people can make more money by working down the street at a Target or, a retailer of that sort. So have you run into any issues with retaining staff? I have. I lost three staff members to traveling. And, honestly, again, because I know different people in the industry, and I know how the industry works when it comes to that. I I don't blame them, for what they make and just building your future. But, you know, one of the things that we had to do was have that conversation with HR to get them to understand. It's not the same. Still processing is not the same to where you can go and just grab the person that was next door that worked in, in, in, hospitality or worked in EMS. And that's not a EMS. And that's not a knock to them. It's just that now to build those particular people to come into what we do, it's going to take a lot. And I'm, I'm a firm believer of, if I'm going to pay all of this money to get you to where I need you to be, then why would I let you go? I've trained you to get to where you can understand the instrumentation, stand on the principles of all the things that we do in sale processing. And then I'm gonna let you go to somebody else. So I did get the hard work at the front end for someone else to benefit on it on this end. End. Doesn't make sense to me. Yeah. Well, I mean, what are probably some of the best ways that you have found, to combat issues like this? And, I mean, ultimately, I guess it comes down to keeping your staff engaged and feeling like they don't have to venture somewhere else to kind of benefit on the skills that they've, learned. So how do you keep your staff engaged ultimately? I just be my my boss, aware of everything and the challenges that we face on a daily basis. I think in anyone in still processing will tell you if you don't have the upper leadership support in order to do what you do, it's gonna fail regardless of how hard you put into it. And then, you know, you have a lot of people that work in still processing that manage departments. They give it their all. If my name is associated with it, I'm giving you a hundred than twenty percent. But if I don't have people in the C suite that back the department in its entirety, not Brian, I'm just one person that's leading the ship, but I give all praises to my staff, you know, without them, you know, there would be no, so I, I, I will say having the leadership support makes that situation a lot easier. Just having a leader, that's not afraid to come down and walk through the department, dress out and, and let the staff know that they'd be able to support. And, and I think with anything, a lot of people feel like staff leave for money. That's only twenty percent of the problem. A lot of staff don't leave for money. A lot of staff leave based on leadership. If I don't have the backing, then why am I staying? Why am I coming in here working, for the money that we're getting and can't get the support? I can tell you right now, in in most situations, you have still processing professionals that are there that have been there for ten, twenty years. And then we bring in new staff and we pay new staff more than the people that are here. That's a slap in the face. So I think if we're gonna talk about why we're losing staff, that's why we're losing staff. If I'm gonna bring in somebody else and I'm gonna pay them this amount, then I need to give the people that's there. Either I'm gonna pay them the same or I'm gonna give them the ability to be a little bit more. Yeah. And I think that's a big, huge disconnect. And a lot of people feel like, oh, you know, well, that's the nature of the beast. It's not. It's not. You're dealing with people's lives. Yeah. And if I've had a person that's been here for so many years and that person's been consistent, I would rather go with a known than the unknown. So I I, with that being said, I just think just making sure that management is there to support what you're doing within the department and that can understand the processes of what we do and why we do what we do. No. For sure. I mean, a team is only as good as its leader, and I think you're illustrating that very well with your points. Something that I think we can all kind of agree on happening a lot in sterile processing is change. I mean, it's constant. So, I mean, when are whether it comes to compliance and regulations or instruments or sterilization processes, there's something always changing. So how do you keep your staff up to date when it comes to just the constant change in turnover of regulations? One of the ways that I do that is that I try to make sure that I'm a part of that process. I am affiliated with a lot of different boards, when it comes to getting things approved and disapproved, with, regulatory bodies and things of that nature. And it goes back to a lot of times when you're dealing with a department and I'm saying it, they're not gonna listen to me because they see me every day. So I use the vendors to come in and have those conversations even different people within the industry that maybe they've never seen before or that they have seen to come in and talk about those processes because another thing that me and my my boss does is we go to different seminars and we get the staff to do it and and I invest in my staff there are times where I would pay for the hotel room for them to go to do things because when they see other people do it then they know that they're doing the right things and it makes them feel better about what they do you can't always keep things right there if I have to stay and do certain things and allow my staff to go then that's what I'll do because when they hear it from other people then when they come back and they were like oh okay we thought she was just saying this because it was a Brian thing. You know, what better way to have. Great staff and having, you know, to invest in them and let them know that you are the professionals when it comes to what we do in sterile processing. You don't allow someone else in your home to tell you what you can and can't do. If you know what your home consists of, then you're gonna fight for your home and you're gonna make sure that you do the right things to ensure that it's not always fingers pointing at you. So I think that's one of the biggest things with empowering your staff is just give them the opportunity to grow, give them the opportunity to go and learn these particular things that we do and understand the processes as to why we do that. What does the development track, speaking of development, look like someone look like for someone who's in SPD? I mean, could they eventually, go on to have, like, your job, let's say, or, what do you do at your facility to help, kind of what we're speaking about right now, grow the careers of your employees and just kind of foster foster that, I guess, thirst for knowledge and and wanting to do more. Well, one of the things that we do is we have a conversation with them. And every year, twice a year, have a conversation with my staff what are your five year goals and let's see what we can do to get to them you know where do you see yourself in a year give me a one year three year and five year goal and we try to work towards those particular things there have been people in my department that have we have promoted you know it's great to promote from within but they have to be willing to learn and grow to that particular situation we all have dreams and aspirations and and truth of the matter is not everybody wants to stay in processing and I get that. I would tell you this. I have never stood in anybody's way of progression. Whether it be good, bad, or indifferent. If you feel as though this is what you want to do and you want to do something differently I'm gonna support you I feel like at the end of the day you never shoot someone's dreams down it may not be something that you want to do but but if that's what the person wants to do, then you help them meet that particular goal. I just try to make sure that they understand if they wanna go to the OR and they wanna see certain things. I've had two, two staff members that were going to be nursing. I made sure that they were able to go to the OR and learn those particular things. They went and got their degrees and not in nurses. And I'm proud of that because, as a leader, I've always been taught that you prepare other people for your job. Why not? A lot of people feel like I'm not gonna do that because you're gonna you can't take something if I don't give it to you. So you prepare people for the job that you have because none of us are promised tomorrow. No. It's very excellent advice. And considering everything we just spoke about, how would you, I guess, encompass this conversation? How would you build your own dream, I guess, SPD team? I would say this. I just got two new supervisors, and I'm very proud of them. Coming into a dynamics of people who have been there for a while and having to learn the lay of the land and then still be able to function and do things and be supportive and and and just maintain and motivate the staff and move them in the same direction to change things I know one of the things that I always tell anyone and even as a director when you walk into things don't walk into a facility on the first day start making changes you will never never succeed with that give yourself the thirty days to see what the situation is if it's egregious then you make the change but allow yourself the ability to learn the lay of the land first before we just start doing changes so building that great team I will say when it comes to management In eleven years, I've had. Five other supervisors, these last two, I can honestly tell you it's, it's, it's a breath of fresh air, Myself and my boss are here for this week, and they're running the department. And I've only gotten one call, and it wasn't because the department was probably go far and I did it was all fire. It was just dealing with men on time that had to be approved. And that's, I think anyone would tell you that's like, you know, not having to get those calls. And then, and I, I, I will say I kind of got much meaning. To you. You know, my staff is is everybody's gonna have problems. Like, I can't say it when not. But when I tell you that I will put them against anybody, and everybody says that, but I I I promise you that when we are not there and people come to visit my department, they're able to speak to what it is because I'm big on education. And that's one thing they won't. They might talk about me, but they gotta make sure that you know that they know and understand the process and then not gonna let you come in and do something wrong if they have to deal with it. So I I I I mean, we all have our vision of what that dream team would be and that's in a perfect world. But when you are dealt a certain hand, I can tell you that I feel like I have my dream team. I do have some some outliers that, yeah, it'll be great if they leave, but for the most part, I think I Well, that's always fantastic to hear. And, you know, before we close-up here, are there any last thoughts maybe you wanna leave with our audience in terms of, advice when it comes to this subject? I think in still processing, there's been some changes. When you walk into sterile processing a lot of people think that it's easy and we've been called dishwashers and things of that nature take a walk in the department go visit your sterile processing department and allow them to walk you through what they do on a day in and day out basis. You can ask anyone even now. Do you know what's still processing it? A lot of people will tell you, I don't even know where that is. So I would say, take that walk. Go look. Go see what they do. And I think you'll have a new found respect for what those men and women do on a daily basis you know we all serve our patients I'm just in a point where I serve our veterans and people look for things for fulfillment it's fulfilling because when you get a person that walks out better than what they came how can you not be fulfilled by it so I would say those people in leadership just go down and look at the department give them the same respect that you would with anything else and just know that they have they come to work with a purpose and they leave with a purpose. And walk them all in their shoes. Well, that wraps up the conversation for today. So thank you, Brian, for joining us on this podcast to talk about, recruiting, developing, and also, most importantly, retaining amazing staff and SPD. So thank you. The invite. I greatly appreciate it. Absolutely. Okay. Alright. And as always, if you'd like to learn more, please visit census dot com and look for this podcast wherever it is you get your podcast at. I've been your host, Gabrielle. Thanks for tuning in.