University of New Mexico Hospitals’ Organizational and Professional Development (OPD) team implemented five Leadership Learning Communities in fiscal year 2016. These communities help intact leadership teams develop consistency in their leadership practices.
Program Details
Each group meets monthly for professional development with topics of their choice brought to them by OPD. Leadership teams:
- Focus on developing and cascading department goals and action plans
- Address concerns with code of conduct among employees
- Discuss how they want to grow individually and as a team
Topics for FY’16 included “Situational Leadership II” and “Creating SMART Goals” in order to support incoming leaders as they receive training in the Leadership Training Center. In turn, these leaders cascade their learning to their staff, which leads to better communication and consistent practices across the entire department.
Results
Impacts have included lower turnover, greater staff morale, and fewer disciplinary actions. Most of all, buy-in from all leadership stems from the fact that they are creating their own standards, with the help of an OPD facilitator to structure their conversations and capture their action plans. University of New Mexico Hospitals aims for a staff turnover rate of less than 15 percent. The organization’s turnover rate in FY’16 was 13.6 percent, down from 15.12 percent the previous year.
