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Welcome to The Culture Code podcast. On this podcast, you’ll learn how to grow, shape, and sustain a high-performance culture with the CEO of LEADx, Kevin Kruse. From designing and delivering highly effective leadership development programs, to measuring and improving the employee experience, you will understand what it takes to cultivate a thriving company culture. Through interviews with Chief People Officers, deep dives into key topics, and recordings of our invite-only community sessions, we bring you cutting-edge, data-backed insights from the most desirable companies to work for in the world.
Kruse: Hey, everyone! I'm Kevin Kruse. Welcome back to another episode of Culture Code. Our guest today is Ellis, the Vice President of Talent and Learning at HealthEdge. Wendi, welcome. Let's start by telling everyone where you're joining us from today.
Ellis: Well, it's great to be here. Happy Friday. I am actually in Knoxville, Tennessee today. Yeah, UT Knoxville starts school next week, so I'm moving my daughter into college. But I'm typically right outside of Nashville, in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
Kruse: Congratulations on this exciting time for you and your daughter. For those who might not be familiar with HealthEdge, how big is your organization and in plain language, what do you do?
Ellis: Yes, okay, I think I can do that, even though it's a tech company. So, we have a little over 1,600 employees. And if you think about when you go to the doctor and they have to process a claim, we have software technology that makes that happen behind the scenes with payment integrity. We also have solutions that help enable positive patient outcomes. So, that's the best way that I can put that and make it understandable in layman's terms.
Kruse: So when we talk about, you know, I love talking about engagement, culture, and leadership in company culture. How would you describe your company culture in just a few words?
Ellis: Yeah, that is a tough question, and I always try to look at it from the lens of the employee and how we describe what it's like to work here. I really think that we are a culture of continuous learning. There's support at the leadership level for continuous learning. There's also a focus on how do we get better? Continuous improvement. We provide the tools, the attitude, and the environment for us to do things better. I can give you some examples of how we're doing that and learning. I think we also have an environment where people feel heard and respected. Our engagement scores show that. We are a tech-savvy company, and we are always looking for ways to improve things for our customers, which then impacts their customers.
Kruse: That's great. What are some of the ways you foster or sustain this culture? Any unique rituals or traditions related to your culture?
Ellis: Part of it is setting examples from our leadership on what we expect from a behavior perspective. Also, designing how we measure performance in a way that sets behavioral expectations. Our CEO, Steve Croup, is a continuous learner. He's super supportive of recommending books and any programs we want to roll out. Our entire leadership team is as well. Because they're setting that example at the top, it trickles down in the organization. I've never worked for an organization where we have this level of respect and where your voice can be heard like it is here. Engagement surveys lead to quick actions, and it's been so refreshing to be a part of this for the last almost two years.
Kruse: That's amazing. And, of course, the fastest way to disengage someone is to ask them to take a survey and then it goes into a black hole. They're like, well, I just wasted my time or I told them how to make it better and they're not listening to me or something like that. So the fact that there's action, and it's so rare. So many folks that I interview, heads of leadership development, etc., are always saying one of their biggest challenges is not getting any support or alignment from above. It seems to be more common than not. So it sounds like Steve is a unique C-level leader who actually loves to be a lifelong learner himself.
Ellis: He really does. I know when I tell other peers in other industries but in similar roles, they're like, "When do you have it so lucky?" And I do not take that for granted at all.
Kruse: Great. 70% of engagement is correlated to the manager, and front-line managers touch more employees than any other leadership group. What are some of the ways you develop your front-line managers?
Ellis: That's a great question and something I'm super passionate about. I have my own management philosophy, and I take it to heart because I'm literally impacting somebody's life every single day. And now that we're in this remote hybrid environment, you're impacting their home environment as well. Being a manager is a responsibility and a privilege. Here at HealthEdge, we've done quite a bit. We called 2022 the "Year of the Manager." We've done a lot to create an environment of continuous feedback, giving managers the tools and the framework they need to provide feedback. We found out that wasn't happening a lot, and we had an overinflation of ratings. So we started with education, providing a baseline of what we expect from managers in terms of feedback. Feedback, especially when it's more constructive, can be very difficult to give. Some managers shy away from it due to concerns like the great resignation. "If I give tough feedback, they might leave, and I'd rather have someone in that seat doing okay than having to recruit and train someone new." So we started by making feedback a conversation rather than a conflict, equipping them with tools for transparent feedback.
In terms of the performance management cycle, we saw a 15% decrease in "exceeds expectations" ratings and more realistic ratings. We also noticed better alignment between self-evaluations and manager evaluations, indicating more conversations were happening. We shifted our midyear performance reviews to midyear check-ins, focusing on how employees are progressing toward their development goals, rather than tying it to a rating. We required 100% of our employees to set a development goal for 2023. This approach makes the midyear conversation less threatening and more empowering for employees. We've received a lot of positive feedback. After each initiative, we launch focus groups to gather insights on what went well, what didn't, and what changes people would like to see next time. This continuous improvement mindset is ingrained in everything we do.
Kruse: Wendi, you covered so many different initiatives, so much gold in there. Related to culture, are there any special initiatives or results you’re most proud of?
Ellis: Well, I think I am most proud of how we revamped the performance management process to make it more impactful than before. We all know nobody wants to write a book when entering information. No one has discovered the perfect performance management process. We all try to make improvements. So, I'm really proud of the mid-year check-in concept. This is our second year implementing it. We refreshed our competencies over the latter part of last year, which involved training on individual and manager competencies. So, this year's mid-year check-in required reviewing and understanding these competencies. Describing expected behaviors in these competencies for both individual contributors and our people leaders was important.
We're a small company, so we have to be resourceful. We don't have a ton of money for elaborate systems, but these steps forward, like having a development goal and conducting check-in conversations, are significant. I believe this will contribute to our manager effectiveness scores improving. In our engagement survey this past spring, we introduced a manager effectiveness category. We're closely monitoring those scores and will conduct another engagement survey in October. This will help us measure the impact of these initiatives on our managers. Despite their busy schedules, I believe the tools and programs we're implementing are making them better every single day.
Kruse: So, Wendi, will you be moving to more frequent than an annual engagement survey? It sounds like maybe twice a year. This is an important topic because, well, look, once a year is better than never. TWhat book would you recommend that your colleagues read? (or podcast, video, etc.)
Ellis: Oh, my gosh! You've thrown me a curveball. Well, I'm right in the middle of reading your latest book about setting goals, and I am blown away. Thinking about if I had started sooner, would my life be different than it is now? Even thinking about what's left of my career and where I want to go. The whole concept of starting small and then aiming big, not limiting yourself – it's been fantastic to read.
Kruse: Yeah, so again, for listeners, Wendi's being very generous with her comments about my new book, "11 Secrets Successful People Know About Goal Setting." And you haven't gotten to the surprise chapter at the end yet. Most of the book is about how it's not just SMART goals, but what real research and psychologists say is the right way to set goals, with a twist at the end because goals can limit focus. I agree that one of the lessons of the book is that most people set their goals way too small. If we start and dream big, there's power in that.
What skill or behavior do you wish your employees did more of?
Ellis: Creating connection in the remote environment. I have a team of 9 people now, and it takes a lot of effort from all of us to stay connected every day, whether through meetings, team messages, or words of encouragement. Managers sometimes get busy in their own day-to-day work and forget that there are people out there who need and crave that connection and engagement from them. If I could wave a magic wand, I would give every leader the skill, energy, and ability to do that really, really well.
Kruse: Love it! Last question. So, what is exciting you the most about HealthEdge right now?
Ellis: It's the fact that we're building all these programs for our employees that we can quickly adapt based on the feedback we receive. We have so much support for what we're doing, what we've accomplished so far. My challenge now is figuring out how to scale so we can impact more people within the organization. It's super exciting to be part of the growth and development happening within the organization.
Kruse: That's great, Wendi. Congratulations on all the success and the impact your company is having. Thanks for taking the time this Friday, especially after dropping your daughter off at college. You've shared some insightful wisdom that will undoubtedly help your peers. So, thank you for that.
Ellis: Thank you. Thanks for having me, Kevin.