In this episode of the Elevate Care podcast, host Steven Endsley talks with Kelsie Stephenson, System Vice President of HR Talent Strategy at INTEGRIS Health, about a simple but often overlooked truth: healthcare performance is a human system equation. Kelsie explains why the strongest organizations help people think clearly, collaborate well, and stay connected to purpose even when conditions get complicated. The conversation traces how the workforce endured the COVID-19 pandemic through sheer resilience, what that "armor" cost caregivers and leaders alike, and why authenticity has become non-negotiable for today's workforce. Kelsie shares her own turning point, when she realized that pushing through was no longer sustainable, and how that experience reshaped her approach to leadership. From there, the discussion turns to the practical side of humanity-centered leadership: accountability as an act of care rather than correction, the case for HR leaders to become business experts first, and how thoughtful workforce design closes the gap between people strategy and operational outcomes. Kelsie closes with three takeaways for HR and operational leaders working to balance financial performance, patient experience, and staff well-being.
In this episode of the Elevate Care podcast, host Steven Endsley talks with Kelsie Stephenson, System Vice President of HR Talent Strategy at INTEGRIS Health, about a simple but often overlooked truth: healthcare performance is a human system equation. Kelsie explains why the strongest organizations help people think clearly, collaborate well, and stay connected to purpose even when conditions get complicated.
The conversation traces how the workforce endured the COVID-19 pandemic through sheer resilience, what that "armor" cost caregivers and leaders alike, and why authenticity has become non-negotiable for today's workforce. Kelsie shares her own turning point, when she realized that pushing through was no longer sustainable, and how that experience reshaped her approach to leadership.
From there, the discussion turns to the practical side of humanity-centered leadership: accountability as an act of care rather than correction, the case for HR leaders to become business experts first, and how thoughtful workforce design closes the gap between people strategy and operational outcomes. Kelsie closes with three takeaways for HR and operational leaders working to balance financial performance, patient experience, and staff well-being.
00:00 – Introduction to humanity-centered leadership in healthcare
01:08 – Meet Kelsie Stephenson: her role at INTEGRIS Health
01:47 – Who Kelsie is beyond the job title
02:04 – The foundation of humanitarian leadership
04:08 – Resilience, COVID-19, and the cost of endurance
07:14 – The armor healthcare leaders wear
09:37 – Kelsie's personal turning point
10:15 – Why humanity and leadership integration isn't taught
11:31 – How workforce expectations have shifted since COVID-19
13:01 – Balancing vulnerability with accountability
15:12 – Bridging the gap between HR and operational leaders
17:26 – Workforce design and breaking down silos
19:47 – Finding the line between financial and people-centered outcomes
21:04 – Three takeaways for HR and operational leaders
22:02 – What gives Kelsie hope for the future of healthcare leadership
Kelsie Stephenson is System Vice President of HR Talent Strategy at INTEGRIS Health, where she leads local HR business partner teams and oversees the full caregiver experience, from onboarding through every stage of the employee journey. A former collegiate athlete with over a decade of experience navigating healthcare workforce challenges, Kelsie brings a grounded, values-driven approach to leadership development, talent strategy, and organizational design. Her work centers on helping HR leaders operate as business experts, using workforce strategy to directly shape operational and patient-centered outcomes.
00;00;00;13 - 00;00;23;19
Steven
Welcome to the Elevate Care podcast. I'm Steven Endsley, your host for today's episode with Kelsie Stephenson, System Vice President, HR Talent Strategy, INTEGRIS Health. Our conversation today explores why healthcare performance is fundamentally a human system equation, and why the future strongest organizations will be the those that create the conditions for people to think clearly, collaborate effectively, and stay connected to purpose during complexity.
00;00;23;21 - 00;00;36;10
Steven
Today's conversation reframed humanity centered leadership not as a cultural ideal, but as a business strategy, directly connected workforce sustainability, operational performance, and patient centered outcomes. Kelsey, welcome to the show.
00;00;36;15 - 00;00;38;04
Kelsie
Yes. Thank you. Glad to be here.
00;00;38;06 - 00;00;47;25
Steven
I wanted to, take a moment before we get started into the conversation. Have you share a little bit more about your role at Integris and what it is you do each and every day, to support the team members here?
00;00;47;29 - 00;01;03;29
Kelsie
Absolutely. So I am the vice president of HR Talent Strategy at Integris. So I have responsibility for all of our local HR business partners, as well as our caregiver experience. So the full end to end, start to finish, caregiver experience with Integris health.
00;01;04;02 - 00;01;08;04
Steven
And I know we're going to have three main topics we're going to cover today in the discussion.
00;01;08;07 - 00;01;11;09
Steven
But before we get into those topics, which would be resiliency,
00;01;11;11 - 00;01;14;23
Steven
humanity and working through, operational outcomes,
00;01;14;23 - 00;01;20;19
Steven
one of the things that we know that's very important to you is the human element and leading in more of a humanitarian way.
00;01;20;21 - 00;01;25;27
Steven
Talk to me a little bit more about who you are beyond the job title. And you know what you stand for each and every day.
00;01;25;28 - 00;01;32;00
Kelsie
Yeah, absolutely. And I will say, I think, it's something that I'm, I'm still learning and growing into.
00;01;32;03 - 00;01;38;25
Kelsie
Had you had me on here a few years ago, I probably would have jumped in and just said, I'm Kelsey Stevenson, VP of HR at Integris.
00;01;38;28 - 00;01;40;05
Kelsie
we would have gone on with the show.
00;01;40;05 - 00;01;47;08
Kelsie
And something that I've learned that, you know, really helps me show up as an authentic leader is really grounding myself in who I am.
00;01;47;08 - 00;01;49;28
Kelsie
So I am a wife of 16 years.
00;01;50;01 - 00;02;01;23
Kelsie
I'm a mom to a 13 year old boy. I'm also an elder sister, and I'm a former collegiate athlete. And all of those experiences helped shaped me into who I am as a human,
00;02;01;25 - 00;02;04;21
Kelsie
and also who I am as a leader at Integris Health.
00;02;04;24 - 00;02;07;23
Steven
If we go into that human side a little bit more and you think about,
00;02;07;23 - 00;02;12;02
Steven
the humanitarian side of leadership, what would you say is kind of the fundament
00;02;12;08 - 00;02;16;17
Steven
elements that you would look at for the humanitarian side of leadership?
00;02;16;20 - 00;02;34;12
Kelsie
for me, it's it's the value system. And that's where, you know, something that I've learned over the past few years is really grounding myself in and really digging deep to understand, you know, who am I? What's important to me? And why are those things important to me?
00;02;34;16 - 00;02;40;24
Kelsie
And with that, you know, I think that's where when we talk about leadership, yes, we're responsible for leading people.
00;02;40;26 - 00;02;47;26
Kelsie
And before we can do that in a meaningful way. I think it's important for us to figure out how we lead ourselves.
00;02;47;29 - 00;03;01;09
Kelsie
How you know who we are, what's important to us, how we show ourselves that gratitude so that then we can truly see the other people that we're leading. So until we can fully see ourselves, we can't see those people that we're leading.
00;03;01;11 - 00;03;11;18
Steven
Yeah. And and leading people. I think one of the things we talked about before we came on the show here today was just, you know, creating an environment in which you're leading people and not systems and processes.
00;03;11;21 - 00;03;14;06
Steven
Talk to me a little bit more about some of the areas that you,
00;03;14;09 - 00;03;20;09
Steven
focus on in your role and in your everyday life as a leader to help support people in that effort or in that way.
00;03;20;10 - 00;03;50;19
Kelsie
Yeah. So I think whenever I reflect on my career, it's really been truly at that intersection of organizational performance and workforce transformation. And something that's come through for me as being an environments where it's been challenge after challenge, whether it be financial challenges or patient experience challenges. What I've always found as the common denominator is our people are there at the bedside, in the corporate office, wherever those challenges are showing up, the people are there.
00;03;50;21 - 00;04;08;08
Kelsie
Yeah. And so how do we, as leaders create those conditions so that they can show up fully and want to ask questions, want to collaborate, want to problem solve without feeling as though someone is there to say, here's what you need to do every step of the way.
00;04;08;11 - 00;04;26;02
Steven
When you think about challenges, we had just come through some pretty difficult, challenging times. An area that none of us really want to revisit again. But, you know, we think about something like Covid. Covid was kind of a monumental point. I believe in the workforce, and I know you do as well with understanding kind of where we are.
00;04;26;08 - 00;04;29;25
Steven
Expecting our staff and what we're expecting from our staff.
00;04;29;28 - 00;04;38;13
Steven
Talk a little bit more about the resilience that was built in healthcare, because I know a lot of times people were kind of told to push through leaders and staff alike.
00;04;38;16 - 00;04;42;23
Steven
how did that end up shaping how healthcare defined resilience?
00;04;42;25 - 00;05;01;28
Kelsie
I do think that Covid is, I think we've talked before a bit of a taboo. Type word. And I would agree with that. It's not something that any of us want to relive or experience again, but I think it's important that we acknowledge what we, what we have the opportunity to learn from that experience.
00;05;02;00 - 00;05;20;16
Kelsie
And I think that's where if we break down the, the walls or the silos of our corporate life for a second and think about this concept of resiliency kind of being synonymous with endurance, that's really how we were as a society and in my opinion, kind of really shaped and conditioned to show up, so to speak.
00;05;20;19 - 00;05;30;07
Kelsie
We weren't necessarily we weren't privy to the tools and resources to really pause and reflect and understand and process those emotions, but rather just push through.
00;05;30;09 - 00;05;51;24
Kelsie
And I think what Covid did for us is if we take that opportunity to acknowledge that as it was an opportunity for us to say, wait a second, this is not sustainable. And so I think that's where as human beings, what we learned is all of those experiences, like I mentioned in my personal life, they did help shape me and it did give me armor, so to speak.
00;05;51;24 - 00;05;57;19
Kelsie
That was very helpful to navigate moments of crisis, whether it be personal or professional.
00;05;57;22 - 00;06;10;18
Kelsie
And it helped get me through a lot of different things. And there comes a point in time where you cannot endure that any longer. Right. And no one can do that. And so we think about those frontline caregivers at the bedside. It's the same thing for them.
00;06;10;19 - 00;06;32;28
Kelsie
They were they were going through that same experience where being asked to tell, you know, do more with less, continue to show up and not getting time with their families, not being able to go home. They were sleeping in the hospital, things of that nature. And again, I think if we take that opportunity to say that's not healthy and how do we learn from that?
00;06;32;28 - 00;06;37;11
Kelsie
And and where did our people need different support in that moment?
00;06;37;14 - 00;06;44;04
Kelsie
That's where I think we have the huge opportunity to learn as leadership on how we show up for people in different, more meaningful ways.
00;06;44;05 - 00;06;50;27
Steven
Yeah. Well, an earlier as we were speaking, you know, it's just those were some of the most unnatural circumstances for anybody. And,
00;06;51;05 - 00;07;05;02
Steven
the things that happened during Covid, I think are, you know, you can't thank the frontline workers enough for everything they did do. But when you think about post Covid, somehow we still some sometimes we see that more normalized those unnatural conditions.
00;07;05;02 - 00;07;12;02
Steven
And that's something that I think, you know, you're really passionate about, kind of making sure we figure out how to change. And that's what we want to talk about some of those areas today.
00;07;12;05 - 00;07;14;07
Steven
Let's go back to the armor though, that you mentioned.
00;07;14;10 - 00;07;18;13
Steven
you know, what did that armor look like in healthcare leadership culture?
00;07;18;16 - 00;07;25;06
Kelsie
when we think about the work that we do in healthcare, which is it is human on every level.
00;07;25;08 - 00;07;28;00
Kelsie
And we see people in their most vulnerable moments.
00;07;28;03 - 00;07;35;13
Kelsie
That armor helps those frontline caregivers work through that crisis. It helps them, in a sense, compartmentalize what's going on.
00;07;35;16 - 00;07;49;00
Kelsie
And then at the same time, if we don't equip them with the tools and resources to pause and reflect and process those emotions, they won't be able to continue to show up for their caregivers at the bedside.
00;07;49;02 - 00;08;04;18
Kelsie
So I think, again, us as leaders, it's a it's an opportunity to acknowledge those hard spaces, hold space for the emotions that they need to process. And recognize that these are human beings caring for other human beings at the end of the day.
00;08;04;21 - 00;08;05;01
Kelsie
And so
00;08;05;04 - 00;08;05;09
Kelsie
what
00;08;05;09 - 00;08;12;25
Kelsie
conditions can we create? So that they have that opportunity to do that and they're not getting to a place of burnout?
00;08;12;27 - 00;08;36;01
Steven
Yeah. I mean, I think one of the most critical moments you just said was they're humans taking care of humans. That's the hard thing about healthcare. We are in a business. Yes, but as a business of caring. And so we have to find the right mix. We need to talk about those financial outcomes and everything else to ensure that we are providing the patient care we need to take care of, but also understanding that organizations are still trying to make sure they take care of what they need to to stay sustainable.
00;08;36;01 - 00;08;38;09
Steven
So that's that's really important.
00;08;38;13 - 00;08;43;13
Steven
And when you look at the the armor again, let's, let's stay on the armor for discussion. You know,
00;08;43;15 - 00;08;47;18
Steven
I know a lot of times you said sometimes you can see that armor is superficial and then sometimes it's authentic.
00;08;47;26 - 00;08;52;29
Steven
At what point do you see that armor was no longer serving you or the people that you led?
00;08;53;02 - 00;08;53;10
Steven
Yeah.
00;08;53;15 - 00;08;54;28
Kelsie
You know, for me, it was,
00;08;55;03 - 00;09;05;11
Kelsie
a bit of a cliche Covid moment, if you will. I had personally worked through quite a bit of very long hours, as I'm sure many of our listeners did during Covid.
00;09;05;14 - 00;09;16;10
Kelsie
and really had at the same time had personal life experiences going on. Right. And so having to navigate that and manage that, I personally reached a place of I don't think I can do this anymore.
00;09;16;11 - 00;09;16;28
Kelsie
Yeah.
00;09;17;01 - 00;09;27;18
Kelsie
And then had additional life experiences that just kind of hit me in the face and said, Kelsey, it's time to slow down. Yeah. And it's time to really recognize and process what's going on.
00;09;27;21 - 00;09;37;00
Kelsie
and what I really learned from that was I was no longer showing. I didn't know who I was. I was not showing up as who I was meant to be.
00;09;37;03 - 00;09;49;16
Kelsie
Whether it be as a wife, as a mom, or as a leader. And so that was really where I hit a point of I need to pause, reflect on a value system, get that clarity that I need to lead with confidence,
00;09;49;19 - 00;09;55;27
Kelsie
so that I can most importantly show up as a wife and a mom and show up for those that I care for at work.
00;09;56;00 - 00;10;07;28
Steven
Well, it sounds like you're really at that kind of inflection point of the integration of humanity and leadership and looking at how do I maintain who I am while having that armor on, to get through and power through?
00;10;08;01 - 00;10;15;11
Steven
If you look at the integration of humanity and leadership at, do you believe that's ever something that's really taught right now?
00;10;15;14 - 00;10;16;06
Kelsie
I don't.
00;10;16;09 - 00;10;19;20
Kelsie
And I think it's a kind of a fascinating question, especially whenever we talk about healthcare.
00;10;19;28 - 00;10;23;28
Kelsie
Because I mentioned before, and we're in the business of humans caring for humans.
00;10;24;01 - 00;10;28;16
Kelsie
And I don't think that that's something that we truly make an investment in. Yeah.
00;10;28;23 - 00;10;32;19
Kelsie
I think we are a heavily academic field.
00;10;32;27 - 00;10;33;27
Kelsie
By nature.
00;10;34;00 - 00;10;39;19
Kelsie
And I think we value the academia over just about everything. Yeah.
00;10;39;25 - 00;10;48;27
Kelsie
And I think that we tend to forget that at the core of what we're doing is we're providing compassionate care, and we're preserving dignity for people in their most vulnerable moments.
00;10;48;28 - 00;10;49;13
Steven
Yeah.
00;10;49;16 - 00;10;52;29
Kelsie
So how do we help the workforce recognize that?
00;10;53;04 - 00;11;10;15
Steven
Yeah. No, I completely agree. I think that was one of the, you know, telling points of Covid. I mean, that was even more vulnerable, I think, than the fact that you're in the hospital or you're in those areas because, you know, and I remember during that time you'd have field hospitals and other things where you'd be taking outside of and people wouldn't be able to see their family members.
00;11;10;15 - 00;11;11;26
Steven
Like, it's such a tough time.
00;11;11;29 - 00;11;31;11
Steven
When we think about that inflection point of Covid, we talk about the workforce. And let's take a second to rewind to go before what Covid was. Right, which was a very different workforce, I think, than post Covid. What do you think has changed in the workforce with when it comes to authenticity from their leader, from pre Covid to post Covid?
00;11;31;11 - 00;11;33;20
Steven
And what do you think they're they're seeking right now.
00;11;33;23 - 00;11;38;03
Kelsie
You know I think in general the expectations of the workforce have shifted.
00;11;38;06 - 00;11;40;09
Kelsie
And I don't know exactly why that is.
00;11;40;09 - 00;11;49;17
Kelsie
I, I can't claim to say why or why I would think that is, but I do think the expectations have shifted. I do think there is a little bit of a generational spin on that.
00;11;49;20 - 00;11;52;05
Kelsie
I don't think that's everything, but I do think that's a component of it.
00;11;52;06 - 00;11;58;20
Kelsie
I do think that, the conditions of the world in which we live in is a component of that.
00;11;58;23 - 00;12;17;10
Kelsie
We live in a world where we go, go, go, and everything is technology based just about. And I think what we learned, if we allow ourselves to acknowledge that Covid era is we are wired to, to, to operate off of human connection.
00;12;17;13 - 00;12;23;20
Kelsie
And so I think that's where even when you think about where you see the workforce starting to shift to come back into the office.
00;12;23;20 - 00;12;24;08
Steven
Yeah.
00;12;24;10 - 00;12;40;20
Kelsie
Right. I think there is an element of human connection that is very important. And I think that our workforce wants more of that and has recognizing that they there's a connection to purpose that is very important to the current workforce.
00;12;40;21 - 00;12;47;05
Steven
Yeah, I agree with you. And especially in the growing age of things like AI, which are important to supplementing our workforce.
00;12;47;08 - 00;12;58;19
Steven
But it's important to remember that that doesn't replace the human connection, especially in healthcare, which is critical for us to be able to support. Like you said, when you're helping people in their most vulnerable, vulnerable moments, you need to have human connection.
00;12;58;27 - 00;13;01;18
Steven
Otherwise you feel kind of alone and lost out there. So,
00;13;01;25 - 00;13;21;05
Steven
one of the things I'd I'd love to get your input on is striking the balance. And that would be you talk about, you know, vulnerability and humanity, which I believe are two very critical skills as well. But then driving accountability, you know, and driving results. How do you how do you believe you find that balance between the two?
00;13;21;11 - 00;13;27;06
Kelsie
Yeah. I think it's very important. I think accountability is something that is often misunderstood as well.
00;13;27;09 - 00;13;38;19
Kelsie
and I think that sometimes we can view it as this big scary thing of, you know, these, these conversations that we really don't have time to have, really don't, don't want to have because they're hard.
00;13;38;22 - 00;13;45;24
Kelsie
And I go back to the foundation and those relationships as that trust and credibility that you build with the people that you're leading.
00;13;45;27 - 00;13;56;22
Kelsie
And if you have that accountability become something where you talk about it in terms of the standards for the way in which you operate, the standards for, you know, what you expect from your people. Yeah.
00;13;56;25 - 00;14;03;19
Kelsie
I like to tell leaders as I'm coaching them, you know, accountability is not something we do to people. It's something we do for people.
00;14;03;20 - 00;14;05;07
Steven
Yeah. Completely.
00;14;05;10 - 00;14;10;02
Kelsie
It's rooted in growth and development, and people need that feedback.
00;14;10;05 - 00;14;31;00
Kelsie
And if we want to raise the standard for our operational performance, our financial performance, our margins, our patient experience, then our people need they they deserve the right to know that that's the standard. And that communication of what that is, is important. And holding them accountable to that standard is important to drive those outcomes.
00;14;31;01 - 00;14;52;24
Steven
Yeah, I agree. I think one of the big things when you come to accountability is a lot of people see it as negativity. And it's it's a it's a correction to something that is going wrong. And that that isn't always the case. It's meant to put you course correct, to put you back on path. But if you're not putting accountability, even in the good moments and you start just putting it all in the negative moments, that's when accountability does become negative.
00;14;52;24 - 00;14;54;27
Steven
So I think you're you're spot on with that.
00;14;55;02 - 00;15;12;22
Steven
You started to kind of going into some of the final topics we wanted to talk today about, which is operational results, and that is how do we strike the balance between humanity and and ultimately results. So what do you believe today are the biggest disconnect between HR leaders and operational leaders in healthcare to drive those results?
00;15;12;25 - 00;15;21;25
Kelsie
typically in my experience, we tend to see the HR strategy or the HR initiatives kind of adjacent to the business strategy.
00;15;21;28 - 00;15;34;28
Kelsie
what we're really focusing on today in this conversation is there's an integration point of where those come together. And in order for us to drive those outcomes, yes, you need a business strategy, you need your operational outcomes.
00;15;35;00 - 00;15;46;17
Kelsie
And you have to pay attention to the, to the behaviors that you're needing to influence through the humans that are working, that are part of your workforce to help shape those operational outcomes. Yeah.
00;15;46;21 - 00;15;59;14
Kelsie
And so I think a big gap that a lot of a lot of HR leaders tend to, to gravitate to is more of let me be the people expert, but rather I would challenge that to say be a business expert.
00;15;59;15 - 00;16;09;25
Kelsie
Yeah. Really deeply understand the business so that you can help create, again create the conditions, the human conditions of where those outcomes need to be driven.
00;16;09;28 - 00;16;19;24
Steven
Let's go a little bit deeper into that part where you talk about being the business expert and people expert. I think one of the things that you talk about, a lot of people in HR are seen as the people expert, but they're also business executives at the table.
00;16;20;00 - 00;16;21;29
Steven
Why do you think that distinction is important?
00;16;22;02 - 00;16;36;07
Kelsie
I think, well, credibility, I think is important. I think it's important to know your business. And in order to, you know, just like in your space, being able to speak the business of those that you're interacting with, that's important for trust and credibility.
00;16;36;10 - 00;16;42;11
Kelsie
And at the same time, again, I go back to our HR initiatives cannot be adjacent to the business strategy.
00;16;42;11 - 00;16;52;04
Kelsie
And so if we don't understand the business, the result will be that our HR initiatives will be adjacent to that strategy. And we will be operating in a silo from our business leaders.
00;16;52;09 - 00;17;01;29
Kelsie
So again, I think in order for us to drive the right HR outcomes, so to speak, we really have to look at it as no, these are business outcomes that we need to drive.
00;17;02;04 - 00;17;05;17
Kelsie
We need the behaviors to shape where we're going as an organization.
00;17;05;21 - 00;17;25;09
Steven
Yeah. And you brought up a couple key things in the last few responses here. One was silos and integration. I know in some of our discussions we've talked about how to get rid of compartmentalization and decision making processes in silos and making them more integrated. How do you believe that? You know, what do you believe that looks like?
00;17;25;09 - 00;17;26;24
Steven
And for practice leaders today?
00;17;26;27 - 00;17;49;23
Kelsie
where we're seeing more of a focus really in the, in the air space, so to speak, is in your organization of design space. And that goes back to how are you designing your workforce to drive the outcomes that you need? I think in a traditional sense, you know, there is an element of you need your HR to be a true HR practitioner and help you understand policy and, and process and things of that nature.
00;17;49;26 - 00;18;13;25
Kelsie
But what you're mentioning is how do we get teams, how do we create the conditions for teams to collaborate? How do we make sure that roles and responsibilities there's clarity of accountability. There's clarity of decision rights. There's clarity of of who the ultimate accountable leader is and driving that outcome. And you get that through how you're designing your workforce, right?
00;18;14;01 - 00;18;22;23
Kelsie
What leaders do you what what capabilities do you need to help drive this? And do you have those capabilities in your shop? And do you have leaders that come with those skill sets?
00;18;22;26 - 00;18;26;05
Kelsie
And that's where I think HR is a game changer in those conversations.
00;18;26;06 - 00;18;36;21
Steven
Yeah. And we've talked about that too, where you talked about making I mean, making sure you match people to the skills they have, not necessarily, you know, putting them in a position that they're set up to fail.
00;18;36;26 - 00;18;42;21
Steven
How do you uncover that? How do you know when you have that in your in your leadership organization to say, I've got the right person in the right spot?
00;18;42;21 - 00;18;43;23
Steven
What are the things you look for?
00;18;43;25 - 00;19;02;10
Kelsie
I think philosophically I go back to everything we've talked about. Right. Talking about the the relationships that we build, having that trust and being able to really to to see the people that are working for you see them wholly. And really understand the skill sets that they bring to the table. And, and also accountability.
00;19;02;10 - 00;19;11;15
Kelsie
Right. It's really hard to uncover what those skills are, where those gaps are. If you don't have that accountability structure, you start to flounder.
00;19;11;18 - 00;19;13;29
Kelsie
Things are not going well. Outcomes are not being driven.
00;19;14;05 - 00;19;17;26
Kelsie
I would say at the end of that, what's likely missing is accountability.
00;19;17;29 - 00;19;22;22
Kelsie
So having that structure and and being able to see where those gaps are is very important.
00;19;22;23 - 00;19;47;11
Steven
Yeah. And when you look at that, I think as we look to kind of close out operational outcomes, how do you continue to find that right mix of financial outcomes, business outcomes, patient and then patient centered care humanity and leadership. How would you say that you find that final kind of line. Because that's a really tricky line for a lot of leaders to be able to to walk.
00;19;47;11 - 00;19;57;16
Steven
They're usually kind of either gravitating to the financial outcomes or so patient centric. Sometimes, or people centric that they forget that. How how do you how would you advise to walk that line? Yeah.
00;19;57;22 - 00;20;01;11
Kelsie
it's important to I go back to understanding the business.
00;20;01;13 - 00;20;14;09
Kelsie
Any leader that is paying attention to their, their growth, their where they, where they have gaps in their growth, where they have gaps in their patient experience and starting to ask the question, why do we have these gaps?
00;20;14;12 - 00;20;19;26
Kelsie
And I think that's where I go back to underneath everything that we're doing as the human system.
00;20;19;27 - 00;20;20;11
Kelsie
Yeah.
00;20;20;14 - 00;20;36;27
Kelsie
And so it starts with knowing the business. Why, why are we seeing the gaps that we're seeing or why are we seeing the growth that we're seeing. And then starting to get to the root of, okay, are these the capabilities that are helping drive this or these are the people with the skill sets that are helping drive this.
00;20;36;29 - 00;20;52;24
Kelsie
That's what's underneath that. So to me the balance is, you know, the business. Then therefore you know, the people. And if you get any of those off kilter, then to your point, you're either heavily operational or you're heavily people focus. And maybe you don't have the right level of accountability that you need.
00;20;52;26 - 00;20;58;02
Steven
Yeah. No. That's great. And I as we look to, close out our discussion,
00;20;58;02 - 00;21;04;15
Steven
what's one shift you hope both HR leaders and operational leaders walk away with in today's conversation?
00;21;04;19 - 00;21;05;20
Kelsie
Well, I'm gonna give three,
00;21;05;23 - 00;21;12;12
Kelsie
one I'll say is I go back to as HR leaders, it is so important to deeply understand the business.
00;21;12;12 - 00;21;24;03
Kelsie
And then to I would say as leaders, our role is to create the conditions in which people show up to do their best work so that they feel seen, valued, empowered to drive the outcomes that we need.
00;21;24;05 - 00;21;46;29
Kelsie
Driven. And lastly, I'd say three, leadership without authenticity is performative. And so really taking a moment to reflect and understand as leaders again, who am I? What's important to me? What's that value system? And am I showing up in a way that's making a meaningful impact to those that I'm responsible for holding that space for every day?
00;21;47;02 - 00;21;52;09
Steven
Yeah. No, I, I, I think those are three incredible things for all leaders to have in mind,
00;21;52;12 - 00;22;02;17
Steven
I think the last thing I'd ask you, you know, as a healthcare continues to evolve. Like what gives you the most hope and leadership? What makes you think, like we're on the right path, we're moving forward?
00;22;02;18 - 00;22;03;03
Steven
Yeah.
00;22;03;05 - 00;22;06;14
Kelsie
I go back to that shift in expectations on the workforce.
00;22;06;17 - 00;22;22;26
Kelsie
I think there is there's a lot that the generations before us have done to help lay a very strong foundation and get us on and keep us moving forward. I think the newer generations that are coming into the workforce are challenging us as we see. You know, we saw this a few years ago.
00;22;22;26 - 00;22;35;15
Kelsie
As a millennial, I can tell you there was a point in time where, you know, the workforce wasn't real keen on millennials. Yeah. And now we're seeing the same thing with kind of millennials saying similar things about Gen Z. Yeah.
00;22;35;18 - 00;22;45;13
Kelsie
And I think it's important for us to recognize that there when we're challenged, look, reframe that to say, what can I learn from this, this moment that I'm being challenged in?
00;22;45;16 - 00;22;53;26
Kelsie
I think our evolving workforce is bringing something to the table that we need to pay attention to. And I think it's coming by way of that human element.
00;22;54;01 - 00;23;00;02
Kelsie
we as a society know more about the human experience, the human body, than we did 15, 20 years ago,
00;23;00;09 - 00;23;04;08
Kelsie
And we need to pay attention to what the new generation of the workforce is trying to teach us.
00;23;04;12 - 00;23;20;22
Steven
Yeah, it's funny. It's a never ending cycle with the generational, you know, shifts coming in. I feel like every time someone gets older, they're like, oh, that didn't happen when I was there. But it always happens. It's just we all have to. Again, if you're leaving leaning with humanity and understanding what drives people, that's the thing that's really going to make a change.
00;23;20;22 - 00;23;21;03
Steven
So.
00;23;21;09 - 00;23;39;05
Steven
Kelsey. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. As we heard today, performance isn't just about systems and processes. It's about people and the environments we create for them to succeed. If you found this episode valuable, please consider sharing it with a colleague and subscribing to our show on your favorite podcast platform. Follow us on LinkedIn for episode releases and updates.
00;23;39;07 - 00;23;42;10
Steven
This is Elliott Care. I'm Steven Hensley. Thanks for listening.