It’s essential for healthcare frontline managers to have the knowledge, skills, and resources that they need to address workplace bullying and incivility.
In this episode at AONL, Saul Marquez sits down with Renee Thompson, CEO and founder of the Healthy Workforce Institute, who shares her journey from being a nurse to founding the institute, driven by her desire to combat workplace bullying and incivility in healthcare. She emphasizes the crucial role of frontline managers in addressing these issues and highlights the institute's focus on providing them with the necessary knowledge and resources. Renee and Saul discuss how this theme resonated throughout the AONL conference, reinforcing the importance of equipping frontline managers to foster a positive work culture. She also talks about the various ways people can access the institute's resources, including podcasts, webinars, products, and services, all available on their website and through social media.
Tune in and learn how to create a positive workplace culture where everyone feels respected and valued!
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[00:00:03] Hey, everybody, Saul Marquez with the Outcomes Rocket. I am with Renee Thompson. So great to see you, Renee. Great to see you too. It's a nice surprise when I ran into you yesterday. Yes, it was fantastic. And so here we are at the AONL conference.
[00:00:18] Renee needs no introduction, but I'll give it to you guys anyway. She is the CEO and founder of the Healthy Workforce Institute. You guys probably think, oh, I know that name.
[00:00:28] And you know it because she was part of a series we did on workplace violence with Mary Beth Kingston on the podcast. And here we are at AONL. So I just want to level set, just in case there are people that don't know you.
[00:00:39] Tell us a little bit more about you, Renee, and a little bit more about Healthy Workforce Institute. Sure. Thank you for asking. I've been a nurse for more than 32 years, have done everything that you can do as a nurse. And about 12 years ago, I realized, you know what?
[00:00:53] It's hard enough working in health care without worrying about your co-workers really being creechy or treating you badly. And in a moment, I decided, you know what? Enough is enough.
[00:01:05] I had seen my share of badness and all the years I was working that I said we need to do something about this. So I quit a really great job that I love to start this company. It started as me.
[00:01:16] And now it morphed into the Healthy Workforce Institute. There are 12 of us on my team and we're growing. We're actually the only company in the world dedicated to eradicating bad behavior in health care.
[00:01:28] Unfortunately, we don't have to go outside of health care because we're plenty busy right here. Renee, I appreciate your story, your courage for taking that leap, because the work that you do is much needed. Here at AONL, there's a lot of stuff that we're learning.
[00:01:45] What's one thing that's risen to the top for you as an insight?
[00:01:48] It's been really reassuring for me and for the work that we do at the Healthy Workforce Institute, knowing that our focus on making sure those frontline managers have the knowledge, the skills and the resources that they need to address workplace bullying and incivility.
[00:02:07] That has resonated with everything that I've been learning at the conference. We talked about it this morning. Dr. Rose Sherman talked about the role of the frontline manager. And I have seen that theme peppered throughout all the sessions that I've attended.
[00:02:22] It's right now when we're looking at culture and retention and turnover and all of those things, the most important person in your organization right now is that frontline manager. And that's exactly who we focus on and really helping equip them with what they need to address bad behavior.
[00:02:40] So definitely resonated here at AONL. I love it. It's a hot topic. It's much needed. And look, there's so many different ways that people can access what you do. Help us understand what those ways are and what's the best way that people could get in touch with you.
[00:02:53] Thank you for asking. Sure. You can go to our website, HealthyWorkforceInstitute.com. And on our website, you will find a plethora of resources. We have a podcast. Thank you, Saul, who is our producer. It's called Coffee Break. We also do quarterly webinars where they're free.
[00:03:15] You can go ahead and register for them. We have a few products, but then we also have the services that we offer organizations who they know they have a problem and they're willing to do something about it. And that's through speaking. We have an online academy.
[00:03:30] We do consulting. So all of that is available on our website. And of course, you can find me on social media. We have a very large social media presence and we're always sharing strategies for leaders. You do so much for free.
[00:03:46] Yeah, and I think that's a big reason why a lot of people end up finding you, Renee, for the services that you offer. So, folks, there's so many ways for you to get to know Renee and her team at the Healthy Workforce Institute.
[00:03:58] In the show notes, we're going to leave all the ways you could do that. All the resources that she mentioned are going to be there. Renee, I really appreciate what you're doing for this community and definitely thank you for doing this today.
[00:04:08] Awesome. Thank you, Saul, for everything that you do in health care. And thanks to you who are listening and who are watching. Take care, everyone. See you guys.