At Pediatrix® Medical Group, our long-standing mission to “take great care of the patient, every day and in every wayTM” is only made possible by our compassionate, highly specialized clinical teams and our talented workforce that supports them. That’s why it’s imperative to have teams dedicated to supporting employees at all levels and in all roles from the time they join the company until they retire or leave.
Our People Services department (formerly Human Resources and Personnel before that) comprises seven areas that share a common goal of taking great care of our people. Among them is the People Services Operations (PS Ops) team led by Debra McRoberts. As the vice president of PS Ops, Debra and her team are committed to providing support for clinical and non-clinical employees.
“Our job is to take care of our people,” said Debra, an 11-year Pediatrix veteran. “That’s why we recently changed our department’s name to People Services. It’s more contemporary. Way back when, it was Personnel. Then it became Human Resources. It’s really a people department, so as our team continues to evolve, we felt People Services was a more suitable name that embraces our employees. It’s more engaging and reflective of who we support.”
Debra and the PS Ops team works with groups across the organization to ensure everything runs smoothly from a people perspective. They primarily work with the company’s more than 275 national pediatric specialty and women’s health care practices to enhance employee productivity and satisfaction and help resolve any issues that emerge.
“From day one, we work with employees and their managers to understand a day-in-the-life for them so we can determine what’s working well and where there are potential pain points that need to be addressed,” Debra explained. “We want our employees to be happy and enjoy coming to work every day. By taking care of them and addressing their needs, they, in turn, take excellent care of our patients, our company and each other.”
The PS Ops team focuses on several core areas of an employee’s journey throughout his or her career, such as:
They are also heavily involved in employee relations, helping create and maintain a positive working relationship among employees and identifying, assessing and working through any challenges.
“It’s essential that we nurture employees throughout their employment by checking in regularly to determine how each team is doing and identifying ways we can support them,” Debra said. “In doing so, my team frequently touches base with practice leaders to gain further insight. We don’t know what we don’t know, so good, steady communication is paramount.”
As expected in any company with thousands of employees, it’s not always smooth sailing. There will be times when employees at all levels become frustrated. The key to cooling situations before they boil over is encouraging employees to speak candidly with their managers and making sure they know People Services is always available to help. Pediatrix has an open-door policy, giving everyone an opportunity to voice their concerns and work together to resolve issues early on.
The PS Ops team wears numerous hats. For example, when Pediatrix acquires a practice, the team is instrumental in facilitating a smooth transition by setting up new-hire orientation, welcoming the new employees and helping them integrate into their new environment and culture. In this capacity, PS Ops helps eliminate a lot of the stress and anxiety that can accompany a significant change.
“Joining a larger organization presents a lot of change for the practices we acquire,” said Debra. “We are here to help make the transition as smooth as possible. There will be growing pains, but with our help and the support of many departments across the company, it all comes together. We build relationships with them and reassure them that we are in this together.”
The mindset of “we’re in this together” is a common theme across the company, one of many attributes that makes Pediatrix an exceptional place to work. It also helps to have good leadership, mutual respect, a team mindset and alignment across the organization to always place patient care at the forefront.
“I always tell folks that watching our clinical teams in action is truly amazing,” Debra said. “Visiting a NICU and seeing teeny tiny babies grow into healthy 8- or 9-pound infants always brings it home for me. Going into one of our hospital units or our practices and seeing what our medical professionals do and how they enrich our patients’ lives is heartwarming. The passion that goes into caring for our patients every day makes me proud to work for Pediatrix.”