Lauren De Simon Johnson, chief human resources officer of New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health, has been in her role since November 2018. She is well aware of the workforce challenges in healthcare and is addressing them in various ways within her organization.
In conversation with Becker's, Ms. De Simon Johnson discussesd using AI to review and evaluate job applications, highlighted the need for updated job descriptions to reflect evolving expertise, and stressed the importance of a positive organizational culture. She also emphasized the need for a strong employer value proposition that includes social and environmental responsibilities to enhance employee engagement and retention.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for flow and clarity.
Question: What are your thoughts on the use of AI to assist in resume creation? Is it noticeable when candidates use AI or technology for this purpose, and does Southcoast encourage this practice? How do you envision the future of resume building evolving?
Lauren De Simon Johnson: We don't encourage that. I know people are doing it, and I think it is fairly obvious when you see resumes that are pretty related to the same function they're applying for, and you see the same words being used and the same tone. I think it is recognizable. I don't think we should be using AI for that purpose. I think there are other purposes we should use AI for, like our screening process or any manual processing we're doing that can be automated. But in terms of resume building, I don't think that's the right process or the right thing to do.
Q: How does Southcoast ensure job descriptions accurately reflect the evolving needs and expectations of roles within the organization?
LD: Every time there's a vacancy we have, our managers have to send in a job description. So if they need to revise it based on roles changing or new skills that are needed, that's all put into the job description that goes to our compensation department. They look at whatever the changes are; they look at the labor market to see what, if any, pay changes need to be made. And then all that happens before the job gets posted. We do a really good job of keeping our options up to date, and that works really well for us.
Q: What advice would you give to other leaders striving to enhance employee engagement and satisfaction in their organizations, based on your experience?
LD: It's all about the culture, and we spent the last five or six years trying to reshape our culture and making sure that employees know that they're valued and that they have a purpose in the organization, and tying that back to our strategic plan so they understand, even though their job might not be patient facing, what is it that I do that I can see how I'm contributing or adding value to the overall strategy.
It's also about creating an environment of belonging. When people feel they belong, they think they're happy, they want to stay, they want to contribute. And the way you create that belonging is to embrace differences, to make sure your diversity, equity and inclusion practices are visible and real. We have a diversity council, but we also have five employee resource groups where employees come together. Either their veterans or they're interested in generational differences, or they're interested in voices of color, and so that creates affinity groups. That's the stickiness, that's the glue that helps keep people there. I really believe that if an employee feels like they're valued and they're contributing, that is the best feeling that an employee can have. They'll gripe about money, they'll gripe about other things, but when it comes down to it, it's really about, am I valued here? Am I supported here?
The other advice I would give is you have to make sure your leaders are really good people leaders because you don't leave jobs — you leave managers. You hear that all the time, and it's so true. If you don't have managers who care about their employees, who focus on them, who help them, who are real and humble and tell the employee, "I don't know, but I'll get to the answer," just being human and being focused on the employee's needs, that goes a long way.
Q: Anything to add?
LD: We recently finished work around our employer value proposition and came up with a statement, a headlining statement, that really embodies who we are as an organization, what we believe in, and why people work here. We're using that as part of our recruiting strategy and retention strategy internally, but more for the recruiting strategy. And that is something that's become more important over time, especially with the younger generations. They want to understand what that is. They want to know what that is. They also want to know what you're doing in terms of social responsibilities and environmental responsibilities. So really focusing on ESG — environmental, social and governance — that is a really important piece to have as part of your recruiting strategy because, especially for the younger generations, they want to work for organizations that think that's important.