Maria Zangardi, senior vice president of human resources and corporate officer for King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services, makes it her mission to focus on employee engagement and satisfaction.
Ms. Zangardi, who began serving in this role on July 15, focuses on human resources strategy and operations across UHS, which has about 96,700 employees across nearly 40 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. And before that, she served as division vice president of human resources for UHS.
Ms. Zangardi told Becker's she's excited to expand her scope of responsibility, and, when it comes to enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction, believes internal communication and feedback are key. She also discussed her top priorities, the use of artificial intelligence to assist in resume creation, and her organization's approach to job descriptions.
Question: What are the key priorities and focus areas for healthcare HR leaders right now?
Maria Zangardi: Some of the top priorities, and particularly my vision, is cultivating a dynamic and talented workforce, who are mission driven, dedicated to healthcare excellence and patient outcomes, and really focusing on continuous career and professional development. And that's something that I'm really passionate about. In recent years, we really focused on mentorship, career ladders, partnerships with colleges and universities, and I think that that's been a great opportunity for us and a great win for us as we build those relationships and continue to build them.
Q: 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 UHS encourage this practice? How do you envision the future of resume building evolving?
MZ: I think that as there are tools that are out there, people will always use them to try and capture and articulate the wonderful work that they've done. And I think it's just a matter of assessing how those are used. But I think when it comes to candidates, really the heart of it is, are they connected to your mission, vision and values? And that really takes attention to the candidate interviewing process. And that behavioral-based interviewing, understanding what a candidate is looking for. Because in many cases, a candidate is interviewing us just as much as we're interviewing them. And is that same mission focus going to be what they're desiring, what we desire. So I look at that as a resume is one thing, whether that's through AI, through a candidate who creates it. But what is most important is what is someone looking for from a perspective of growth and development? Are they looking for an organization that's very mission driven? In a lot of cases, that is what we see in all of our engagement data, that we have a very mission-driven workforce on that quality care for patients. And I think to me, that's the most important thing, regardless of AI or not using AI for resumes. Really getting to the heart of the candidate.
Q: How does UHS ensure job descriptions accurately reflect the evolving needs and expectations of roles within the organization?
MZ: That's something that we're continuously reviewing and looking at the core responsibilities and the success factors in a certain role. And then as important as the job description is the realistic preview that you're giving in the interview process. Because there's a couple different things. There's the job posting and what candidates might see out in the market. And then there's the job description and what someone is doing every day, day to day. And we have to continuously make sure that we are looking at that, and making sure we're capturing those key responsibilities. And I think then, as you're interviewing folks, giving a realistic preview of what that job looks like, and taking that real time with the candidates to understand. So I think there are a couple of pieces to that that are really important.
Q: What advice would you give to other leaders striving to enhance employee engagement and satisfaction in their organizations, based on your experience?
MZ: Internal communication is key. I think the focus on your mission, vision and values is key. I think getting feedback is extremely important. And I think that we do that through a number of mechanisms with some of the tools that we use, both our normal annual engagement surveys and then our ongoing surveying, and I think that it's really important to put all that together and then say, "What is this information telling us? What is our data telling us?" And then listening sessions are critical with employees, with leaders. We really focus on those things and those touch points to make sure that you understand how the workforce is evolving, and how the workforce, even from different positions, what they might be desiring. Because you also have diverse perspectives, and you want to make sure you're looking at it from that inclusive lens as well.