Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
EP2 Organizational Culture: Values Unmasked with Welela Tereffe
In this episode of Management Muse, we’re joined by Welela Tereffe, the Chief Medical Executive at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Welela talks about strengthening culture in a large organization and what a healthy work culture looks like. Welela also shares how the pandemic taught her the importance of narrative in bringing together people and improving work culture. Finally, Welela shares how COVID caused people to reprioritize their life’s goals and strengthen their gratitude practices. Welela explains that by openly and consistently communicating with employees in times of uncertainty, you build trust and strengthen an organization’s culture. Episode Highlights:
- Systems and processes sometimes erect unnecessary obstacles for employees.
- In times of uncertainty, managerial support is more important than ever.
- There’s immense cultural power in story and narrative.
- An intentional gratitude practice confers many benefits.
- Allow employees to correct from mistakes and well-intentioned errors.
[2:20] The challenges to instilling a good culture in an organization.
[5:05] The most surprising thing Welela learned about culture as a leader.
[12:23] The benefits of verbalizing gratitude to one another in an organization.
[14:42] The stigma around receiving mental health care, and how it could be overcome.
[15:47] Anderson Cancer Center's 'Code Lavender' and 'Code Blue' for managing the mental health of teams.
[23:30] Conflicts at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and how they deal with them even in a virtual setting.
[28:41] What does it mean to go the extra mile for patients and employees? Welela talks about MD Anderson’s initiatives for employees and patients during the pandemic.
[33:16] MD Anderson’s two-part wellness strategy: address all problems, make sure people feel cared for.
[35:48] It takes more than four positive interactions to counteract a negative one—the impact of negativity bias.
[39:18] Assume good intent; the vast majority of the people want to learn if they're missing the mark at work.
[42:36] Welela explains why, after the COVID pandemic, MD Anderson’s employee engagement scores shot up.
[44:55] Ramping up employee care and well-being at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
[46:18] Key points we've learned from Welela today. Episode Quote from Welela Tereffe: “I think the first thing is to recognize that culture drives everything else, so you have to be thinking about it, talking about it, and moving it forward. You've heard the saying that culture eats strategy for lunch. It eats everything else for breakfast: employee engagement in hospitals, and patient experience. And so much of how we feel about going to work every day is a reflection of our shared norms and behaviors and our sense of engagement on mission. And that's all about culture.” About Welela Tereffe: Welela Tereffe, M.D., is the Chief Medical Executive at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. She’s a graduate of Brown University, New York University Medical School, and Harvard University. Her medical specialization is in radiation oncology. Episode Resources:
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