Summary
About Gillette Children's
Children who have disabilities and complicated medical needs have been at the center of Gillette’s mission since 1897. They are always ready to consult on any case, from the simplest concerns to the most complex. Gillette collaborates with primary care physicians with one goal in mind: to support the full value of every child.
Industry: Non-profit, Healthcare
Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Time frame: June 2023 - February 2024
Size: 1,200+ employees
Gillette Children’s Hospital wanted to help normalize conversations about mental health in their workforce, and to give people leaders greater confidence in leading these conversations.
Mind Share Partners provided the Gillette Children’s team with:
Manager training — For people leaders across the hospital, from executive leaders to clinical staff leaders and administrators.
Affinity group advising — We advised the leadership team of Gillette’s newly formed Mental and Emotional Health Employee Resource Group (MERG)
Storytelling coaching — There is no better way to end the stigma still associated with mental health. We coached four team members on how to craft and share their personal mental health stories to reduce stigma in their work environment.
Results
87% of people leaders now have a better understanding of mental health at work.
85% of people leaders feel better equipped to support a colleague around their mental health.
Mental Health ERG leaders at Gillette Children’s now have a clear plan of action to reach their goals.
The Context
In March 2022, Gillette Children’s Hospital was awarded a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health—Mind Share Partners worked together with Gillette Children’s team on the proposal language. They wanted to use this opportunity to provide resources to staff and leaders in direct patient care to promote and support their mental and emotional wellbeing. Their goal was to be proactive about promoting and supporting wellbeing before it became a larger issue.
“We wanted to educate our leaders in direct patient care on the importance of supporting staff wellbeing. We also wanted to ensure they knew how to do this. Our employee resource group is new, so we elected to receive consultative support to ensure the success of the employee resource group,“ shared Aliya Maseelall, Director of Education, Development, and Patient Experience at Gillette Children’s Hospital.
The Gillette team was struck by the Mind Share’s Mental Health Employee Resource Group (ERG) Slack community. They were inspired by how various organizations in the online community supported one another with mental and emotional wellbeing.
The Solution
Mind Share Partners provided two, 2-hour training sessions for two different cohorts of people leaders. These remote trainings included staff across the hospital, from executive leaders and clinical staff leaders (including physicians and nurses), to administrators. To meet the needs of Gillette Children’s team, we adapted our starting scenarios—that were business-oriented—to custom scenarios tailored to a healthcare environment.
Gillette Children’s team also had three goals for their existing Mental Health Employee Resource Group:
To build community and be an “oasis” for people to gather and talk
To be a resource for information and skills
To be a force for change in the organization
While their ERG had sound structure in place (such as a charter, mission, guiding principles, and strong executive leadership support), they weren’t sure where they wanted to focus, or what steps to take next.
Mind Share Partners provided strategic advising to Gillette Children’s ERG leadership team and a roadmap for the future.
The Impact
Gillette Children’s team has conveyed the positive experience they’ve had working with Mind Share Partners. The Director of Education, Development, and Patient Experience at Gillette Children’s specifically shared their enthusiasm around the ICARE model and other tools that both leaders and their staff can use for ongoing support.
Aliya Maseelall, Director of Education, Development, and Patient Experience at Gillette Children’s Hospital notes,
“Working with Mind Share Partners has better positioned us to help our employees thrive and create a healthier workplace. Our staff have been leveraging the team adaptations worksheet to assess and address challenges. This has been helpful in the new year to help us align and better understand how wellbeing plays out in our departments. The storytelling coaching provided to our leaders was also very impactful and came through a lot in the post-training surveys. It has helped normalize and de-stigmatize the importance of mental and emotional well-being.”
When asked about what advice Gillette Children’s team would have for other leaders embarking on this work, they shared, “There is no one size fits all. Everyone is in a different place with their wellbeing journey.”