Administrative Support Training at Southcentral Foundation

At health care organizations, a lot of focus is placed on care providers, who are critical for ensuring that quality care which addresses patients’ health needs is offered. However, with Southcentral Foundation’s focus on whole-person wellness, SCF places emphasis on ensuring that all aspects of the customer-owner experience support the goal of partnering with customer-owners on their journey toward wellness. Administrative support personnel are very important to the customer experience, as they are often the initial point of contact for customer-owners when engaging with the health care system, and also assist customer-owners in navigating the system. SCF has implemented the Administrative Support Training Program (ASTP) to help ensure a smooth customer experience and assist with the provision of quality care.

ASTP is a program that encompasses recruitment, onboarding, skill development, placement, and job readiness. The program is geared for all new administrative support positions at SCF and serves two primary purposes. First, it works to lower the turnover rate of SCF’s administrative support staff (administrative support are predominantly ‘entry-level’ positions which often have high turnover), thereby increasing the retention rate of these workers. Second, it teaches new administrative support staff the skills necessary to succeed at SCF.

ASTP covers a wide variety of topics, including but not limited to:

How to create, develop, and maintain culturally appropriate interactions with customer-owners, other employees, and the community
How to apply concepts and behaviors based on SCF’s organizational structure, culture, and philosophy
How to learn and develop communication and conflict resolution tools
How to apply professional administrative skills, such as time management and prioritization of tasks
Proficiency with the technical tools SCF uses in the office

SCF has also adapted ASTP for use at other organizations, based on those organizations’ values and priorities. For more information on ASTP, or other SCF training programs, contact the SCF Learning Institute.