Employee Learning and Development at Southcentral Foundation

Learning and development is important for employees in many different fields, and health care is no different. Investing in employee learning and development can help with employee retention, boost performance, and help ensure sustainability at an organization. Southcentral Foundation has implemented a comprehensive approach to employee learning and development that is aligned with SCF’s mission and vision, and the relationship-based philosophy of the organization.

SCF places great importance on employee learning and development; one of the four core competencies that each employee is evaluated on yearly is “Workforce Development: Skills and Abilities.” To support employees in pursuing this competency, and provide tools and common language for employees, SCF operates the Development Center, a department dedicated to employee training and development.

The Development Center maintains relationships with the leadership of each SCF division; collaborates on outcomes aligned with SCF’s Corporate Goals and Initiatives; and partners with other departments within the Organizational Development & Innovation division such as Human Resources, Organizational Development, and the Learning Institute to more effectively train SCF’s workforce.

Training is provided at SCF on a wide variety of different subjects, including communication, relationship-building, integrated care team operation, behavioral health, and more.

Examples of courses offered include:

Core Concepts – A three-day training for all employees that teaches how to share and receive story.
Motivational Interviewing – Teaches how to collaborate with customers to strengthen their motivation to change.
Improvement and Innovation– Teaches SCF’s strategic approach to improvement and innovation.

SCF invests heavily in employee learning, spending $2,896 per employee on learning and development in 2017, greatly exceeding the industry median of $408. Learning and development hours per employee were 86.3 in 2017, compared to an industry median of 20.3.

In part due to its strong focus on learning and development, SCF has achieved a 97 percent customer satisfaction rate, as well as a 95 percent employee satisfaction rate. Surveys also indicate that workforce engagement at SCF exceeds the national average, and that most employees agree that they get the training they need to do a good job.

SCF’s experience shows that a comprehensive learning and development approach for employees that is aligned with the organization’s mission and vision can be beneficial for both customers and employees. The SCF Learning Institute has also made many of SCF’s internal courses available for outside attendees; information on those courses can be found here.