Other Side: My Forgotten Allies: Employees make my world go round
7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM by: Jim Fidele Whenever I have writer’s block, I engage in a variety of mental exercises
to help me come up with a good topic. One tactic is to look through
my old writings to see if a subject should be revisited or expanded
upon. As I was scanning subjects this month, it occurred to me that
there is a group of people I have not mentioned. These individuals have been by
my side throughout the years, and I’m disappointed with myself for not giving
them more credit. So let me tell you about my forgotten allies: my employees.
As any manager will attest to, without good employees, the ability
to fulfi ll our mission is virtually impossible. The daily tasks that
need to be done cannot occur without committed and dedicated
employees. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with a group of individuals
who prove to me on a daily basis their desire to execute our
mission and ensure the success of our department. I sometimes
focus on the tasks my employees could do better, without recognizing
all of the things they do well. But the fact is, my employees
do many things well and are directly responsible for my success as
a manager.
A POSITIVE SPIN
After visiting other facilities and attending industry conferences,
I’ve found that most biomedical technicians share these attributes.
I fi nd this industry to be full of caring, compassionate, and extraordinarily
intelligent people. However, in conversations with my
peers, sharing stories about bad employees is far more prevalent
…and interesting.
I’m sure that many managers would agree that one bad employee
consumes much more energy than fi ve or 10 good ones
does. Sometimes, it’s therapeutic to discuss the problem employees
with peers and hear that someone else has it just as bad. That
being said, I’ve only had one employee who wasn’t capable of fulfi
lling my expectations.
As I take time to refl ect on my present group of employees, I
know that I’m fortunate to be surrounded by those people. What I
appreciate most about them is how they always strive to do what’s
best for the customer and patient. They are empathetic to the issues
our customers face and
have an inherent desire to solve
their problems. This has never
been more evident than on our
most recent customer satisfaction
survey, in which 80 customers
felt compelled to write
a compliment about my technicians.
My employees really
take pride in what they do, and
try to be an example to everyone
in the facility.
As of late, I have enjoyed a
level of success that has enabled me to take the lead on a couple
of important projects. None of this would be possible without the
cooperation of my team. They love to give me a hard time, but at
the end of the day, they keep me honest and grounded. Because of
our relationship, I feel comfortable with their work. I don’t micromanage
their days, and they don’t micromanage mine. The mutual
trust we have built over the years has fostered a great and fl exible
work climate. This allows them to balance their work life while
enabling me to advance our department to a higher level.
I could go on, but I think my techs will suspiciously wonder
what I’m up to when they read this article. I would just like to
thank my team, Mark Carothers, Tom McDonald, Becky Crossley,
Gary Hine, Craig Sampsell, Burt Smeal, Jeff Miller, Peter Fortin, and
Paul Anderson, for all they do. I’m acutely aware that their dedication
to the biomedical department is the key to my continued
success. To the aforementioned group of individuals:
Thank you for being my allies.
In closing, I would like to remind all managers
that it’s impossible to appreciate our
employees enough. After all, our success as
managers is measured according to their actions.
So, please take a moment to tell your
employees how much you appreciate them.
Jim Fedele, CBET, has been with Medical
Dealer magazine for more than 10 years. He is
currently the director of clinical engineering
for Susquehanna Health Systems in Williamsport,
Pa. He can be reached for questions
and/or comments by e-mail at
info@mdpublishing.com.
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