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A program that helps healthcare workers see how their work is connected to their spirituality.
This past week the United States celebrated Independence Day, the day it declared independence from the British crown. America's Founding Fathers, of course, knew the importance of independence — that's why they fought so hard to win it. At the same time, they knew the importance of interdependence, both in forging alliances among the colonies and in maintaining alliances abroad.
We would do well to learn from the Founding Fathers and apply their lessons to the workplace. How can workplaces exhibit both strong independence and strong interdependence?
Rabbi Samuel Karff knows the answer to this question. An experience as a dependent and vulnerable hospital patient caused him to notice how equally dependent and vulnerable his caregivers were. From his patient bed, Rabbi Karff observed that the hospital often could be just as demoralizing for employees as it was for those they cared for. He wondered how the sense of calling, the sense of sacred vocation that originally had brought healthcare workers to the field, could be rekindled. How could a sense of dignity be restored to healthcare workers and patients alike?
The resultant Sacred Vocation Program draws on caregivers' ability to practice both independence and interdependence as a way to help them rediscover their own passion for their work. Through the program, Rabbi Karff has been able to help frontline caregivers claim independence from the obstacles and drudgery that demoralized them. As program participants meet in small groups, they also can draw on the power of alliances with one another and so tap into the strength of interdependence.
Now in its sixth year, Sacred Vocation starts with small groups of eight to 12 employees learning to recognize their work as sacred vocation. Trained facilitators learn the skills of validating rather than judging participants, showing empathy, fostering a sense of community, creating a safe space that encourages participants to speak from the heart, and being a good listener. Through five 90-minute sessions, employees share their stories of what brought them to healthcare, how their work is connected to their spirituality, and how they understand vocation. Rabbi Karff underscores the importance of affirming all forms of spirituality represented in the groups, both those forms connected to established religions and those with no particular religious connection.
Participants in Sacred Vocation share stories of the barriers that have prevented them from being healers, as they role-play the situations and brainstorm coping tips, collecting lists of the most helpful tips which are then circulated to all. For participants, the exercise is empowering, allowing them to experience the support of the group when they return to the front lines to practice the coping tips they helped to create. At the end of the first phase of the program, the group writes a Sacred Vocation Oath. Taken publicly in a program graduation ceremony, the oath ends with the words "No one can take away my power to heal." Group members thus claim their independence from the barriers they face every day, while also experiencing the interdependence of the small group support.
The second phase of Sacred Vocation focuses on improving the workplace. In five 60-minute small-group sessions, employees consider the changes management could make that would create a better environment for living out their sacred vocation at work. Through a facilitated action research process, representatives from different departments formulate an action plan which they present to management. Divided into categories of "minimal cost," "moderate cost" and "costly," the recommendations are made with clear measurements of their success delineated. In a recent Sacred Vocation program, for example, a group of Certified Nursing Assistants made 27 recommendations to management, 24 of which management implemented. Morale soared among the CNAs and patient satisfaction increased dramatically. The combination of the group's interdependence, open-minded management, and careful facilitation served to create a more highly functioning workplace.
What is the bottom line for this program that focuses on employees' sacred vocation, independence and interdependence? Sacred Vocation boasts a high success rate, improving both employee morale and patient satisfaction. "The Sacred Vocation Program is probably the best investment we've made in the last 10 years," claims John McWhorter, CEO of Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
As Rabbi Karff has demonstrated, independence and interdependence can mutually coexist and strengthen one another. Frontline caregivers can learn to take more responsibility and claim their place in their organization as strong, independent workers. They also can learn the power of interdependence with the help of small-group support. Let's take a lesson from America's Founding Fathers and strengthen both independence and interdependence in our workplace.
Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," works with leaders in business, healthcare and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com .
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