MISSION: POSSIBLE
Heeding the call from customers’ feedback, officers turn to appreciative inquiry training
Our Security department is misunderstood.
That was the message received by Suzanne DeKay, director of UF Health Shands Safety, Security and External Transportation, after she reviewed results from an internal customer survey from faculty and staff.
“There were comments that the Security team didn’t look the part and that staff weren’t sure what the officers’ roles are,” DeKay said, also referring to remarks about the team members’ perceived fitness levels.
“I thought to myself, ‘They don’t know what we do,’” DeKay shared. “They don’t understand the abilities, the training or the compassion that my officers have. The heart that they have. How much they are committed to keeping people here safe.”
She continued, “We don’t hire people who can’t do the job. Every single one of them can do the job, so it was a little disheartening when we saw the results of the survey.”
DeKay and Gary Neal, UF Health Shands security operations manager, immediately rolled up their sleeves and talked about how they could educate their customers and change perceptions.
They knew their officers possessed the training and experience to recognize and, as Neal stated, “de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation before it becomes a situation.” This is the heart of their most important skill, which is reinforced with training in de-escalation, crisis intervention, mental health recognition and much, much more.
They turned to Rachel Enochs, UF Health Shands Human Resources Development director, and shared their predicament.
Enochs suggested that the department participate in the Appreciative Inquiry, or AI, program. According to the Center for Appreciative Inquiry, AI is focused “on the strengths of individuals, groups and organizations. By utilizing the existing talents, strengths and resources, our clients move from a problem-focus mindset to one of innovation and possibility.”
HRD teammates, management development coordinator Dave Marra and coordinator Donna Agerton, embraced the Security department’s challenge and oversaw the four phases to AI training.
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PHASE 1: Listing what you feel you do best
“It was really interesting to hear the officers tell their stories of when they felt they were at their best,” DeKay said.
One officer shared, “I felt the best working here when I was able to talk with someone who had just lost their daughter and let them cry on my shoulder for half an hour.”
Another officer recalled a conversation that took place between a patient and one of his officer teammates.
“He overheard a phone call between a patient and her father. She was discharged but didn’t have enough money to put gas in her car to drive home. Her father would have to travel more than an hour to the hospital to give her the cash she needed.
“My teammate walked up to her and told her, ‘Don’t bother.’ He took all of the money he had out of his wallet and gave it to her. It was like she won the lottery. He just gave her money so that she could get gas and go home and not have to stress about it, plus her dad didn’t have to make the trip.”
The proud officer finished, “That made me happy to know that that’s my teammate. He’s someone who has my back and has our patients’ backs, too, when they need it.”
The generous officer in question didn’t — and still doesn’t — want recognition for his act.
“Those are instances when our officers felt the most connected and when they felt like they were doing the best for our organization,” DeKay said. “There were a lot of officers who shared similar stories and none of them were about the other types of service they provide, dealing with conflict and potential physical interactions at times.
“How they see themselves is not how other people see them,” DeKay continued. “That’s what we learned in the first phase.”
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PHASE 2: Magnify what we do best
The second phase focused on how the security officers wanted to define themselves.
“That’s what Appreciative Inquiry is doing — it’s helping us take a look at who we are, how we define ourselves and how it’s working,” DeKay said.
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PHASE 3: Develop a mission and vision
Marra and Agerton are working with staff to develop a mantra they want to live by when they are out and about on our UF Health Shands properties, as well as when they are away from the job.
Neal said, “It’s good to listen to the variations of ideas that our Security officers have because our team is a diverse group of all ages and from all walks of life. When I hear the different ideas they share, things in my mind start to pop up. They are actually helping me help them (in turn).”
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PHASE 4: Get their message out to us, their clients
And the fourth phase — getting their message out — well, you’re reading one of those ways right now.
We’re telling their story. Learning about what our security department is really doing for us.
They aren’t here simply to respond to potential crises, and help ease difficult situations — although that happens a lot. In their day-to-day experience, they do much more.
They are part of our hospital team. They are here to help all of us — patients, visitors and staff alike — feel safe and secure in many different ways.
Be on the lookout for additional stories about our Security officers to learn more about the diverse and important services they provide.
