Transcription
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97.3 WZBG around the towns, this time talking with the folks from McCall. Behavioral Health Network. Every third Wednesday, you can pretty much put it on your calendar that we speak with the folks from McCall. McCall has been quite a growing organization, especially in the last few years. And this morning, we’re talking with the Senior Director of Human Resources at McCall, Sean Lewis. And Sean, good morning.
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Welcome to the show.
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Oh, good morning. Thanks for having me.
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Thanks for joining us on the show. Now, you’ve been in human resources for quite a number of years.
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Yeah, about 15 years or so.
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Fifteen years.
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Yeah. Almost a couple of years now with McCall.
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over two years, almost two and a half.
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So I guess you started in finance, but moved over to HR.
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Yes, I did.
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Prefer that part of it, people over the dollars, that kind of thing?
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Yeah, they kind of go hand in hand. That’s very true.
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You know, we’re going to talk about the staff, and now they’re number 200 across the organization. Yeah, we’ve grown over the years. I know we merged a couple of years ago, a few years ago, with HELP.
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incorporated that kind of like doubled our size and then we have to continue to grow since then. Yeah, so it’s up to about 200 employees and you like to say the greatest asset is your staff.
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There’s a story behind that, isn’t there? Yeah, so early in my career, Many years ago, I was sitting with my boss at the time, and we were kind of going through, kind of like projecting the budget for the new year. He’s a finance guy. Projecting the budget for the new year. And we got to a point where we had to decide, how are we going to define our staff? And we kept going back and forth.
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came up with our greatest asset is our staff. You can imagine he loved it because he’s an HR. I mean, he’s a finance guy with the word asset. But, you know, kind of using that going forward over the years, that has always stuck with me. And, you know, everywhere that I go, and especially in McCall, you know, we realize that, you know, we’re not able to fulfill our mission unless we have, you know, their staff, the skills, the talent, the vision of the staff is kind of what makes us who we are. So they are our most important resource.
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So they are.
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you know, our greatest asset. Well, also in the service industry and the service that you folks provide, too.
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I think the human component, without a doubt, has to be, you know, without it, you can’t do what you do. Yeah, we can’t do what, you know, what we do. You know, we have, you know, we have exceptional staff, but we have to have compassionate staff who, you know, they come every day and they work with folks. who are going through a tough time. We deal with folks that have substance abuse and mental health disorders. And so they’re looking for that person that will kind of help them not only just kind of get through that, but also be compassionate and caring and provide all those kind of human factors that you kind of mentioned there.
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So that’s really critical to the type of work that we do. And with that skill set too, you’ve got to appreciate that kind of staff.
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Let’s talk about the ways in which you can show that appreciation so they feel valued. So appreciation is not just a one -time thing. You don’t just have an annual appreciation event that you have. It has to be part of your culture and kind of ongoing. So at McCall, we do it on a daily basis through celebrations, team meetings, appreciation events. And we try to make sure that we highlight that at all times.
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We think it’s important that if you highlight the work that people do. It helps them feel better about themselves. That comes across in the work that they do, and the clients definitely will see that.
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It will make for better, you know, better interaction with the client and better outcomes. Our guest this morning, if you’re joining us, is Shawn Lewinson, a Senior Director of Human Resources at McCall BHN, across some 200 employees in the organization. You’ve been with the organization now, McCall, for a couple of years. Why work for McCall?
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What makes an exceptional place to work? I think it’s the culture. There’s a cliche, people always say you’re kind of like a family, but we’re truly like a family there. I think we know that people are in that work because They’re in that field because that’s the type of work that they want to do. They’re drawn to it for a reason. And so, you know, just people coming in every day and want to make a difference in people’s lives and kind of doing the different things that we do makes it enjoyable when you see the outcomes of kind of what happens, you know.
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And everyone plays a different role, you know, from the clinicians to the front desk to the admin staff. You know, we had a client that, you know, came in recently, and the first interaction that they had was with someone in the parking lot who was not a clinician. It was an administrative staff. And as an administrative staff, sometimes you’ll think you’re kind of behind the scenes and you pay the bills or you do things, but you don’t realize sometimes the impact that you might directly have on a client. So when a client walks in, the first person that they see, they’re already nervous. They’re already not sure exactly what they want to do.
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And so they come into interaction with that person, and that person gives them a smile. directs them where they want to go. So they always start off by having a positive experience.
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And I think that’s critical in the type of work that we do. It sounds like though everyone has their particular role, it might be administrative, it might be as a clinician or whatever.
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Still, the way in which you convey that compassion that you say what McCall is all about, that’s got to be across across the entire You know, workforce. Yes, it has to be across the entire workforce.
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And I think that’s why when we, you know, we share experiences with staff, we share it in all different forums, in all staff meetings, in team meetings, so everyone can recognize the role that they play and realize that their piece also is part of the mission of the organization and really goes to the good that we do. That being a two -way street,
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street, you know, in trying to show the appreciation for staff, do you get the feedback back from them that they appreciate that, that they recognize that they are being recognized, and it’s not just, you know, it’s not just you know, talk, but there’s actually some value there.
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Yes.
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You know, they tell us all the time that, you know, they appreciate kind of being told kind of, you know, the work that they do and that’s being recognized for that.
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Who doesn’t love validation?
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Everybody loves that.
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Yes. So, you know, and, you know, we do create an environment also at McCall where, you know, It’s not just leadership that is telling, doing all the talking and telling folks what to do. We kind of listen to our employees and we kind of get feedback and value from them.
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So we allow them to kind of tell us what’s happening and kind of what works for them and what doesn’t work for them and kind of feedback that they’re getting from the clients in general. It’s amazing how quickly our time goes here. We’re down to really a final minute of the broadcast and our time together. Shawn Lewinson is our guest, Senior Director of Human Resources at McCall.
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But just in closing, the approach you take, the valuation of employees and why that makes things work at McCall. Yeah, I think one of the things also is that we’ve been named top workplace for eight years in a row and that’s direct feedback from our staff. So that kind of goes to you talking about if staff value kind of what we do. And I would say, I think McCall is a great place to work, now that I think I know.
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We do a great impact, we have great impact on the lives of others and as an organization we value our employees and we show that every day. Well, I’m sure they appreciate it some 200 strong and growing and Sean I’m sure if we have you in here again It’ll be 200 plus right? Yeah, you guys are just you guys are just moving on up.
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We appreciate your time today We appreciate the work that all you folks at McCall do day in and day out and look forward to speaking with you again in the future
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Okay, thanks.
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It was good to be here. Shawn Lewinson, our guest this time. 97 .3 WZBG, back to the newsroom with Jeff in half a minute.