A System-wide Opportunity for Leadership Growth and Development
Aug 19, 2024When Paulette Clannon stepped into St. Mary’s General Hospital to support the People and Culture team part-time with labour relations in the spring of 2023, she had no idea it would lead to an opportunity to lead the team through an immense time of change as a member of St. Mary’s senior leadership team.
As Paulette wrapped up an eight-month secondment as Interim Chief of People and Culture at St. Mary’s on July 31, she reflected on her experience, including how the mission is deeply embedded in both cultures.
“It’s been a fantastic experience to develop and grow as a leader, stretching beyond what I’d typically do in labour relations into other dimensions of human resources,” said Paulette, who has served in multiple roles at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) over 10 years. She officially rejoined the SJHH team on August 12 as Director of Employee and Labour Relations.
When an opportunity arose with St. Mary’s People and Culture team, leaders across St. Joseph’s Health System mobilized to see if there was anyone to step-in to provide interim support. As part of a shared commitment to investing in the healthcare teams of today and tomorrow, St. Joseph’s Health System is supporting opportunities for leaders and staff to expand their careers within the System.
“We want our healthcare workers to experience a ‘lifetime of careers’ within the System,” said Carrie Fletcher, Vice President of Human Resources at St. Joseph’s Health System and Executive Vice President of People, Culture and Strategy at SJHH. “This is one example of how we’re empowering our people with the skills, resources and opportunities to make an impact across the continuum of care.”
St. Joseph’s Health System has an expansive workforce of 10,000 healthcare workers embedded in a network of healthcare organizations, from acute care, long-term care, home and community care to rehabilitation and hospice. With a presence across the continuum united by a shared commitment to deliver mission-based care, the System is uniquely positioned to create unique, rewarding and distinctive experiences for staff, physicians and learners.
Since joining the St. Mary’s team — first on a once-a-week basis to provide collective bargaining and labour relations support (while maintaining her permanent role at SJHH) and then as full-time Interim Chief of People and Culture — Paulette has gained unique experience as a member of St. Mary’s senior leadership team. Not to mention leading the People and Culture team through significant organizational change as St. Mary’s and Grand River Hospitals progress on the voluntary merger.
“Paulette provided capable and compassionate people leadership as St. Mary’s announced the single largest change in our history,” says Mark Fam, President of St. Mary’s General Hospital. “Paulette was instrumental in bringing together the People(s), Culture and Experience teams of St. Mary’s and Grand River as one to support the proposed merger of the hospitals in 2025. Paulette is a grounded, approachable and thoughtful leader, who gave the team stability and assurance as we embarked on this integration journey.”
In addition to senior leadership experience, Paulette also expanded her employee engagement practice, attending service award and volunteer recognition dinners and shadowing healthcare workers on the front-line. One memorable experience for Paulette occurred earlier this year when she attended a job shadow of the Diagnostic Imaging team. At St. Mary’s, senior leaders shadow clinical teams monthly, allowing a first-hand perspective of how clinicians provide high-quality, mission-focused care to patients.
“I’ve always known our hospitals are home to thousands of dedicated healthcare workers, but this experience showed me that our mission — Living the Legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph — is truly the basis for everything we do,” said Paulette. “One of the things that reminded me of the mission was how each professional, working with such expertise in their respective field, always prioritized the patient’s experience in the care they provided. They carefully took time with each patient to explain the procedure, answering questions with compassion and expertise, and problem solving together.”
Paulette noticed many similarities between St. Mary’s and SJHH and says this experience has enabled her to make new connections and bring the best from both organizations — things like policies, templates and processes — to create efficiencies and improvements across the System. Healthcare workers across organizations benefit from building connections and bridges, with teams finding innovative ways to collaborate and support one another.
One of Canada’s largest healthcare corporations, St. Joseph’s Health System healthcare workers are part of multiple communities of practice and have the mobility to train and work in a variety of settings throughout their career. In this case, a trickledown effect resulted in three people benefitting professionally from one secondment.
Carrie noted that this is one of many examples of healthcare workers who have taken on new roles within the System, including in human resources, quality, pharmacy, and senior leadership. It’s part of a larger strategy to support growth, development and succession planning across the System.
“These experiences develop more dynamic leaders, identify emerging leaders and offer unique career mobility,” said Carrie. “It’s one way that we’re working together as a System to find solutions to support, retain, and develop mission-driven healthcare teams and leaders of the future.”