Describe your day-to-day responsibility and a typical day.
I always tell people that my main focus is advocacy. My job is to advocate for our customers and our associates. That means I help Medxcel provide its associates with a positive experience and that we are fulfilling our commitments to our customers and providing them with a good experience. Our engagement team consists of three engagement specialists, and each of us holds responsibility for a specific region within Medxcel. We report up through the marketing team and each of us has a different background which makes our team extremely well-rounded and allows us to lean on each other as we collaborate in different areas. Our areas of expertise include associate engagement, customer experience, and data and research, all of which are critical to our work.
How do you and your team impact and measure associate engagement?
Engaged associates come to work feeling valued, perform their work to the best of their ability and find the work they do meaningful. Studies show that if you have engaged associates, it results in a positive customer experience. At Medxcel we understand the strong correlation between the associate and the customer experience. We design programs to engage our associates, and we utilize regular surveys to measure satisfaction and engagement, and to ensure that our associates are heard. We use the feedback and survey results to advocate for changes within our organization to improve the associate experience. For example we might identify a need and propose new programs that would help to support our associates in new ways. We don’t focus on HR related things like pay and benefits, our amazing HR team does that. We are focused on things within the organization that our leaders have influence over; making sure our associates are treated with dignity and respect, that they feel valued, and that they are working in a positive environment. Those are the kinds of things that our leaders can foster each day for our associates.
What is customer engagement and why is it important?
Customer engagement is a way of measuring the value of the relationship between Medxcel and its customers. We measure customer engagement in two ways using surveys. First, we conduct transactional surveys which are sent randomly upon the close of work orders. These measure the client’s experience with a particular Medxcel work event. That data is received in real time, and we constantly analyze it for trends. If a site within my region starts falling short of specific metrics, I work with the site leaders on ways that we can help and support them. I work cross-functionally and can pull in experts from any teams needed to help provide support and solutions where needed.
We also conduct an annual voice of the customer survey. This surveys key decision makers at our client hospitals and shows us how well they feel we are meeting our commitments. We also learn whether or not they are willing to recommend Medxcel to others. Our team analyzes the survey data, listens to the feedback, and then we share the results and findings with our local leaders in a way that is helpful. Giving data to someone is not enough. It’s my job to present it in a thoughtful, educational, and informative way along with recommended support and solutions. All of our Medxcel teams influence the responses from our hospitals, our client experience center, our compliance group, supply chain and more. I want to be an advocate for both our associates and our customers so we can provide the best possible experience. For Medxcel to continue to grow, it’s important that we serve our current customers in a way so that they will recommend us and continue to partner with us in the future.
Describe the path you took to arrive in your current role.
I majored in social work in college and started my career as a social worker. I moved to a sales support role about sixteen years ago, working for a small medical company and I fell in love with it. I think my background in psychology and sociology has really served me well in understanding the human side of customer service, customer advocacy, and associate engagement. In the last sixteen years I’ve worked on the customer side of the business and six years ago associate engagement was added to my role. I grew up in a healthcare environment, my dad was a clinical engineer, and I lived next to a hospital. We played in the parking lot, and we visited with the patients in the skilled nursing facility. There has always been something about healthcare facilities that speaks to me; the organization, the values, the overall sense of wellbeing, taking care of patients and providing a safe environment. I love working in this setting, advocating for both associates and customers.
What is the best part of your job?
What I really love about my job is that it provides me with a unique perspective. Advocating for both customers and associates allows me to see every side of this business and how we all impact each other. Our department doesn’t work in a silo, and it provides me with a good general understanding of how the entire Medxcel organization works and the interdependencies. That enables me to be the best possible advocate. I love helping people and it’s important to me to be able to make someone’s job a little easier for them. I don’t have all the answers, but people know that they can come to me with any questions or issues, and I’ll put them in touch with the right person if it’s not me.
Which of Medxcel’s Core Values speaks most to you?
Creativity is very important in my job. One of my favorite activities is brainstorming, where I work with a diverse team to address a specific problem and figure out solutions. It’s my job to pull together all the resources at our disposal, a variety of brains if you will. I love that; that’s what feeds me. At Medxcel you’re not told to stay in your lane. Everyone is encouraged to be creative and bring forward problems, solutions, and ideas for improvement. That’s one of the great things about working at Medxcel.
What would you say to someone who asks you if you recommend working for Medxcel?
Medxcel is a great organization and there are so many growth opportunities. If you’re looking to work at a place with a real sense of community, this is the place. I know that the company cares for and nurtures my wellbeing both personally and professionally. We have fantastic leadership and I benefit from relationships with leaders across the organization who provide that nurturing environment. Medxcel gives you the sense that they want what’s best for you as a person.
Is there anything you’ve learned in this role that maybe you did not expect?
I’ve always known that everyone is different, but I’ve really learned how diverse we all are, and how wonderful that is! Each person is so incredibly different in how they want to be recognized, what skills they bring to the table, how they like to be managed and so much more. I’ve also learned the importance of being objective and listening. I can’t just make assumptions when looking at hard data. Everyone has a story to tell and the stories behind the data impact how we work each day. I love meeting with our technicians in the hospitals; they are so passionate about their work and the skills they need to have to maintain a hospital are extraordinary. I would have never known and appreciated that if I hadn’t taken the time to visit our sites and listen to their stories. Listening makes me a better advocate, for both our associates and our customers.