National

Kerene Hoilett always knew she wanted to work in health care — inspired by her grandmother, a nurse.

When she learned that nursing didn’t fit her, she forged her own path.

Hoilett joined Kaiser Permanente in 2007 as an ultrasound technologist in Georgia. Since then, she has completed a project management certificate, landed an internship and earned 2 college degrees on her way to becoming a diagnostic imaging quality consultant.

“I always have that drive to challenge myself,” Hoilett says. “How can I tap into my strengths more?”

To help employees and managers tap into their strengths, Kaiser Permanente has a new career paths tool.

The new tool at kpcareerplanning.org/paths is interactive and personalized to help you explore career options. Follow the prompts to fill out a profile and find opportunities that link your skills, interests and education to careers at Kaiser Permanente.

“Kaiser Permanente encourages career mobility,” says Monica Morris, director of National Workforce Planning and Development. “With career paths, we’re trying to show you all the different career opportunities and directions you could go in the organization.”

Partnership unions negotiated to include career paths in the 2005 National Agreement with Kaiser Permanente.

“The new career paths tool reinforces our commitment to supporting lifelong learning and career development,” says Jessica Butz, workforce development director with the Alliance of Health Care Unions. “Career paths are a fundamental piece to help give employees a road map for success.”

Pursuing opportunities

After Hoilett became lead ultrasonographer in 2013, her journey took a turn to pursue leadership opportunities.

As a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) member, Hoilett talked with a Partnership union-supported career counselor from the Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust, leading her to a project management pilot program. A project management certificate and 6-month internship at the regional office followed. The trust paid her to work at the internship one day a week, while she worked her regular job 4 days a week.

Hoilett applied for open positions but was unsuccessful, so she reviewed her experience gap with her career counselor.

“She encouraged me. I knew one day I would get that opportunity, and she helped me to be confident,” Hoilett says. “I wasn’t left in the dark. The career counselor was able to light my path.”

Hoilett’s persistence paid off. In 2018, she earned her master’s degree in project management and became a diagnostic imaging quality consultant. She’s using her people, project and technical skills to improve productivity and performance for imaging techs.

She isn’t stopping there. She continues to increase her impact in her current role while exploring learning opportunities in organizational leadership. And she encourages colleagues to learn, take courses and grow their careers — just like her.

“Don’t be afraid,” Hoilett says. “If you keep going, you will be successful.”

Carol Fiskio takes pride in helping good employees move on.

As revenue cycle director for Kaiser Permanente’s Woodland Hills Medical Center, Fiskio has seen 3 of her department’s admitting clerks earn college degrees and advance to new positions.

Their formula: a desire to learn, flexible scheduling and a valuable employee benefit. Hers: supporting employees’ lifelong learning to make them, Kaiser Permanente and her department stronger players.

Kaiser Permanente encourages such learning, providing employees up to $3,000 each year for completing courses to continue their education, get a certificate or earn a degree. Tuition reimbursement course applications reached a record 73,224 in 2018, nearly doubling since 2015, when benefits increased for many employees after that year's Labor Management Partnership National Bargaining. 

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Psyched for psychology

When Olayinka Rahman started as an admitting clerk at Woodland Hills Medical Center in 2007, she had a vision: to become a psychologist. She balanced working and going to school, using tuition reimbursement to earn bachelor’s (California State University, Northridge), master’s (Pepperdine University) and doctoral (Azusa Pacific University) degrees in psychology.

“I don’t think there would be a better place (than Kaiser Permanente) for me to get my degree and continue to work,” Rahman says. “They’re so supportive. I hear about other organizations that aren’t as flexible and don’t have tuition reimbursement.”

After a yearlong internship in Michigan, Rahman returned to Kaiser Permanente. She completed a postdoctoral psychology residency in San Francisco and now works as a psychological assistant in Antioch. She’s preparing for the licensing exams to become a staff psychologist.

Rahman encourages others to continue their education.

“It was definitely challenging but well worth it,” Rahman says. “Talk with your manager, and say, ‘How can we make this work?’ Open communication with management is key.”

Strength in education

Fiskio, who used tuition reimbursement herself to earn an MBA, praised Rahman and her other former direct reports for advancing their careers through education.

“It’s not easy to go to work and to school,” Fiskio says. “That takes real dedication. It’s a benefit to the organization.”