Babette Beene: Housekeepers’ Champion

Babette Beene
Environmental Services Manager
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas

Babette Beene knows firsthand the challenges of working with a multicultural group of housekeepers. When she started as EVS manager at MD Anderson Cancer Center, she recognized the need to unify her team, improve communications and find a common ground.

“We have a diverse group at MD Anderson with different beliefs,” Beene says. “We needed to bring the team together and learn how to interact.”

Not one to rest on her laurels, Beene took action and completed the classes required to become a Diversity Champion, an award that recognizes the recipient’s commitment to promoting diversity. Beene not only used those skills to improve relationships in her own department, but she encouraged five employees to become Diversity Champions, as well. Team Leader Maria Valle is one of those employees.

“Babette leads by example and always tries to help people advance in our department,” says Valle. “The diversity program helped me to understand other cultures and treat people properly, because at MD Anderson, we have patients and employees from every part of the world.”

Beene has also taken Administrative Clerk Shardanna Jones under her wing.
“I started out as a housekeeper and Babette gave me a chance to work behind the desk,” says Jones. “She helped me get a scholarship, and she’s trying to help me get financial aid to pay for my last year of school. She doesn’t want to hold me back because she needs me. She wants me to graduate just as much as I do.”

As president of the IEHA Houston Chapter, Beene has encouraged employees, including Jones, Valle, and Team Leader Vanessa Jack, to join the organization.

“Babette is always looking out for the interests of her staff,” says Jack, who is also a Diversity Champion. “She manages her staff with fairness and the highest of integrity, and she counsels them and encourages them to pursue further education and self-development.”

In fact, Beene recently persuaded Jack to pursue a scholarship to study and advance into facilities management.

“I appreciate my staff, so I try really hard to work with them and further their education,” says Beene. “I started as a housekeeper and worked my way up, so I understand how hard it is. I want them to know they don’t have to be a housekeeper for 20 years. They have the opportunity to grow and move up.”

While Beene supports career development, she never overlooks the importance of the housekeeping staff.

“Housekeeping is a department that people don’t acknowledge,” she says. “So I let them know that we recognize and appreciate everything that they do.”

Managers at MD Anderson have the opportunity to do the same during the hospital’s annual “walk in their shoes” event. During this time, housekeepers train management to do their jobs for a day. According to Beene, this is a great team-building exercise and gives staff the chance to interact with management.

“It’s fun, and it let’s the staff see that we do recognize how difficult their job can be,” she says.

Beene also spearheaded the IEHA Houston Chapter Housekeeping Olympics in which teams from various facilities take part in games, such as dust mop barrel races and cheerleading contests. The games help build camaraderie among staff and give management the opportunity to show their support.

Beene’s many awards and accomplishments illustrate just how committed she is to her job, her staff and her department. Last year, the American Hospital Association recognized her department with the 2014 EVS Department of the Year Award. Beene has received the IEHA Housekeeper of the Year Award twice, and she has also received recognition from her staff with the Above and Beyond Award, and Certificate of Appreciation Award.

But Beene’s commitment to excellence extends well beyond the EVS department. She is always willing to lend a hand or offer guidance to employees throughout the hospital.

“Even people from other departments call her for advice,” says Jones. “That’s a testament to the type of manager she is.” 

Despite her myriad responsibilities, Beene still finds time to give back to the community. Through IEHA, she volunteers to clean a women’s shelter every year.

“It’s important to give back,” she says. “You never know what your situation will be, and if you’re blessed with a job and a home, it’s good to give to those that don’t have.”

To nominate a deserving manager for the 2016 award, click here.

Babette Beene received three separate nominations. This first was from Shardanna Jones at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Babette is truly an essential part of the productivity of this department. She covers all aspects, even areas that she isn’t completely over, and she does so efficiently. She is hard working and productive, and even employees from other departments want to work for her.

The second nomination was from Maria Valle.
I started working for Ms. Babette about three years ago. I think she's a great manager who cares about all the staff. She encourages us to grow and proudly displays MD Anderson's core values.  She goes above and beyond making sure that we are continuing our education through IEHA and learning new techniques to help us do our job. 

Ms. Babette introduced us to the housekeeping olympics and the Christmas Gala, where a housekeeper would be voted as housekeeper of the year. She also does “Walk in your Shoes,” where upper management works with the frontline staff learning there job. She even sent us through a series of diversity classes and five of us graduated to become Diversity Champions. And she encourages her team to give back. We volunteer with her yearly at the Women's Shelter and we helped to create a webpage for the supervisors.

And the third nomination came from Vanessa Jack.
What sets Babette Beene apart from others is that she always shows a positive attitude, at all times and no matter what comes her way. She goes above and beyond her duties for her fellow co-workers and her employees. She's the President of the IEHA Association, she's the Chairman for MDACC Hospital Olympics and also she's the Diversity Champion for the managers.