Employee engagement is rapidly gaining in importance and it’s easy to understand why. High employee engagement rates lead to a better work environment as well as a better bottom line, but, in the health care field, high engagement levels are especially important. Studies show that the higher the engagement level of employees, the better the patient experience, outcomes, and satisfaction levels. In addition, a Gallup study of 200 hospitals showed that “nurse engagement is the No. 1 predictor of mortality variation across hospitals. The commitment and emotional involvement of the nurses on staff is even more important than their numbers.”
But what exactly is an engaged employee?
It’s not necessarily a person who is happy at his job nor is it one who’s satisfied. Both do what’s necessary but might feel just as good working at another company. Engaged employees exhibit both loyalty and commitment to the organization. “They have an emotional attachment to their jobs,” said Denise Mariotti, HUP’s chief HR officer. “It’s not just coming in and doing a job.”
The great news is that engagement among HUP employees is on the rise! Indeed, results from last fall’s Penn Medicine Employee Engagement survey showed a 14 percent increase in HUP’s engaged employees from the 2014 survey, while disengaged staff decreased 4 percent. In fact, HUP had the best performance of all hospitals in the Health System! The improvements stem, in part, from individual department action plans that addressed the following 2014 survey questions:
- My organization recognizes employees for excellent work.
- I receive the necessary support from employees in my unit/department to help me succeed in my work.
These plans included more activities to recognize and celebrate staff, a new focus on education, practice, quality and professional development, and a formalized leadership infrastructure. “We want to embrace a culture of engagement, fairness and listening,” Mariotti said.
HUP’s excellent results also helped Penn Medicine receive the “2018 Workplace of the Year Award” from the Advisory Board, which recognizes “hospitals and health systems nationwide that have outstanding levels of employee engagement.”
In response to results from the 2017 engagement survey, managers have developed action plans for department-specific opportunities, but, for the first time, hospital leadership has prepared an entity-wide action plan addressing two areas that surfaced to the top of HUP’s survey results:
- Abusive behavior is not tolerated in my organization.
- I receive regular feedback from my manager on my performance.
Over the course of two weeks in May, HUP senior leaders conducted several sessions to get input on these two questions. “Over 300 employees attended,” Mariotti said, “and we received a lot of good feedback.” After holding a four-hour brainstorming session earlier this summer focusing on how to respond to the challenges, hospital leaders are now making plans on the best way to disseminate the responses to all HUP employees.
“We value the opinions of our employees – this is not a top-down culture,” Mariotti said. “Their thoughts should help shape how we run the organization. They are the organization.”