Bassett Medical Center boosts staff engagement
Employee engagement is a fundamental requirement for achieving highly reliable processes and outcomes. Organizations with engaged and motivated staff have fewer harm events, better patient outcomes, superior patient experience ratings and higher net margins. In 2019, Bassett Medical Center embarked upon a “cultural revolution” to improve employee engagement at the organization.
Bassett implemented a number of evidence-based strategies for improvement. Critical to the program’s success was buy-in from the executive leadership team who engaged in joint work to improve their own communication, transparency, teamwork and collegiality. Also key was the implementation of a formal employee recognition program to improve morale. Engaged employees are more likely to “give back” to the organization in other ways, such as contributing to funds to help their co-workers during times of financial need.
Post-implementation survey data revealed that the organization achieved a statistically significant improvement in overall employee engagement compared to the baseline; ratings on 97% (29/30) of engagement survey questions improved. Improvement in nearly 60% of questions (17/30) reached statistical significance. Additionally, annual employee turnover decreased substantially. Even staff contributions to the organization’s employee assistance fund increased.
For more information, contact Ronette M. Wiley, RN, BSN, MHA, CPPS, executive vice president and chief operating officer at (607) 547-6818 or ronette.wiley@bassett.org.
