Igniting Team Spirit: Attracting, Building and Retaining an Engaged Workforce - Val Gokenbach,

IGNITING TEAM SPIRIT

ATTRACTING, BUILDING AND RETAINING AN ENGAGED

WORKFORCE

OBJECTIVES

• Understand the best practices for staff engagement

• Provide information to develop successful strategies for recruitment, retention and engagement

• Understand the future staffing needs and preparing for a turbulent future

WHY IS ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

• Financial reasons

• Nursing image

• Achieving administrative goals

• Engagement correlates with

– Patient safety

– Patient satisfaction

– Nursing satisfaction

ENGAGEMENT DEFINED

• “an abstract, unwritten contract, in which the employer agrees to provide materials and resources the employee needs to get the job done, matched by the employee’s agreement to work at an optimal level to fulfill the goals of the company.” (Javitch, 2007)

• Staff engagement and loyalty can die overnight

• Customer loyalty can die in seconds

WHAT EMPLOYEES WANT

• To develop transferable skills to maintain high employment prospects in this dynamic environment

• Jobs that suit their personal goals

• Jobs that suit their personal needs

• Jobs that change to meet their needs

• Work for many concurrent employers to find what works for them

• It is all about them

WHAT EMPLOYEES EMOTIONALLY NEED

• To own their own personal journey through life, only some of it to be spent in the workplace

• To meet their needs for a unique set of life aims and objectives

• To feel welcomed and part of a culture that cares for them and helps them achieve their goals

• To see work not as an end to itself but as a means to others ends

DETERMINENTS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

• Strong relationship with manager

• Feeling empowered

• Feeling valuable in the larger scheme

• Recognized for the value they bring

• Work life balance

• Fair remuneration

• Realization of strong organizational vision

• Career vs. Job

• Positively challenged

• Training and growth opportunity

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STAFF LOYALTY?

• The flavor of the sundae starts at the top

• The CNO

– Create the salient vision for nursing and communicate

– Create a “signature” culture for staff engagement

– Live the vision through role modeling and walking the talk

– Hire right and make the tough decisions

CREATING A “SIGNATURE” CULTURE

• Begin with looking at the outcome of what you want your culture to look like

• Flatten organizational structure as much as possible • Open door policies with staff a must • Honesty and information • Zero tolerance for lateral violence • Face time with employees

– Rounding day and night shifts – Focus groups – Town hall meetings – Attend staff meetings – Provide information

BUILDING A STRONG LEADERSHIP TEAM

• Set the leadership bar high and maintain your expectations

• Require leadership training programs and continuing education

• Expect high visibility of your leaders and build in accountability to measure

• Intrinsic coaching classes

• Six Sigma yellow belts

• Infrastructure for the illusion of communication

LEADERSHIP SCORECARDS

• Turnover rates

• Attrition rates

• Engagement scores

• Service scores

• Personal contact with the staff

• Relational issues

• Budget performance

– Manpower

– Supplies

– Utilization of other resources

– Quality metrics

• You need to act on these

EMPOWERMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

• Professional nurse council (PNC)

• Must be created by staff and leaders

• One nurse from every area that employs nurses

• Meet monthly for 8 hours

• 50% turnover annually of elected members

• Matriculated educational program

• Members are chairs of their unit based PNC

• CNO and Administration needs to attend and support

HIRE RIGHT AND EFFECTIVELY ON BOARD

• Behavioral hiring

• Include staff

• Effective training programs/preceptors

• Mentorship programs

• Consistent connection to the manager

• Fish or cut bait

ENHANCE NURSING VALUE IN THE ORGANIZATION

• Powerful collaboration with physicians with mutual respect

• Nursing presence at the highest levels of the organization

• Nursing leaders at the table for all critical decisions

• Public recognition of nursing successes

• Celebration of successes

• Good relationship with ancillary departments

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

• Staff is your most valuable resource

• Leaders are the key to engaging and creating loyalty of the staff

• Leadership is a tremendous responsibility

• Leadership is a serious meddling in the lives of others that can result in either positive or negative outcomes

QUESTIONS?

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