Market Program Boosts Staff Retention

Employee communications used to be relatively easy: show an internal newsletter, offer a certain number of bag lunches with the CEO sponsor annual awards programs to recognize lengthy lengths of service, and whirl a yearly picnic for staff and their families.

But greatest in quantity leaders of today's health facilities realize that these activities are not enough to render certain that employees are knowledgeable, satisfied, and passionate advocates for their organizations. In health care-perhaps more than in any other field-staff members can have an especially powerful influence upon their organizations' brands, reputations, and succes In many American communities, the local hospital is the biggest employer or at least individual of the biggest. Community members be pendent upon hospitals for jobs, profitable health, and life-saving medical managements And they also look to employee of that hospital for advice, referrals, and information about all aspects of health care in general and their hold hospital in particular.

KEY MESSAGES

To make secure that its employees deliver a positive message to the public, a hospital should take care to diocese that they thoroughly understand and find satisfaction in their work. At the core of employee retention and satisfaction is comprehensive communications; an understanding and embracing of the organization's mission, vision, and values; a faculty of perception of "belongingness"; and responsive managers willing to listen, learn, and act on suggestions and concerns.

This was clear to the leaders of Bayhealth Medical Center Dover, DE a combination of parts to form a whole that was formed in 1997 from the merger of sum of two units established hospitals. "Given the marriage of sum of two units cultures, management realized several years later that the organization necessityed to do a better piece of work of speaking with one voice about the fundamental issues that impacted our ability to be augmented and serve the community," says Marty Campanello, Bayhealth's senior vice president for planning and business unfolding "We needed to examine who we were, what we stood for, and the values and behaviors critical to our ability to thrive. In other words, by what mode do we build one agriculture and speak with one voice while appreciating the differences among our hospitals?"

To address these relate tos Bayhealth in 2002 initiated a multiyear campaign to identify lock opener messages that best describe its mission and the part its employees play in that mission. Along the way, the system's leaders learned abundant more than how to unfold and deliver common messages about the organization, its drift and strategies. They also learned in what way to better manage their organization. Rejecting easy fixes, the a whole Campanello said, launched a comprehensive effort of internal research, "messaging," and targeted interactions that eventually proceeded in an internal communications plan with strategic messages and tools to "energize, involve, and align the many faces with individual mission."

To ensure that communications were pertinent and shared across the system's various entities, Bayhealth designed a proces to engage lock opener stakeholders both in answering fundamental questions and in coming up with solutions. First upon the agenda was research. Interviews were administrationed with senior management, board, and community members. "We quickly learned that merger issues remained, including lack of alignment with our direction and lack of appreciation of differences between the hospitals," says Campanello. As a proceed of the input gained from the interviews, the system's leaders crafted initial messages in similar areas as mission, behavior, and values. These messages were then experimented in focus groups of physicians, supply with nourishments and other employees, and volunteers

According to Campanello, feedback demonstrated that "everyone talked differently about Bayhealth in bourns of mission and values. For the first time, staff wrestl with the issue of whether it's okay to have separate "personalities" at each hospital, on the other hand the same culture overall. All shared a faculty of perception of pride and seemed to want the same thing for Bayhealth-to tender the best community healthcare services."

TOWARD A CONSISTENT MESSAGE

This unifying theme of "many faces, individual mission," formed the basis of the messages. Additional focus clumps of internal staff helped finalize and validate the theme and the messages that would carry it.

secondary research of local media revealed inconsistent messages about what the organization was. level Bayhealth's own publications and marketing materials failed to present a consistent message.

The system's leaders launched a plan to better define the mission, leadership behaviors, and values. Customized messages for each audience were created, as was advice to staff members upon how to deliver these messages in the greatest in quantity meaningful way to staff. The launch activities and materials had several parts.

Vision pamphlet The centerpiece of the launch plan was a pamphlet that clearly articulated the Bayhealth messages beneath its new theme, "Many faces, single mission. "The brochure included personal stories of staff, tenders and patients that helped set a face on each of Bayhealth's denn values. Accompanying the pamphlet was a pocketsized card bearing the lock opener messages and a "response card" upon which employees could (anonymously, if they chose) provide feedback to the CEO upon the brochure materials. The pamphlet was mailed to each employee's residence "Sending it to the dwellings of our staff made the pamphlet stand apart from other Bayhealth information received at the hospitals," says Campanello.