Our hospital has also implemented an employee satisfaction survey and are due to re-distribute this Fall as a follow up. We have also had some turbulent times, but have been fortunate in our market to seem to be able to maintain the status quo in volumes and surgical volume has actually increased. That being said, when our new President arrived last Fall, we recently implemented the Studer's "must have's" from his Hardwiring Excellence book (rounding for outcomes, thank you notes, discharge phone calls, etc). The above are an expectation of all Leadership within the hospital. Due to some of these activities, the temperature of the organization seems to be holding steady or even increasing.

This is a hard question. It is important to model positive and upbeat attitudes to staff especially during hard times. Thank you's and good work cards are nice and you will see that employees will display these at their desks when they receive them. It is important to not give praise too much though because then it is something that employees come to expect rather than something that is genuine. Speakers are another way to improve employee satisfaction and if a vendor is willing to provide lunch- even better. Potlucks for employees or random acts of kindness can be done inexpensively and go a long way. Another idea is to take photos of certain fun events that occur in the office and post them in a break room or central location for employees to look at and talk about later. It is possible to have happy employees- even in this economy!

We also use many of the Studor techniques to improve communication. I think it is very important to round with employees and let them know what you are doing to address their suggestions/ideas. Also, our company has called upon the experts in various fields in our company to develop educational webinars, which we offer to employees free of charge for CEUs. This appears to be a satisfier for educational needs. We also are starting to post our successes on a common board so everyone can see how far we've come even if we have a ways to go still.

We conduct an employee satisfaction survey every other year via Gallup, and leadership is held accountable for developing, implementing and tracking the success of action plans that are based on the survey results for their department. To obtain buy-in and establish ownership, it's very important for staff to have input on areas of opportunity for focused attention. Reviewing elements of the action plan and reporting on its progress at each staff meeting continually keeps it top of mind.

We used Studor Groups principle as well. Happy employees = happy customers (physicians, patietns, and the like). Rounding as purposeful rounding, thank you notes and creation of employee retention committees were very helpful. As a leader, I still feel that we don't enough of it!

Most important to our employees is the need to be heard. Changes in routines or processes occur on a more or less regular basis as we strive for continuous quality improvements, and not all changes are welcomed. Those employees who disagree with needed changes or who are simply weary of having the status quo altered, have the opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns at regular, scheduled staff meetings. These are not "gripe sessions," rather, structured opportunities for all to be heard. We, management, listen. Often that's all a person needs before agreeing to comply with a quality initiative that will, e.g., improve patient care and safety.

Great Comments. In our small healthcare facility we find that employee morale drasticall impacts patient and to a degree physcian satisfaction. We decided to become a Planetree affilite two yearsago and have seen a marked improvement in the above areas. Several employee teams have made the difference. One being the Care for the Caregiver team. This team of associates is empowered to implement programs for reward and recognition in addition to some of the above mentioned activities. They are now given the task of planning holiday events. Lst year this team moved our organization away from the traditional Christmas parties to what came to be known as the 12 days of Christmas. for twelve days around the holidays this team provided associate contest contest (ginger bread house building and decorating) music (staff talent shows), community support (food drives) and in-house celebrations (cook-offs, bake offs etc) with food and proceeds used to thank medical staff and other stakeholders. These low cost,high participatory activites promoted team building and allowed staff to interact with tose they would not normally associate. They also included health fairs and clinical education to staff and community groups focused around healthy lifestyles and wellness.

This has been a great topic. While we may not have total control of employee satisfaction in some areas (ie: benefits, market compensation) making gains in areas where you can make a difference can affect the overall climate of your organization. We too are using Studer principles in our organization, but even before familiarizing myself with the Studer organization, good leadership, rounding, pulse-taking, and addressing the barriers and concerns of employess have made all the difference in managing employee moral. Being honest is helpful too. I have fantastic champions on my team who recognize when something is out of our control, and help the rest of my team to "move on" to productive solutions. It's okay to recognize the frustration, and even acknowledge or agree with it, as long as you don't allow it to become a barrier to progress.