TIP #4 – EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ARE:

  • Connection to the Mission, Vision, Values (MVV) and Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of the organization

  • Employees believe Senior Leaders are committed to the MVV and CSFs

  • Goals/targets are created in the CSFs and communicated with employees

  • Employees establish personal goals/targets based on CSFs

  • Senior leaders communicate and interact with employees continually

  • Results are discussed openly with employees

In order to create a world-class organization, we have to have a relationship with our employees that is more than just a paycheck.  We have to connect with their hearts.  

How do we do that?  First we have to determine why they work for our organization.  Every organization has a reason for being (MVV) and we should be hiring employees who want to work for our organization because their personal reason for being is aligned with the organization’s.

In Healthcare, most employees personal mission statement looks something like this:

They want to help other people and,

They want to make a difference in other people’s lives

How do I know this?  I’ve asked literally hundreds of people over my career and this is what they’ve told me.

Once we’ve determined why they want to be with our organization, we have to deliver.  The first step is to make sure the MVV are appropriate and then we have to behave accordingly.  Most healthcare organizations’ MVV are appropriate.  The problem occurs with Senior Leaders'(SL) behavior.  It’s not that the SL don’t care about the MVV, it’s how that care is communicated.  In most organizations, SL usually talk about the “numbers”.  When that’s the only communication employees hear, they begin to think that that is all the SL care about.  So, we have to communicate about more than the numbers.

A great way to do that is to develop CSFs that are more than the bottom line.  A popular set of CSFs include: People, Service, Quality, Financial and Growth.  You don’t have to use these, but the CSFs you develop should reflect a balanced approach, not just the financial results.  You then use the CSFs to communicate your organization’s performance and health, while continually connecting the CSFs to the MVV.

Tip #5