In facilitating many groups, we do a table activity. We ask each person to share with the others why they stay working in their organization. Having now facilitated this a thousand times, the word I hear most often—in fact, almost always—is family. “My coworkers are like my family.” “I spend more waking hours with my coworkers than my family.” “When my mother was sick, my coworkers held me together.” “When my son died in an accident, I don’t know what I would have done if not for my coworkers.” The list goes on and on.
I seldom, if at all, hear, “It is because we are a team.” There is a strong emotional difference between the word family and the word team. This was further reinforced when I was able to view the Saratoga Hospital FAMILY Customer Caring Standards. I spent time with my friends from Saratoga when I had the privilege of being at the Ninth Annual New York State Healthcare Facilities Conference. I learned so much at the conference.
In reading Saratoga Hospital’s methods, it is obvious that what they are doing can be helpful in and out of healthcare settings. If you are not in healthcare, don’t feel that what Saratoga did will not work in your setting. I guarantee it will. Relate versus compare.
Saratoga has been on the journey of excellence for a long time. While still recognizing their strong foundation, they challenged themselves to take a “fresh-eyes” look at performance. They did this despite already being nationally recognized for their high performance. The good always strive to be better. They had the staff vote on which word resonated with them the most when looking at standards. The final choices to consider were: Values, Caring, Listen, and Family. Values received 18.52 percent of the votes, Caring received 18.52 percent, Listen received 11.11 percent, and Family received 51.85 percent.
For many years, I have shared that I liked the word team better than family. My reasoning was that we may have family members we don’t want to work with. It’s hard to fire family members. My perception was that there is more accountability within a team than within a family. While I can rationalize why my perception has some merit, I have now concluded that when a workplace culture is like a family, it has so many advantages. This is a roundabout way of saying, I was wrong.
Family also fits with the sense of belonging that organizations want to create. A baby feels love from the first moment of life. While it is hard to have a new hire feel that way, it is important to help them feel that they are cared for. When we care for a person, we do our best to make them comfortable. We are patient with teaching them, and we take the responsibility very seriously. Repetition is fine and needed. We also celebrate milestones. This is what onboarding is: It’s helping people feel good about where they’ve chosen to work, and reminding them that the work has meaning and that they have an impact on the lives of others. Saratoga Hospital does a great job with this. They have stayed grounded in hardwiring what continues to work well and rewiring where it makes sense.
What FAMILY Means at Saratoga Hospital
Here is how Saratoga Hospital defines FAMILY. Each letter represents several characteristics. For this column, I will name only a few for each letter. For more detail, I encourage you to contact Jeff Casale at jcasale@saratogahospital.org.
F=Friendly. Be willing to assist everyone and Acknowledge all customers are two of the eight items describing friendly.
A=Above and Beyond. Seek opportunities to increase personal and professional growth and Set, expect, and achieve high standards are two of the six ways listed to go above and beyond.
M=Mutual Respect. Appreciate and value everyone and Respect privacy are two of the seven ways to demonstrate mutual respect.
I=Integrity. Always do your best, acknowledge mistakes, and remedy them and Do the right thing, regardless of the situation/circumstance are two of the seven items listed.
L=Listen with Compassion. Hear your customers and know how and/or when to respond and Clarify and repeat back when necessary are two of the six items that are part of this standard.
Y=Your Personal Touch. Personalized interactions and Believe you make a difference are two of the items here.
When I finish a presentation, I receive a nice thank-you. In reality, I am the one who needs to do the thanking. Being with so many people each week who feel such a great sense of meaning in their work and are so committed to making life better for their patients and each other is replenishing.
Do not underestimate the difference you make.
