When Patti Frank became Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer at CCM Health in Montevideo, Minnesota, she wondered if she could replicate the employee engagement success she had in a previous job at a different organization. The answer turned out to be yes. Under her leadership, CCM Health debuted at #66 on Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work list—and climbed to #9 this year.

In a recent podcast interview with Dan Collard, Frank talks about how they achieved it–despite challenges with high turnover, a reliance on travel nurses, other issues. A piece of the puzzle was investing in Emotional Onboarding™, a system focused on helping new hires reduce anxiety and gets them connected to employees early on.  This effort has increased first-year retention by 15% and contributed to an award-winning culture.

Here are some strategies and tactics that Frank found helpful in creating (and then re-creating!) a Best Place to Work culture:

• If your culture isn’t working, get back to the basics. Be willing to start from scratch. Assess what’s working and what isn’t. Measure what matters and focus on high-impact areas.
• Get help if you need it. CCM Health had strong leadership but needed outside perspective. They partnered with HPSG to gain fresh ideas, alignment, and accountability.
• Make sure the right people are in the right roles. In community hospitals, internal promotions are common—but not always a perfect fit. Identify skill gaps and provide training to set employees up for success.
• Rewire what no longer serves you. CCM reworked foundational areas like leadership development, patient rounding, and onboarding. Even long-standing processes should be reevaluated if they no longer meet the organization’s needs.
• Get your onboarding right. When Frank arrived, CCM had serious retention issues. The Human Capital EcoSystem™ assessment revealed onboarding was too transactional. They transitioned to Emotional Onboarding™, shifting the focus from “Here’s what you do” to “Here’s how you’ll feel.”

A few things CCM has started doing differently:

• Create belonging early. A welcome video introduces new hires to familiar faces before day one.
• Reduce anxiety. Leaders personally greet new hires, and employees share first-day stories to normalize the transition.
• Increase early check-ins. The old 30/60/90-day model wasn’t enough. CCM now checks in more frequently in the first few weeks.
• Normalize self-doubt. New employees question if they belong—acknowledge it’s normal and explain the phases of change so they’ll know what to expect.
• Narrate appreciation. “You matter. We’re glad you’re here.”
• Maximize learning from others. Frank’s team actively networks at conferences, shares notes, and builds relationships to learn from other successful organizations.
• Don’t make excuses—play the hand you’re dealt. CCM is a union hospital, but Frank never saw it as a barrier—just an opportunity to do right by staff.
• Harness the enthusiasm of young leaders. As CCM’s culture improved, younger nurses became eager to lead. Their excitement inspired veteran nurses to step up, strengthening retention and leadership development.

People in healthcare have lots of choices. They drive by other hospitals on their way to work at your organization. When you get focused on becoming a Best Place to Work, they will want to choose you.

This article is based our special podcast series on Emotional Onboarding. The content above is excerpted from Leadership, Engagement, and Emotional Onboarding: CCM Health’s Path to Success with Patti Frank*. Click here to listen!*

To learn more about Emotional Onboarding, click here.