Employee Engagement

Today’s Workplace Needs a Little More “Gung Ho!”

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My wife, Rishy, and I are owners of the Beloit Sky Carp baseball team, the high-A minor league affiliate of the Miami Marlins. I received a nice note from an employee saying they liked that I had ended an email with the words “gung ho!” I replied with a group message explaining a little more about the term and how it sums up what we want in the Sky Carp culture: an enthusiastic atmosphere created…
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When We “Drop the Rock,” We Gain Serenity and Improve Our Relationships

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“Drop the Rock” is a short talk by the late speaker Richard (“Sandy”) Beach. It is a favorite message of mine. You can click here to listen to it on YouTube, but to summarize, the story describes a person struggling to swim out to a boat where her friends were waiting. She was weighed down by a rock around her neck (her friends could see it, yet she could not). The friends kept yelling, “Drop the…
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Make Time for Positive Performance Conversations

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At many of my talks on creating a positive culture, I ask the group this question: “When you receive a text from your supervisor to call or see them, what is your first thought? Is it, Here comes more positive feedback. This positive feedback I am getting is really cutting into my productivity?” The group always chuckles. It is common for an employee to feel anxiety when they hear their leader wants to see them.…
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To Create a Culture of Always, Help People Know What’s in It for Them

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Getting to a culture of always is an elusive outcome for organizations. Achieving excellence with every process, behavior, and customer interaction—is hard. It separates great organizations from good ones. Even the best organizations don’t achieve perfection in all things. The conversation around always led me to study and create materials on the topic. Achieving always involves a combination of people, processes, and tools/technology. It also includes making sure each person understands what is being asked and is provided the opportunity…
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Abby Spence | The Healthcare Plus Podcast

Attracting and Retaining Talent In the Post Acute World: A Real-Life Success Story

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Like most other healthcare organizations, post acute staffing shortages have created real challenges. Abby Spence, who has been a nursing home administrator for the past 11 years and is now the leader of Signature Healthcare of Cleveland, Tennessee, has completely eliminated all of her contract labor. In a recent podcast with Dan Collard, Abby shared some of her best practices for solving retention problems. New ways of recruiting: Signature HealthCARE knew they could no longer rely on…
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Don’t Underestimate Recognition; It Keeps Your Culture’s “Well” Full

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“I receive recognition for performance” is a common question on employee engagement surveys. In building a culture of trust, it is a top–five item. This is an area I have spent a large amount of time thinking about, writing about, and presenting on. In college, I was introduced to the work of Marc Gold. During the late 1960s, he formulated a way to help people with significant disabilities learn complex tasks. He called it “Try…
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Patti Frank | The Healthcare Plus Podcast

Building a “Best Place to Work”: Tried & True Strategies For Success

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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,…
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Natasha Lee | The Healthcare Plus Podcast

Day One and Beyond: Helping Remote Hires Feel They Belong…From the Beginning.

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Belonging is a powerful force. When employees feel it, the whole organization thrives. Teams are stronger and more productive. People are more receptive to be coached. High performers become “ambassadors” who bring in other high performers. It makes sense to create belonging right away, which is why it’s a central tenet of our Emotional Onboarding™ system. But what if you’re hiring remote employees? How do you create belonging then? In a recent podcast with Dan Collard, Natasha Lee, the…
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The “Trust Trilogy”: Three Employee Engagement Survey Questions That Help Measure Trust

The “Trust Trilogy”: Three Employee Engagement Survey Questions That Help Measure Trust

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The Human Margin: Building the Foundations of Trust is a book written by Katherine A. Meese, PhD, and me. Why did we author this book? The research studied by Dr. Meese shows the significant impact trust has on organizational performance. When trust is high, there is better employee retention. Better employee retention leads to better results across the board. As Dr. Meese and I have presented on this topic, it is gratifying to show organizations that…
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Dr. Katherine Meese | The Healthcare Plus Podcast

Great Job Descriptions Set the Right Expectations from (Before) Day One.

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We all know finding and keeping great employees is one of the top priorities in healthcare. What we may not realize is the process starts the first time a candidate interacts with our organization: the minute they read the job description. That said, how much time and thought do you put into yours? Many organizations just use a template. They see the job description purpose as conveying the position’s main responsibilities, expectations, and qualifications. They figure We can…
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