About 5 minutes to read
Key points to remember:
- The idea of improving engagement can be overwhelming, however, bringing together the elements of teamwork, respect, sincere appreciation, and recognition will pave the way for a happier, more engaged team.
- The Pediatric Medical Specialties Contact Center and the Acute Hemodialysis Unit shared their efforts to improve engagement. Their work can inspire efforts in your area of the organization.
- Detailed instructions on how to submit an engagement improvement plan and additional resources are available on the employee engagement website.
This time of year, everyone is looking for the perfect recipe – the best way to cook a meal for family and friends, the best holiday cookie recipe or the easiest way to reheat remains.
While many people may turn to secret family ingredients for success, two areas of Michigan Medicine have found the perfect recipe for improving their team member engagement, focusing on the aspects of belonging and being together. inclusion of UM Health’s BASE strategic priorities.
“Increasing engagement in our fields can sometimes seem like an elusive goal, which can often be very overwhelming for leaders,” said Paul Sturgis, MSHROD, SPHR, senior director of people strategy and organizational efficiency. “Rather than seeing engagement as an end result, it’s better to break it down into smaller pieces. Bring together the elements of teamwork, sincere respect, appreciation, and recognition, and you’re on your way to a happier, more engaged team.
Using these key ingredients, UM Health’s Acute Hemodialysis Unit and Pediatric Medical Specialty Contact Center managers and their teams have found the perfect formula to successfully build engagement in their fields. .
Teamwork is the source of a dream job
“Our region has seen tremendous change over the past few years, and our team members have worked really hard to support each other through the transition,” said Courtney Bauer, Supervisor, Medical Specialties Contact Center. pediatrics. “Throughout this change, our team really bonded as we worked to create a unified contact center. This goal would not have been successful without each member of our team, and I am very grateful to each of them.
Faculty and staff in the Acute Hemodialysis Unit have also focused on developing teamwork as a means of managing the significant changes occurring in their field.
“Our dialysis unit used to be closed at night with a guard blanket, but we are now a 24/7 unit, and we have more than doubled our staff and treatment levels over the past six years” , said Joy DiPonio, MBA, BSN, RN, CNML, Clinical Nursing Director, Acute Hemodialysis/INU. “The only way this change was successful was because of our team members, their willingness to trust us and the way they supported each other.”
Facilitating open communication is a great way to strengthen teamwork and build trust between faculty and staff, which leads to a greater sense of belonging among colleagues.
“We have focused on building relationships not only within our own team, but also with the faculty and staff we work with in the clinics by improving our communication and our meetings with stakeholders,” said David Holloway, Associate Director of Primary Care, OB/GYN. , and contact centers for pediatric medical specialties. “Ultimately, we all share the goal of providing the best experience for our patients and their families, so it’s important for us to build relationships with colleagues across the company to understand how we can partner to achieve this goal.”
Add a little fun
Developing teamwork and community within a unit or department takes preparation and planning, but adding fun can make it easier. Getting together for activities outside of the office is another great way to bring a team together.
“We try to schedule unit meetings a few times a year for all of our staff and their families to get together outside of the workplace and get to know each other better in a more fun and relaxed setting,” said Valerie Liebbe, MSN, RN, CNML, nurse supervisor, acute hemodialysis/INU. “We took a little longer to plan our picnic this year and had staff ask when we were getting together, which really shows how much our staff enjoy spending time together.”
Making recognition a priority is another great way to add an element of fun. While there are great resources for recognizing staff, including Michigan’s Drug Recognition Platform, involve the team in identifying different approaches.
“We created an Employee Recognition Committee to recognize high-performing teammates and those who exemplify Michigan Medicine’s core values, including teamwork and inclusion,” Holloway said. “The group is tasked with identifying recognition tools (e.g. contact center newsletters, team intranet, awards) and criteria that will resonate with staff in our region, as we understand that there are many different ways people prefer to be recognized and we want to make sure that we show our appreciation to our teams in a way that is valued.
Vital Actions
“For areas looking to make improvements, finding ways to focus on developing a fun and inclusive environment, like these two areas have, is a great place to start,” Sturgis said. “Seeing all the ways faculty and staff come together to support each other and our patients is truly inspiring, and I hope other fields can find ways to incorporate these ideas into their own engagement initiatives. ”
If you haven’t submitted an improvement plan yet, be sure to log into the Press Ganey portal and submit one as soon as possible.
Plans can be submitted by logging into the Press Ganey portal and navigating to the “Department Hierarchy”. The improvement planning tool is only available in the department hierarchy, not in the manager hierarchy. Find your department, then click on “improvement plans”.
Detailed instructions on how to submit a plan and additional resources are available on the Employee Engagement website.
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