2005 Salary Survey Report
Employees want honest and communicative leaders
Listen and respond to employee concerns
Three of the top five issues identified by more than 102,000 health care employees surveyed by Press Ganey, a South Bend, IN-based satisfaction survey company, related to the effectiveness of communication between employees and senior leadership.
"We defined senior leadership as anyone responsible for decisions related to an organization's mission or goals," explains Monica Locker, MPPA, director of the employee perspectives division of Press Ganey. Depending on the size and structure of the organization, these leaders can be chief executive officers, chief financial officers, administrators, directors, or managers, she points out. More than 53% of the respondents to the 2005 Hospital Home Health Salary Survey place themselves in the category of senior leadership.
"This is the first time that senior leadership's involvement in communication was identified at this high level of importance for employees," says Locker. Specifically, employees said that they wanted organizational leaders to "listen to employees, be trustworthy, and to respond to employee concerns," she says.
Each leader should pay attention to communication because satisfied employees mean fewer turnovers and a positive image in the community that leads to easier recruitment of new employees, Locker says.
While more than 61% of respondents to the Hospital and Home Health survey report salaries of $80,000 or more, and almost 67% of respondents report an increase of 4% to 6% in the past year, salaries are at the bottom of the list for employees rating issues that affect their job satisfaction in the Press Ganey survey, says Locker. (See charts on salaries and increases below.) " It's obvious that salaries may affect an employee's decision to choose one employer over another, but money does not affect overall job satisfaction," she adds.
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At Henry Ford Home Health in Detroit, employees always say they would be happier if they were paid more money, but there also are other issues that the organization' s employee survey identifies, says Greg Solecki, vice president of the home health agency. Employees at Henry Ford did indicate that they wanted agency leadership to respond to their ideas and suggestions, he says. " This did not surprise us, but it is a challenge to find ways to solicit input effectively," he says.
There are several techniques that effective leaders use to communicate with employees and solicit their input, says Locker. " While specific activities differ from organization to organization, they need to be frequent and be designed to keep employees up to date on organizational issues," she says. "Town hall meetings, newsletters, intranet sites, and suggestion boxes can all be effective, but they need to fit your organization's culture and they need to be consistent."
Meetings are a routine part of the workday for all staff member at Southern Home Care in Jeffersonville, IN, so there never is a problem with attendance, says Theresa Uhl, RN, BSN, interim director for the agency.
"We have a morning report meeting each day as all of our field staff, therapists, and nurses, get ready to visit patients," she explains.
While these meetings last no more than 15 minutes, staff members can review new admissions, reports from on-call nurses, and issues that affect staff on a day-to-day basis, Uhl reports. " This morning, we reviewed the use of our new cell phones to make sure that everyone knew how to use the options." Not all staff members work each day, so housekeeping issues such as new phone use are covered several days in a row to enable all staff members to get information or instruction, she adds.
Bigger issues such as process or policy changes, updates on reimbursement issues, and reports on home health agency performance are addressed in monthly staff meetings that are run by the senior management of the home health agency, says Uhl. " We are getting a new computer system, and the monthly meeting is the best place to discuss how the changes will affect staff members because we have more time and can answer everyone's questions at one time," she reports.
The third type of meeting held for employees is a quarterly employee forum conducted by the hospital's administrative team, says Uhl. " This meeting lasts about 90 minutes and covers organizationwide issues that relate to mission, goals, and values," she explains. Attendance at the meetings is part of the workday, she explains.
"One part of every meeting is devoted to responding to employee suggestions or concerns," says Uhl. "We make sure that all employees know that we are taking all of their comments seriously," she adds.
When responding to employee input in meetings or in any follow-up communication, use specific language, suggests Solecki. Use phrases such as "in the employee survey, you said you wanted this, and here's how we evaluated your suggestion," or "at a recent meeting, several of you asked for this, and we are providing it," he says. By emphasizing that management's actions are in direct response to an employee request, you emphasize the fact that you are listening, he says.
At Southern Home Care, they are careful to be concise, stick to an agenda, and keep meetings as short as possible, says Uhl. " Home health staff members work long hours and have to accomplish a lot in that time," she says. (See chart on hours worked, below.) "We know that sitting in a meeting that you don't think is beneficial is stressful, so we make each meeting as informative and useful as possible."
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Even if you conduct regular employee satisfaction surveys, be sure you are clear about what employees say they want, suggests Solecki. " We conduct focus groups composed of employees from different areas of the agency to clarify information from the surveys," he explains. " The surveys may show that employees believe they need more resources to do their jobs, but do they mean computers or ink pens?" he asks. A focus group can help better define the actions you need to take, he says.
Technology also is helpful to stay in touch with employees, give them a chance to express concerns, and respond to their input, says Solecki. At Henry Ford, supervisors and managers are responsible for making sure that all employees are using voice mail effectively to keep communications between each other and other departments open, he says.
"Senior managers and directors are required to use e-mail whenever possible so that both of these technologies become an everyday tool to keep information flowing," he says.
By cutting down on telephone tag and handwritten notes, you can make sure you respond to employees in a timely manner, he says.
Three of the top five issues identified by more than 102,000 health care employees surveyed by Press Ganey, a South Bend, IN-based satisfaction survey company, related to the effectiveness of communication between employees and senior leadership.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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