It doesn’t cost a lot to reward staff effort
Shands had luau, jeans day’ to celebrate
Wondering how you can reward your staff for a job well done when budgets are tight? Access managers at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville used their imaginations — and a little of their own money — to express appreciation to frontline employees who helped exceed the hospital’s cash collection goal.
Five assistant managers who work under the hospital’s associate director of admissions collaborated to plan a thank-you celebration with a Hawaiian theme, says Tim Carney, CPAT, assistant manager for outpatient registration.
The 125 employees of the admissions department — including outpatient registration, emergency department and bed control staff — were invited to wear jeans and Hawaiian shirts and attend a luau one Thursday in September, Carney adds. "Not everybody collects cash, but they all are part of the department. Everybody has to pull their weight."
Money for leis, potato salad, and drinks came from the admission department budget, and the assistant managers chipped in to buy hams, he says. As employees are served their lunch, they also grab a pen, Carney notes, and inside two of the pens was a $50 bill.
The luncheon was affordable, he points out. Including the $100 being given away, the cost to the department was only $350.
"This is the hospital and the management team saying, Thank you, guys,’" he says. "We’d like to give everyone $100, but we can give everybody lunch and a day to wear jeans."
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