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Assessing Student Health Center Staff Satisfaction (and How to Respond When They Tell You What They REALLY Think?. ACHA Annual Meeting June 3, 2010 Philadelphia, PA. Presenter. Mark Shaw Director of Health Promotion University of Washington Seattle campus. Goals for workshop.
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Assessing Student Health Center Staff Satisfaction (and How to Respond When They Tell You What They REALLY Think? ACHA Annual Meeting June 3, 2010Philadelphia, PA
Presenter • Mark ShawDirector of Health PromotionUniversity of Washington Seattle campus
Goals for workshop • Participants will … 1) Learn how to design a survey instrument to assess employee satisfaction 2) Understand how to analyze data gathered 3) Formulate a response to the data
University of Washington • Institution Profile • Largest public university in Northwest region of US • 28,570 Undergraduates • 11,648 Graduates/Professional • Main campus in Seattle and 2 ‘branch’ campuses (Tacoma and Bothell)
U of WA Student Health Center(Hall Health Primary Care Center) • Funded by students (Services and Activity Fee) • Budget of $6,100,000 from SAF Fee • Also see faculty/staff/community members • Insurance/patient fees raises another $5million • 130 staff (counting full and part-time)
Hall Health Center “The building”
Range of Services • Primary care clinics Specialty care clinics • Primary CareMental Health • Family HealthPhysical Therapy • Women's HealthSports Medicine • Other services • TravelEmployee Health • Immunization ClinicHealth Sciences Immunization • Health Promotion
How it all began • Winter of 2007-08 • Not a severe flu season (“pre H1N1”) • Staff from 2 separate Clinics went to Director • Complained about key people taking sick leave • Doubted validity of illness (‘mental health day’ instead?)
Small Group Discussion • What might this be a sign of? • What would you do in response?
What we did about this • Director analyzed staff sick leave over the past 3 years • Found no significant increase in sick leave taken across job titles (approx 7 days/year) • Explored options of ‘what do we do now?’ at Executive Committee level
Decision made to assess employee satisfaction • Initial steps (1) • Identify survey instrument to use • UW-wide “Leadership and Community Values Initiative” • Done in 2006 & 2008 • Existing data to compare ours with
Far reaching topics assessed in LCVI survey • Diversity • Engagement • Fairness • Local Leadership (Clinic level) • Mission/Direction • Outcomes
Far reaching topics assessed in LCVI survey • Respect • Senior Leadership (Administration) • Feeling valued • Career Development • Other (such as satisfaction with salary and benefits)
Initial Steps (2) • Consult with other UW Depts. who have assessed employed satisfaction before • Financial Management Division • Hired outside firm to conduct employee satisfaction survey • “Independent” (Management doesn’t receive raw data) • Also very costly ($8-10,000)
Our plan of action • Director of Health Promotion named lead person to conduct adapted “LCVI” with our staff • ‘Neutral’ perception of me (“like Switzerland”) • Member of HHPCC Executive Committee, but not part of Administration • 8 year employee (at outset)
“Workplace Climate Survey” • Total of 97 questions • 8 of them ‘open-ended’ • Approximately 20 minutes needed to fill out • Staff given time during workday to complete • Online, Completely Anonymous
Timeline • May 2008 Survey administered • July 2008 Data analyzed; responses formulated • August 2008 Results shared with staff • 1 Year + ‘intervention period’ • July 2009 2nd survey given • August 2009 Data analyzed, progress noted • Sept. 2009 Results shared with staff
Sample questions (A)Likert scale (1-5) • “HHPCC’s mission and goals are clearly communicated to staff. “ • “There is effective leadership in my unit.” • “Rewards and recognition are awarded fairly in my unit.” • “I understand why and how decisions are made by HHPCC administration.”
Sample questions (B)Open-ended • “What can HHPCC do to increase your satisfaction as an employee?” • “What do you believe are the core values that should shape our work at HHPCC?” • “What are the key factors that contribute to you staying at HHPCC, or that have made you consider leaving HHPCC?”
Results • 108 out of 130 staff completed survey (83%) • Numerical data compared favorably with UW-wide #s (ie., staff more satisfied at HHPCC) • Rich in ‘essay’ type responses (across the board in terms of critical, complimentary, and ‘other’)
Sample responses • “HHPCC’s mission and goals are clearly communicated to staff. “ • Strongly Agree/Agree = 58% • Neither = 32% • Strongly Disagree/Disagree = 9%
Sample responses • “There is effective leadership in my unit. “ • Strongly Agree/Agree = 64% • Neither = 16% • Strongly Disagree/Disagree = 20%
Sample responses • ““What can HHPCC do to increase your satisfaction as an employee?” • Increasing transparency • Consult with our Unit when it’s involved in high level discussion • A pay raise, and parking paid for! • I am satisfied for the most part
Early conclusions about survey results: “The Good News” • High degree of positive feelings, especially when compared to UW as a whole • Pride in work • Sense of accomplishment • Respect • Work life balance
Early conclusions about survey results: areas for improvement • Communication (‘Senior’ and at Unit level) • Decision-making process (Administration) • Recognition: contributions, accomplishments, and milestones • Leadership (‘Senior’ and at Unit level)
Small Group Discussion • What would you do to address these “areas for improvement”?
Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (1) • Communication • Dissemination of Dept. Heads committee minutes • Intranet for posting wide range of information for staff • Transparency of information—for example, posting survey data • Staff newsletter started (written by Director)
New Mission/Vision/Values statement created • Work group formed in Summer 2008 • Led by ‘yours truly’ • Wide cross-representation of staff (15), in terms of both Depts. and levels • “1st draft” shared widely, open for comments • ‘Near-final draft’ read out/distributed at all-staff mtg. • ‘Finished’ after last comments reviewed
Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (2) • Decision-making process • Director began blog about upcoming major building renovation • Input sought a various levels on this project • More consultation in budgeting process
Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (3) • Recognition of staff • Employee Recognition Committee established (by me) • Positive attention drawn to excellence (small and large) • NOT just at someone’s retirement! • Funding from UW Medical Center Service Excellence budget (private donations)
G.E.M. (Going the Extra Mile) Recognition (accompanied by $3 gift card) • Date:________________________________ • To:__________________________________ • From:_______________________________ • Recognized for:_______________________ _________________________________
Service Excellence Award • Nomination Forms reviewed by the Employee Recognition Committee • Selection ceremony ‘a big deal’ • Hour long, time for staff to socialize • “Executive breakfast” at Faculty Club
Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (4) • Leadership • Taking a lead from UW-wide 2nd LCVI survey… • Focus on raising level of 20+ Clinic/Dept. Head leadership skills through 8-hour training led by outside consultant
Leadership Training topics • Leadership-Best Practices • Understanding and Resolving Conflict • Establishing Performance Expectations • Introducing and Managing Change
2nd survey • Shorter by far…40 vs. 89 questions (less demographic info sought) • Designed to assess change from 2008 as accurately as possible • Added questions designed to assess the 4 initiatives we did to improve in selected areas
Results • Less responses…87 out of 130 (67%), vs. 83% the first time around • Contributing factors…done over summer months (vs. May before); ‘heat wave’ (100 F. +) during survey period; possible discouragement from budget situation
Results: Notable Positives • Pride in work • Mean score 4.20 (2009); 4.25 (2008) • Respect (co-worker) • Mean score 4.09 (2009); 3.96 (2008) • Job satisfaction • Mean score 4.08 (2009); 4.04 (2008)
Improvements (all p < 0.05) • “I understand how my unit’s work contributes to the mission and goals of HHPCC” • Mean score 4.34 (2009); 4.08 (2008) • HHPCC’s mission and goals are clearly communicated to staff • Mean score 3.93 (2009); 3.61 (2008)
Improvements (all p < 0.05) • How satisfied are you with the recognition you receive for the work you do • Mean score 3.70 (2009); 3.42 (2008) • How satisfied are you with the pattern of communication in your unit • Mean score 3.79 (2009); 3.41 (2008)
Declines (all p < 0.005) • Relationships between staff and HHPCC administration are generally positive • Mean score 3.28 (2009); 3.51 (2008) • How satisfied are you with the pattern of communication throughout HHPCC • Mean score 2.81 (2009); 3.08 (2008)
Assessing the 4 initiatives we began to improve selected areas • Communication (‘Senior’ and at Unit level) • Decision-making process (Administration) • Recognition: contributions, accomplishments, and milestones • Leadership (‘Senior’ and at Unit level)
Transparent in explaining the decision-making process to HHPCC staff
Increase the quality and skill of the leadership at my Unit's level
Where to from here? • Keep up with the action plans for the ‘areas needing improvement’ • Meanwhile, try not to let what was going well ‘slip’ • “Time out” from surveying during renovation • Plan to give 3rd survey 6 months after newer/improved building is finished
Why is employee satisfaction important? • Higher amounts of it could lead to… • Greater productivity • Longer period of retention • Higher level of patient care (Minimizing error, maximizing outcome (MEMO project; Linzer, et al @ Univ. of Wisconsin)
Contact Information • Mark Shaw • mshaw@u.washington.edu • (206) 616-8476 • hallhealth.washington.edu/healthpromotion