| Internal Communications: Addressing low morale and turnover |
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Company Name: |
Hahnemann University Hospital |
Industry: |
Healthcare |
No. of Employees: |
5,000 |
Location: |
Philadelphia, PA |
Audience: |
All nursing staff |
Business Need: |
A new nursing leadership team came into an environment of low morale and above-average vacancy and turnover. |
Goal: |
To convince nurses that they had the power to improve their environment; get nurses involved in positive change. |
Solution: |
Davis worked with the new Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and other nurse leaders to craft a series of letters sent to nurses' home addresses. The letters asked nurses to take a solutions-oriented attitude to address daily issues. Their suggestions for change were not only welcome, but would be taken seriously.
Subsequent letters highlighted policy changes and improvements that resulted from nurses' suggestions. |
Benefits: |
- Addressed issues that nurses felt strongly about.
- Use of home addresses cut through the clutter of communications that nurses got at the workplace.
- Easy to implement without significant costs.
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Results: |
Hahnemann immediately began to receive suggestions from nurses and the leadership team began implementing the best solutions. Soon, when nurses complained about their workplace, their peers would say, "Let's find a solution" instead of simply commiserating.
Within two years, patient satisfaction increased 10%, nurse vacancies decreased to 1%, and turnover dropped to well below average.
Over the years, the environment has improved so much that Hahnemann is currently pursuing the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet® status. |
Best Practices: |
- Keep communication exchanges open and honest; address concerns directly. Explain why some suggestions cannot be implemented.
- Rather than addressing employees at the workplace where they are busy and deluged with communications about various topics, send communications home where they may receive more attention.
- Send communications at regular intervals. We recommend that you start with every other month, then quarterly. Employees will begin to look forward to them.
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