Your Voice Counted

Town Meeting Sheds Light on Employee Satisfaction

Wednesday’s Town Meeting detailed the results of BWH’s third Staff Survey, conducted in May. Cheryl Locke, vice president, Human Resources, and Robin Vann Ricca, director of Organ-izational Development, Training and Diversity Management, summarized the valuable feedback gained from this important communication tool.

“The hospital’s commitment to the survey ties into our service-value chain, in which a satisfied and effective staff has a direct correlation to patient satisfaction,” said Locke. “Soliciting feedback from staff and employees, identifying areas for improvement then taking substantive action are the keys to success.”

An impressive 41 percent of BWH’s 11,000-member workforce responded to the survey, making this year’s re-sponse rate the highest yet.

Vann Ricca explained that survey feedback gained from 4,800 employees will be addressed on a departmental level. This is different from the action plans of past surveys when feedback was addressed as a whole. Staff should be hearing results specific to their areas from their departments’ leaders this month.

Some positive overall findings include:
• Job significance, fit and performance expectations;
• Affinity with BWH as a organization;
• Confidence in quality patient care;
• Improvements enhancing service delivery; and
• Teamwork and collaboration.

“Employees have a tremendous amount of pride working at BWH and they harbor a strong confidence in patient safety and the level of care delivered here,” said Vann Ricca.

In general, some room for improvement exists with:
• Effectiveness of immediate supervisor;
• Staff growth and development;
• Upward communication in the work group;
• Perceptions of BWH leadership; and
• Guiding change.

“There remains a clear area of opportunity for BWH leadership to increase awareness and support in their ongoing efforts in leading change in our ever-evolving environment,” said Locke.

Locke and Vann Ricca’s presentation was followed by an open question and answer session in which questions from the audience were fielded by BWH President Gary Gottlieb; Chief Medical Officer Andy Whittemore; and Locke.

To find out more on how you can be involved in Staff Survey follow-up, contact your immediate supervisor or department director.