Adrian Gostick

If you had employee satisfaction levels at the 92nd percent nationally, would you be looking to improve? Keith Steffen is.

I had a chance this week to present to the 300 senior leaders of the Order of Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois. This 6,000-person hospital system is typically ranked among the best in the nation for patient outcomes, but I was interested in how Chief Administrator Keith Steffen and his team get such amazing engagement scores.

Keith and his VP of HR Lynn Gillespie invited me in because, like most organizations, their employee survey scores on recognition were lower than they wanted. Their recognition ratings are above average for the nation, but they knew that if they could impact recognition positively they could maintain and even improve their employee engagement scores and resulting care for their patients.

As we began the meeting, Keith had some powerful things to say about appreciating their employees. “A simple thank you means so much, but often we leaders get busy and forget the little things. But everyone wants to be acknowledged for their hard work.” Wouldn’t you want to work for a CEO like that?

Keith went on to explain that effective recognition has key takeaways for our employees. It:

1. Helps align employee behaviors with key strategic initiatives
2. Improves employee retention (still a big issue in healthcare)
3. Allows employees to understand the role they play in the organization’s success
4. Reinforces positive behaviors
5. Provides a tangible reminder for the employee to take home to their families
6. Makes leaders more visible to their people
7. Re-recruits the next generation of healthcare leaders

Keith admitted, as a type-A personality, he had to teach himself Carrot behaviors. “I had to learn to look up in the halls, greet people, to look for positives,” he said. “But now I meet patients and ask them about their care. They’ll say to me, you need to meet my nurse. So I go and find the nurse and let them know what their patient said about them. Looking for positives is a learned behavior.”

Looking for positives is a learned behavior. I thought that bore repeating.

Now wherever I go, there is always a great manager or two who excels at appreciation. OSF had more than its share. Cassy Horack runs OSF’s Safety Department. She received one of the highest scores from her employees for recognition on the 2009 employee survey.

What is Cassy’s secret? She recognizes her teammates with thank you notes that she writes daily, but Cassy also recognizes other employees who exemplify safety values. Every day in huddles in various departments, Cassy finds a reason to recognize a nurse, lab tech, or other employee who has gone above-and-beyond to keep safe the hospital and those they serve.

As we closed the day of Carrots training, Keith offered this comment. “There are a lot of things that need to be cut in this economy, but recognition is not among them. I ask you to hold me accountable. Send me the names of people you want to acknowledge, and I’ll write them notes. Let’s reward the heck out of anyone who is going above-and-beyond for our organization.”

Ninety two percent in Peoria, and getting better.

As life is full of good days and bad, happy and sad, we all need encouragement and feedback to keep us upbeat, energized, and at the end of the day, feeling good about who we are and what we do. This is why sincere and defined recognition is so important to our culture and our work place environment.”
—Keith Steffen