Town Meeting Spotlights Staff Survey- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Town Meeting Spotlights Staff Survey- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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March 30, 2001
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In This Issue:
Town Meeting Spotlights Staff Survey
Town Meeting Q and A
April Calendar
Obituary: Jeanette White Rukstalis
Red Sox Ticket Sale
The Survey Action Teams shared the spotlight at the first Town Meeting of 2001, which was held on Monday, March 26. Moderator Cheryl Locke, vice president of Human Resources, opened the meeting by explaining how the teams were created after the results of the first-ever Staff Survey, held in the spring of 1999. The Survey provides the groundwork for improving employee satisfaction, which ultimately leads to improved patient satisfaction. Locke also discussed improvements that the survey results helped to identify—including new manager training sessions, enhanced employee orientation, the employee referral bonus program and more—and added that the next survey is currently scheduled to begin in September of 2001. Martha Pyle Farrell, director, Special Projects, introduced the five Survey Action Teams—Quality Patient Care/Customer Service, Communication, Leadership, Respect and Teamwork. According to Farrell, data from the Survey suggests that less than half of BWH Staff believed that the results would be acted on and the same percentage felt that staff are not involved in making changes within BWH. More than 100 employees saw the teams as an opportunity to use the Survey data to make change and dedicate between four and six hours a month on various projects. “This process took a lot of effort and dedication from many people, and it’s been a very satisfying experience for all of us,” said Farrell. “Many proposals were developed in a broad range of areas, including communication, training and development, orientation process, interdepartmental meetings and the performance appraisal process. We’re continuing to implement these proposals as we want to make sure the improvements that are proposed are long-lasting.” The following team leaders presented the progress of the five Action Teams created to follow up on the Staff Survey results. Deedee Mariano and Wendy Gondek presented on behalf of the Respect team; Jeff Pike for the Leadership team; Stephanie Swistak for the Communication team; Becky Trask for the Quality Patient Care/ Customer Service team and Michael Fraai on behalf of the Teamwork team. Before the floor was opened up to questions, BWH President Jeffrey Otten spoke on the Teams’ progress, and its importance in retaining employees in the current work force. “At one time, health care was a calling, and we have to get it back to that level,” said Otten, “Here, we’re making incremental progress on issues that will make our lives and the lives of our colleagues better. This requires continuous effort. We’re also very committed to working with the city to encourage local students to come to work at BWH after they graduate, which will benefit the city and the community as well as us.”