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Secrets of healthcare's best companies to work for

By Stephanie Bouchard

Fortune magazine recently released its annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Healthcare companies nabbed 17 slots. What is their secret to creating a workplace that makes employees want to stay and makes their companies the ones for which job seekers aim? Healthcare Finance News reached out to those companies to find out.

Of those responding, one thing stood out: The importance of listening to their employees and responding to them.

“If you want your company to be a place where everyone wants to work, start by listening to your current staff,” said Scott Beck, president and chief operations officer at CHG Healthcare Services, ranked number nine on Fortune’s list. “Focus on employee feedback and creating a culture of trust based on frequent, transparent two-way communication. This helps build engagement, contributing to higher productivity and lower turnover, and eventually leading to an increase in employee referrals and a decrease in recruiting costs. Moreover, happy people drive profitability by sticking around, building strong relationships with customers and delivering premium service.”

“You have to inspire the best in people, and you do that by creating an environment that puts people first,” said Linda Matzigkeit, chief administrative officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which ranked number 49. “We spend a lot of time asking our employees, ‘What do you need to be successful?’ We determine what they need and commit the time, resources and leadership needed to supporting and developing those needs.”

“As leaders at (Southern Ohio Medical Center, #36), we make it a priority to share back what we do with employee ideas and suggestions, even if the answer is that we cannot implement the idea,” said Vicki Noel, the medical center’s vice president of human resources and organizational development. “Employee feedback is a gift and we realize that if given that gift, we need to respond to it.”

Listening to and responding to employees may be the common denominator at the healthcare companies that made Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list but there are more secrets these companies have to share. Here are a few:

• Make being a best workplace a top strategic goal said Rochelle Crollard, associate administrator of human resources at the Everett Clinic (#87). “We have strong clinic leadership who have placed staff satisfaction as a top priority,” she said. “We want staff to know they are the source of our success and we are focused and committed to being a best workplace.”
• Have great managers, added Crollard. “Having great managers is essential to being a great workplace,” she said. “A good boss is important to employees, so we are careful with our selection.”
• Hire great people, said Mike Rude, vice president of human resources at Stryker (#80). “We have a strong culture, and we’re selective in our hiring processes to make sure that we find, hire and retain highly talented people,” he said. “The secret to a great workplace is finding and cultivating a staff that genuinely want to make a difference,” added Jeff Frazier, corporate vice president of human resources at Novo Nordisk (#43).
• Support your employees. “Healthcare employees have a very difficult job today,” said Chris Van Gorder, president and chief executive officer of Scripps Health (#56). “The patients are sicker, the complexity of technology is increasing and it is emotional and frequently stressful.” Employers can support their employees by recognizing and rewarding staff, creating and providing educational and career opportunities and offering programs that provide emotional and financial assistance.
• Be transparent. “It is also very important to have open communications throughout every level of the organization and have an open door policy,” said Debbie Dobrina, human resources manager at Atlantic Health System (#65).

Striving to be a best workplace is an ongoing effort, said Mary Anna Quinn, senior vice president of support operations and human resources at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (#39). “It’s vital to have focus and perseverance. Even though this type of positive change can take a few years, it has to be a priority for organizations,” she said. “It’s most effective to have people focused on improving the work environment in big and small ways. It’s hard work and easy to give up, but the people – patients and employees – are worth the effort.”

Follow HFN associate editor Stephanie Bouchard on Twitter @SBouchardHFN.

 

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