Assessing Student Health Center Staff Satisfaction (and How to Respond When They Tell You What They REALLY Think?

ACHA Annual Meeting June 3, 2010 Philadelphia, PA

Presenter



Mark Shaw

Director of Health Promotion University of Washington Seattle campus

Goals for workshop

 Participants will … 1) Learn how to design a survey instrument to assess employee satisfaction 2) Understand how to analyze data gathered 3) Formulate a response to the data

University of Washington

 Institution Profile  Largest public university in Northwest region of US  28,570 Undergraduates  11,648 Graduates/Professional  Main campus in Seattle and 2 ‘branch’ campuses (Tacoma and Bothell)

The UW “Quad” in springtime

U of WA Student Health Center (Hall Health Primary Care Center)

 Funded by students (Services and Activity Fee)  Budget of $6,100,000 from SAF Fee  Also see faculty/staff/community members  Insurance/patient fees raises another $5million  130 staff (counting full and part-time)

Hall Health Center

“The building”

Range of Services



Primary care clinics Specialty care clinics

   Primary Care Family Health Women's Health 

Other services

   Travel Immunization Clinic Health Promotion Mental Health Physical Therapy Sports Medicine Employee Health Health Sciences Immunization

How it all began

  Winter of 2007-08 Not a severe flu season (“pre H1N1”)  Staff from 2 separate Clinics went to Director   Complained about key people taking sick leave Doubted validity of illness (‘mental health day’ instead?)

Small Group Discussion

 What might this be a sign of?

 What would you do in response?

What we did about this

 Director analyzed staff sick leave over the past 3 years  Found no significant increase in sick leave taken across job titles (approx 7 days/year)  Explored options of ‘what do we do now?’ at Executive Committee level

Decision made to assess employee satisfaction



Initial steps (1)

 Identify survey instrument to use  UW wide “Leadership and Community Values Initiative”  Done in 2006 & 2008  Existing data to compare ours with

Far reaching topics assessed in LCVI survey

 Diversity  Engagement  Fairness  Local Leadership (Clinic level)  Mission/Direction  Outcomes

Far reaching topics assessed in LCVI survey

 Respect  Senior Leadership (Administration)  Feeling valued  Career Development  Other (such as satisfaction with salary and benefits)

Initial Steps (2)

 Consult with other UW Depts. who have assessed employed satisfaction before 

Financial Management Division

   Hired outside firm to conduct employee satisfaction survey “Independent” (Management doesn’t receive raw data) Also very costly ($8-10,000)

Our plan of action

  Director of Health Promotion named lead person to conduct adapted “LCVI” with our staff ‘Neutral’ perception of me (“like Switzerland”)  Member of HHPCC Executive Committee, but not part of Administration  8 year employee (at outset)

“Workplace Climate Survey”

 Total of 97 questions  8 of them ‘open-ended’  Approximately 20 minutes needed to fill out  Staff given time during workday to complete  Online, Completely Anonymous

Timeline

 May 2008 Survey administered  July 2008 Data analyzed; responses formulated   August 2008 Results shared with staff 1 Year + ‘intervention period’  July 2009 2 nd survey given  August 2009 Data analyzed, progress noted  Sept. 2009 Results shared with staff

Sample questions (A) Likert scale (1-5)

 “HHPCC’s mission and goals are clearly communicated to staff. “  “There is effective leadership in my unit.”  “Rewards and recognition are awarded fairly in my unit.”  “I understand why and how decisions are made by HHPCC administration.”

Sample questions (B) Open-ended

 “What can HHPCC do to increase your satisfaction as an employee?”  “What do you believe are the core values that should shape our work at HHPCC?”  “What are the key factors that contribute to you staying at HHPCC, or that have made you consider leaving HHPCC?”

Results

 108 out of 130 staff completed survey (83%)  Numerical data compared favorably with UW wide #s (ie., staff more satisfied at HHPCC)  Rich in ‘essay’ type responses (across the board in terms of critical, complimentary, and ‘other’)

Sample responses

 “

HHPCC’s mission and goals are clearly communicated to staff. “



Strongly Agree/Agree = 58%



Neither = 32%



Strongly Disagree/Disagree = 9%

Sample responses

 “There is effective leadership in my unit. “ 

Strongly Agree/Agree = 64%



Neither = 16%



Strongly Disagree/Disagree = 20%

Sample responses

 ““What can HHPCC do to increase your satisfaction as an employee?”  

Increasing transparency Consult with our Unit when it’s involved in high level discussion



A pay raise, and parking paid for!



I am satisfied for the most part

Early conclusions about survey results: “The Good News”



High degree of positive feelings, especially when compared to UW as a whole



Pride in work



Sense of accomplishment



Respect



Work life balance

Early conclusions about survey results: areas for improvement



Communication (‘Senior’ and at Unit level)



Decision-making process (Administration)



Recognition: contributions, accomplishments, and milestones



Leadership (‘Senior’ and at Unit level)

Small Group Discussion

 What would you do to address these “

areas for improvement”

?

Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (1)



Communication



Dissemination of Dept. Heads committee minutes

 

Intranet for posting wide range of information for staff Transparency of information —for example, posting survey data



Staff newsletter started (written by Director)

New Mission/Vision/Values statement created

  Work group formed in Summer 2008 Led by ‘yours truly’     Wide cross-representation of staff (15), in terms of both Depts. and levels “1 st draft” shared widely, open for comments ‘Near-final draft’ read out/distributed at all staff mtg.

‘Finished’ after last comments reviewed

Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (2)



Decision-making process

 Director began blog about upcoming major building renovation  Input sought a various levels on this project  More consultation in budgeting process

Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (3)



Recognition of staff



Employee Recognition Committee established (by me)

 

Positive attention drawn to excellence (small and large) NOT just at someone’s retirement!



Funding from UW Medical Center Service Excellence budget (private donations)



G.E.M. (Going the Extra Mile) Recognition

(accompanied by $3 gift card) 

Date:________________________________



To:__________________________________



From:_______________________________



Recognized for:_______________________ _________________________________

Service Excellence Award

 Nomination Forms reviewed by the

Employee Recognition Committee

 Selection ceremony ‘a big deal’  Hour long, time for staff to socialize  “Executive breakfast” at Faculty Club

Action plans for ‘Areas of improvement’ (4)



Leadership

 Taking a lead from UW-wide 2 nd survey… LCVI  Focus on raising level of 20+ Clinic/Dept. Head leadership skills through 8-hour training led by outside consultant

Leadership Training topics

 Leadership-Best Practices  Understanding and Resolving Conflict  Establishing Performance Expectations  Introducing and Managing Change

2

nd

survey

 Shorter by far…40 vs. 89 questions (less demographic info sought)  Designed to assess change from 2008 as accurately as possible  Added questions designed to assess the 4 initiatives we did to improve in selected areas

Results

 Less responses…87 out of 130 (67%), vs. 83% the first time around  Contributing factors…done over summer months (vs. May before); ‘heat wave’ (100 F. +) during survey period; possible discouragement from budget situation

Results: Notable Positives



Pride in work



Mean score 4.20 (2009); 4.25 (2008)



Respect (co-worker)



Mean score 4.09 (2009); 3.96 (2008)



Job satisfaction



Mean score 4.08 (2009); 4.04 (2008)

Improvements (all p < 0.05)



“I understand how my unit’s work contributes to the mission and goals of HHPCC”



Mean score 4.34 (2009); 4.08 (2008)



HHPCC’s mission and goals are clearly communicated to staff



Mean score 3.93 (2009); 3.61 (2008)

Improvements (all p < 0.05)



How satisfied are you with the recognition you receive for the work you do



Mean score 3.70 (2009); 3.42 (2008)



How satisfied are you with the pattern of communication in your unit



Mean score 3.79 (2009); 3.41 (2008)

Declines (all p < 0.005)



Relationships between staff and HHPCC administration are generally positive



Mean score 3.28 (2009); 3.51 (2008)



How satisfied are you with the pattern of communication throughout HHPCC



Mean score 2.81 (2009); 3.08 (2008)

Assessing the 4 initiatives we began to improve selected areas



Communication (‘Senior’ and at Unit level)



Decision-making process (Administration)



Recognition: contributions, accomplishments, and milestones



Leadership (‘Senior’ and at Unit level)

Increase communication from Administration to HHPCC staff

Communication

40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neither Agree nor Disagree (%) Disagree (%) Strongly Disagree (%) Aware of effort Has been improvement

Increase the recognition of the HHPCC staff

Recognition

50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neither Agree nor Disagree (%) Disagree (%) Aware of efforts Has been improvement Strongly Disagree (%)

Transparent in explaining the decision making process to HHPCC staff Transparent in explaining decision-making process

40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neither Agree nor Disagree (%) Disagree (%) Aw are of effort Has been improvement Strongly Disagree (%)

Increase the quality and skill of the leadership at my Unit's level Leadership

40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Strongly Agree (%) Agree (%) Neither Agree nor Disagree (%) Disagree (%) Strongly Disagree (%) Aware of efforts Has been improvement

Where to from here?

 Keep up with the action plans for the ‘areas needing improvement’  Meanwhile, try not to let what was going well ‘slip’  “Time out” from surveying during renovation  Plan to give 3 rd survey 6 months after newer/improved building is finished

Why is employee satisfaction important?

 Higher amounts of it could lead to…  Greater productivity  Longer period of retention  Higher level of patient care (Minimizing error, maximizing outcome (MEMO project; Linzer, et al @ Univ. of Wisconsin)

Contact Information



Mark Shaw

 [email protected]

 (206) 616-8476  hallhealth.washington.edu/healthpromotion