“ Our biggest ROI came from training our leaders to take specific actions ...
The result was that we had champions everywhere .”
Knowles was using corporate benefits to reinforce the message that Memorial Hermann wanted to hire people with all levels of experience and to assure new employees that “ You are valued from Day 1 .”
As might be expected , CFOs in the System were leery of these new expenses . HR boldly promised a 10 % reduction in turnover costs during the first year to pay for the benefit changes in the future . Knowles worked with System finance to establish agreed upon cost of turnover and cost of hire metrics so results could be measured and reported monthly .
Growth and Development of New Nurses
New nurse graduates were an important part of the staffing answer for the future . However , some hospitals were reluctant to take them on due to cost and time to train . The team quickly saw the need to operationalize a 12-month nurse residency program that included intense mentoring and shadowing for new nurse graduates . To minimize impact on individual facilities , costs of the program were centralized in corporate cost centers .
Leadership Training Was Key
HR developed a comprehensive leadership retention program titled “ Retention Engine .” “ Our biggest ROI came from training our leaders to take specific actions ,” says Knowles . HR did a corporate road show to ensure that every leader in the System was trained on actions they could take to improve first year employee retention . Knowles met with leaders in groups of 10-15 . Senior leadership at Memorial Hermann showed their support for these efforts by including turnover as a key metric in the corporate bonus program that impacted everyone at Memorial Hermann who was a manager or higher . “ The result was that we had champions everywhere ,” Knowles reports .
A Portal Full of Tools
To support leaders throughout the system , HR developed a portal with 15 tools that units could access as needed . Some of the tools included :
• Hire for Fit : A toolkit for managers on how to evaluate and interview job candidates , including all the legal rules managers needed to follow . The toolkit also contained a how-to guide for job shadowing which allowed candidates , especially those in high turnover areas such as ED , ICU , OR , and patient access call areas , to shadow current employees to obtain a first-hand feel for what the job would entail .
• What fills your tank : An assimilation tool that is used prior to the employee ’ s first day on the job . New hires are asked what they are passionate about , their favorite foods and candy , their birthday , etc . This information allows the manager to prepare a customized welcome basket for the employee on their first day of work and provides additional , personal information about the employee that the manager could incorporate in activities throughout the year .
• Onboarding roadmaps : Guidelines for managing the new employee ’ s first few months on the job . This toolkit included recommendations on who the employee should meet with on the first day , additional actions that should occur on the first day , what should happen after 10 days , etc . It also contained a primer on “ 25 ways to help new employees fit in .”
• Stay interviews : Leaders were encouraged to talk regularly with their new employees to help speed up their journey from “ outsider ” to “ insider .” Leaders helped new employees learn their “ solar system ” at Memorial Hermann , enabling them to be more organizationally savvy and nimble . Stay interviews provided a structured method for doing this , providing topics of conversation that are appropriate after the first 90 days , after the first 6 months , etc . At 6 months , leaders are coached to ask new employees the hard questions : – Are there specific reasons that you can think of that would make you leave Memorial Hermann ? – What will keep you here ? – Are we fully using your talents ?
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HealthStream . com / contact • 800.521.0574 • Reprint from JUL 2017 PX Advisor