Human Resources – Staff Engagement

This risk relates to the commitment employees have to the organization and its mission, vision and values. Potential impacts of low staff engagement include employee burnout and lack of resilience, higher absenteeism and turnover, lower job satisfaction, decreased commitment and employee conflict. This document contains information entered by HIROC subscriber healthcare organizations (acute and non-acute) in the Risk Register application to help you in your assessment of this risk.

Key Controls / Mitigation Strategies

  • Culture
    • Foster a culture of recognition, celebrate achievements and successes (e.g., staff recognition program, years of service awards, staff appreciation events)
    • Networking and engagement events (e.g., welcome receptions, retirement celebrations, focus groups, lunch and learns, all-staff forums, town halls)
    • Cultivate a learning culture (e.g., centralized education fund, education assistance grants)
    • Conduct employee, physician and resident engagement and satisfaction surveys, share unit-specific results, action-plans and follow-ups
    • Develop and circulate staff surveys (e.g., culture surveys, ethics survey)
    • Offer staff engagement sessions
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
    • Encourage stakeholder involvement in decision making
    • Create social committees and peer support programs
    • Implement evidence-based leadership support program and leadership development (e.g., coaching, mentorship, multisource feedback review)
    • Increase leadership visibility (e.g., rounding with direct reports, stoplight reports, huddles)
  • Performance Management Strategies
    • Develop, implement, and monitor performance programs at the departmental and program levels for staff (e.g., coaching conversations, goals and objectives sessions)
    • Develop and implement relevant policies, procedures, and protocols (e.g., employee engagement and communications, performance review policy outlining timeframes for performance management and evaluation, sick and personal leave policy, attendance support program, respectful behaviour in the workplace policy)
    • Automate performance review reminders and reports to managers
    • Offer formal performance reviews for physicians
    • Initiate in advance seasonal volume and capacity planning, involving appropriate stakeholders and leveraging learnings from previous years
    • Standardize terms and conditions of employment
    • Update job descriptions and job hazard analysis
    • Standardize roles for staff to ensure role clarity
    • Develop a Competency Framework
    • Enhance career development and succession planning
    • Senior Management Team oversight and outreach to staff post-incidents
    • Benefits plan review, reimbursement for gym memberships, self-care
  • Learning and Education
    • New hire onboarding, orientation, and training
    • Change management training and education (all staff, all levels)
    • Staff training, tools, and education (e.g., Learning Management Systems)
    • Staff training on civility, conflict resolution and managing challenging situations 
    • Quality improvement training and education (e.g., IHI Open School, LEAN apprentice training)
    • Leadership development (e.g., coaching, mentoring)
    • Scholarship awards
  • Communication
    • Enhance channels and modes of communication and increase opportunities for consultation/feedback for staff 
    • Ongoing dialogue between managers and staff
    • Weekly staff communication email blast
    • Video conference tools available to support staff virtually and in real-time 
    • Wall of Inspiration 
    • Inspirational screen savers on organizational computers
  • Health, Safety and Wellness
    • Employee and family assistance program
    • Progressive retirement program
    • Stress management and resilience training 
    • Wellness program psychologist for short-term sessions
    • Family physician on-site service for employees and their families 
    • Mental Health Awareness training, Mental Health First Aid training, Road to Mental Readiness sessions 
    • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder program developed and implemented or referral access to Fatigue Risk Management program
    • Access to external gym services 
    • Improvements to facilities (e.g., staff gym and yoga classes, meditation area)
    • Advocacy to improve access and quality of food at the organization
    • Wellness carts with snacks/ice cream treats, inspirational appreciation cards
    • Self-scheduling 
    • Absenteeism task force 
    • Staff workplace advocate (e.g., advisor/counselor for interpersonal conflict, workplace violence/harassment issues)
    • Establishment of teams with broad representation from the organization’s departments and divisions (e.g., quality work life council, corporate engagement team, staff wellness working group, health and wellness committee); health and wellness champions 
    • Joint health and safety committee activities (e.g., monthly workplace inspections, investigations, recommendations) Health and wellness award, Health workplace month
    • Wellness website, newsletter, workshops/sessions (e.g., mindfulness, stress management, time management, crucial conversations)

Monitoring / Indicators

  • Annual review of employee, physician and resident engagement survey results 
  • Overtime, vacancy, staff turnover, absenteeism rates
  • Quarterly performance management reports to senior leadership team
  • Performance development feedback
  • Leadership practice/reinforcement
  • Tools to measure leader adoption of new strategies
  • Employee wellness indicator on the Balance Scorecard
  • Themes from termination evaluations, exit interviews
  • Formal staff complaints, union grievances by categories, staff safety learning system reports, disrespectful behaviour events 
  • Incident reporting rates
  • Accreditation Canada status
  • Benchmarking performance against similar peers
  • Dashboards (e.g., wellness, HR)