The Employee Experience – Why Creating Them for Staff Minimizes Threats
Editor’s note: This article was written by guest blogger Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC, a healthcare marketing and experience management expert and expert guide in assisted living for about.com. For more information about the author, please see our About page.
A former nursing home respiratory manager who claimed she was fired for cooperating with a state investigation involving resident deaths at her facility was vindicated by a Michigan court who awarded her $705,000 after only 90 minutes of deliberation.
Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) officials were investigating several serious incidents at Omni Continuing Care, which is operated by Ciena Healthcare Management, in Detroit. The employee was fired after MDCH officials completed the investigation, even though her department did not receive any citations.
Certainly fraud and abuse is something that should not be tolerated or given a blind eye. On the other hand, you have a program like the False Claims Act. The Act is federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies (typically federal contractors) who defraud governmental programs. The law includes a “qui tam” provision that allows people who are not affiliated with the government to file actions on behalf of the government (informally called “whistleblowing”). Persons filing under the Act stand to receive a portion (usually about 15–25%) of any recovered damages. So there is incentive for staff to act.
Turn the page to unionization. The National Labor Relations Board recently proposed new rules that would shorten the lag time between a union petitioning for an election and holding a secret-ballot vote.
A well-run facility where employees are treated with respect and dignity minimizes the likelihood of employees wanting to organize. And it minimizes opportunistic employees wanting to turn over every stone to nail a facility for some violation. (Again, no type of fraud or abuse should be tolerated.)
There is no secret formula here, but here are some things to get you started on creating a good environment and experiences for your employees:
- Conduct employee surveys on an ongoing basis.
- Act on the results of the surveys.
- Communicate openly and transparently with all levels of the organization.
- Involve employees in creating solutions.
- Empower employees to make the right decisions on the spot within the rules and regulations you live under.
- Hire for fit, both IQ and EQ (emotional quotient). Testing job applicants for their emotional intelligence (in the form of psychological-based tests) is a growing trend in employment today. If a worker has high emotional intelligence, he or she is more likely to be able to express his or her emotions in a healthy way, and understand the emotions of those he or she works with, thus enhancing work relationships and performance.
By creating an environment that supports employees, you minimize the threats that can be brought upon an organization through acts of whistleblowing and unionization.
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MacKenzie Kimball
MacKenzie Kimball is a Managing Editor in HCPro's long-term care division. She is the editor of the monthly newsletter PPS Alert for Long-Term Care and the MDS 3.0 Update e-newsletter.
MacKenzie has written 321 posts.
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Comments
Interesting article and thanks for the thoughts. I find this close to employee engagement something I am passionate about. It is about putting emphasis on employees and thus through them on the cutomers.
Great days to you.
Liz
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