To Create a Great Sense of Place Takes Rethinking and Rewiring

“Talent follows place.” This is a phrase I often use in my community revitalization work.?It is just as true in healthcare. Creating a great sense of place, one that will attract and retain talent, is especially urgent in this era of staff shortages.

In 1993 at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, the goal was to create a great place for patients to receive care. We were at the bottom of patient satisfaction results as measured by the Press Ganey instrument. At the same time, physicians were telling us we needed to improve care for the patients they admitted to the hospital as well as improving the ease of practicing medicine at the hospital. We were also experiencing staff shortages due to high turnover rates. To solve all three issues, we summed up our goal as “creating a great place for patients to receive care, employees to work, and physicians to practice medicine.” This goal holds as much value today as it did then. The ability to achieve it is the true north for an organization.?

The use of pillars was suggested to support the mission of creating a great place for patients, staff, and physicians. Clay Sherman had already introduced the pillars of?service, quality, people, and?cost.?We borrowed these with his permission. Later when I started at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola in 1996, we changed?cost?to?finance?and added?growth. Over the years, organizations have combined some pillars as well as adding new ones. This is all good.?

The next natural step was to create measurable goals under each pillar. This forced us to assign timing to each action as well as figuring out what “a great place” would look like under each pillar. After the goals were set then the actions (tools and techniques) were implemented to achieve each goal. For example, adding peers to the new employee interview process was intended to reduce early turnover.??

Early on it became evident that to achieve the goals skill development was critical. Skill development had always taken place. What was different was an increased focus on those in a leadership role.??

A common saying is that the one constant is that things are always changing. Is this true? Yes and no. While the external environment, people, tools, and techniques do change, there are items that stay constant. One example is the need to provide a great place for people to receive care. This is accomplished by creating a great place for all people to work. The pillars still make sense. So does the need to set measurable goals and invest in skill development. In fact, with the number of people new to an organization or new in a leadership role these days, skill development is more vital than ever.?

What is not constant are the ways we achieve the goals. While organizations seek to provide the best patient care possible based on the most up-to-date information, clinical trials are always taking place. This does not mean what is currently being done is wrong. There is always a search for better outcomes. The same is true in day-to-day operations.?

My new book,?Rewiring Excellence: Hardwired to Rewired,?asks the question,?When does one look for diverse ways to accomplish a goal??The first?when?is if what is currently being done is not achieving the desired goal. This is a perfect time to relook at what is being done. It is the same thing that’s done when a patient is not achieving expected results with their treatment plan. Rewiring is not about saying what we did in the past was wrong. It is taking a fresh look at what could be done differently based on the current situation.??

What has not changed is people’s desire to work in a place where they feel they belong. What has not changed is people’s wanting to feel they are receiving the best care possible. What is changing is?how?to achieve the best place for both groups. To advance forward, one must leave where they currently are. It can be uncomfortable, but the payoff is worth it.

This is the thinking that went into creating?Rewiring Excellence.?I hope you find the book helpful. To download a free copy, visit?www.HealthcarePlusSG.com. You can also purchase a print copy for $10.00.?

Creating a great sense of place is not easy. However, it is vitally important work. Please feel free to share your insights and outcomes as you make this journey. As always, I would love to hear from you.

My best,

Quint