Healthcare Organization: Making Care Easier Through a Culture of Recognition

Situation

With almost 50,000 employees, this healthcare system wanted to ensure that their employees felt cared for while also connecting to their mission: Making healthcare easier, so life can be better. But there was not a system-wide, online recognition program that could be accessed by all employees.

“The more we can demonstrate that employees are important, the more that will reflect upon the people who come and use our facilities.”
—CEO, Healthcare organization

While there were homegrown programs that were used around their hundreds of different locations, recognition was never centralized or went beyond the four walls of a specific location. There was also no way for their over 5,000 volunteers to be recognized for their contributions. “We get many comments every week from customers who really appreciate their caregivers,” says their Chief Human Resources Officer, “and wonder if it’s going to get to the right person.” The organization needed a recognition program that would make it easy to recognize employees and volunteers all over the company, whether they were in the next room or in the next state.

Solution

‍By partnering with O.C. Tanner, the healthcare organization found a way to easily and effectively recognize employees and teams across every department and location. By implementing a new recognition program, everyone has the opportunity to recognize and appreciate one another and connect great work back to the organization’s core values.

The organization also wanted to put that same power of appreciation into the hands of those they serve, their valued customers. Appreciation Stations were set up inside several of their facilities for customers, family members, and friends to recognize their caregivers directly by writing notes of thanks.

Results

The organization is now a place where customers and their families can feel a culture of appreciation the moment they walk in the doors. “Today, I think what is occurring, we are now seeing this becoming part of the fabric of the organization, rather than some add-on project, some add-on tactic,” says their CEO and President. “It’s now starting to filter out into the organization as an expectation of our culture. Over 20,000 ecards are now sent each month throughout the organization, to employees and volunteers who have been recognized for making a difference in the lives of their customers and community.‍

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Outcomes are everything.
‍We'd love to share what we have helped this healthcare organization and thousands of other companies achieve. Reach out to us to start your employee recognition journey.