You made it to the last chapter. Wow! You’ve stuck with us this far, and we’d like to reward you by taking you through some conclusions about what we’ve discussed so far—namely, why employee engagement matters so much, and how this topic has inspired us to take this journey with you.
First, though, a little story: A few years ago, Paul invited Britt to speak in front of a BerylHealth-sponsored conference in Dallas. A little time had passed since our original meeting, and the two of us were becoming fast friends, especially because we were both so passionate about the topic of employee engagement. Anyway, picture the scene: a room packed with people, everyone from senior executives to marketing and communications folks, all there to hear Britt talk. Before he did, though, Paul came up to the podium to introduce him. And, in between all the kind words he had to say about Britt, he kind of lost his way somewhat: While Paul meant to say that he and Britt shared a similar mind-set or even that they were kindred spirits, what he actually said was, “Britt and I are soul mates.”
Now, fortunately this statement, which resulted in quite a few hoots and hollers that day, didn’t get us in trouble with our wives. The truth is, though, that despite some merciless heckling in the years since, we have come to admit there is quite a bit of truth to Paul’s statement—especially as it applies to the contents of the book you hold before you.
Ultimately, we sat down together to write this book because we want to change the world of health care. We’re not the only ones on such a mission, of course. But in our opinion, there are thousands more of our “soul mates” out there who believe that employees should come first. These soul mates are seeking a voice that speaks to them and an opportunity to share their stories and rub shoulders with other like-minded leaders.
Let’s face facts: Health care hasn’t advanced as fast and as far as other industries in recent years. And maybe that’s because of the serious consequences that come from making change when people’s lives are at stake. We are facing some unimaginable challenges, and it’s time to rethink how we go about running our health care organizations. It’s time to consider doing things in a way that they have never been done before.
According to Wayne Lerner, CEO of Holy Cross Hospital, his son said it best:
He was ten years old when he said, “Dad, I think I know how to succeed in business. It’s all about the Golden Rule.” I told him that he is exactly right. If you treat people like human beings, they’ll give it back to you.
My dad died at fifty-nine. He was a small businessman. He had an accounting firm. People would come into his office and Dad could tell someone no, but they would still shake his hand before they walked out the door. It’s all about how you were brought up.
And that’s the Golden Rule: Treat someone how you would like to be treated. That means we won’t be able to fix the problems in health care by homing in on the details of reimbursement, balance sheets, and cost cutting. These kinds of technical tasks will always be a challenge, no matter what kind of business you run. By looking at the financials alone as the root of the problem, though, we’re taking our eyes off the real ball. We are forgetting to consider how we ought to treat one another and how that might affect the success of our business.
That’s why we as an industry need to get back to the basics of building employee engagement, driving core values, and pursuing what Paul and Britt call a “higher power.” To us, the phrase higher power means many things—everything from our spiritual faith to the love of our families and friends to the deeper purpose we find in our work. Let’s face it: Working in health care is hard. You need to put in too many hours for too little pay. But that doesn’t keep people from being drawn to it. Choosing a career in health care is about much more than how big your paycheck is and how hard you have to work. You choose this field only if helping people fits into your personal purpose, if you feel that giving back shapes your legacy and what you leave behind. Steve Moreau, CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital of Orange, describes the motivation to work in health care as a series of “sacred encounters”:
Sacred encounters is a description of the kind of experience we want people to feel when they’re here with us. But those experiences don’t come from a religious perspective per se. They come from trying to describe a deeper connection with people, trying to make a difference not only to our patients but also in how people treat one another.
That’s why health care executives and workers tend not to go through major midcareer changes the way folks who work in other industries do. Rather than switch jobs, though, we tend to burn out instead.
While burnout in the health care field is a sad truth, we choose to focus on the uplifting side of it: People who work in health care are driven to make a difference, and the legacy they leave behind is the long list of people’s lives they have touched. Have you ever seen the movie Saving Private Ryan, the World War II film starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon? We’re not going to ruin the plot for those of you who haven’t seen it, but get out there and rent it; you’ll thank us later. After watching it, spend some time reflecting on the scene at the end, where an older man asks his wife if he was a good man and if he had lived a good life. This scene is a sure tearjerker, but more than that, it’s precisely the kind of thing we’re talking about. When you look back at the life you have led, at home and at work, how do you want to feel?
When we think about our legacy as leaders, we want to look back and say, “Yes, I did as much as I could to touch the lives of those who worked with me.” Don’t you want to say this, too? Knowing you accomplished this goal means much more in life than simply balancing a budget or maximizing profits. Sure, these are important parts of what you do as a leader of your organization. Sure, driving higher employee engagement will also drive better financial performance. But in our opinion, focusing on the numbers shouldn’t be the driving purpose behind why you do things.
Dr. David Feinberg, CEO of UCLA Health System, told us:
We are in the business of taking care of people. It doesn’t matter if you are a doctor, a nurse, or a janitor, or if you carry a leadership title, we all must champion and execute on the common goal of coming in every day to make sure we take care of our next patient.
That brings us back around to the point of this book: Building a culture of engagement within your organization is your way as a leader to leave an incredibly powerful legacy—one that will positively influence the lives of everyone you work with, now and into the future. Remember, we’ve written this book (and picked its provocative title) as a way to drive better experiences for our patients. After all, that’s why we’re all in the health care field in the first place.
If you’ve come along with us this far, you’ll know that we’ve covered lots of different topics in terms of how to build an organizational culture that drives employee engagement. But where does your organization stand on these issues? Have you just been reading along and nodding and saying, “Yup, we do that,” and, “Yes, that sounds like my organization all right.” Really? Are you sure? Let’s be honest here and try to take an objective look at things. In fact, what would happen if you gave your associates a test of sorts that allows them to score how well the organization fosters employee engagement? Do you think they would give your organization the same score as you would?
To help you do just that, we’ve come up with the following self-assessment tool, which will determine your Culture IQ™ (or CIQ) score. Rather than just taking a guess at what level of employee engagement you think you have in your organization, you can use this easy and effective tool to find out where your organization actually ranks in terms of engagement.
Take five minutes to complete the following ten-question test, and encourage others in your organization to do the same. (You may notice something familiar about the ten questions: They loosely mirror the ten chapters you’ve just read.) Please rate each question on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being lowest and 10 being highest. In other words:
1 = We suck at this.
5 = We’re headed in the right direction.
10 = We are rock stars!
Add up the total of your responses, and that’s your CIQ score. Go ahead, take it!
Now, in terms of evaluating your results after you’ve added up your score, we thought the following scale might be of use to you:
0–30: Think about a career change.
31–50: Don’t worry; there’s hope.
51–75: You’re on the right path—keep at it!
76–90: Consider yourselves special. Now keep it up!
91–100: Really? We’ll take your word for it.
Look, if you’re really interested in applying the power of CIQ in your organization, you’re going to need to be honest when you take the test. So, if you gave yourself a score that landed somewhere between 0 and 30—try again. Were you being too harsh about your organization? Same goes if you scored above 90. If your organization is that great, how come we haven’t heard of you? (Okay, maybe your organization really is that good. If so, get in touch!)
If you’d like to find out how your associates would score your organization, feel free to make copies of the sample test we have included in the appendix. Or you can take the test online at http://www.patientscomesecond.com, where we will also be posting the scores from other organizations so you can see how you and your team stack up. Who doesn’t enjoy a little competition, right?
More important, using a tool like the CIQ score enables you and your associates to step outside the box…to think different and reconsider what everyone thinks they’re supposed to do…to go for the chance of truly understanding the people you work with and what drives them. Then you can put yourself in line for the ultimate payday: delivering meaningful care to those who need it, an accomplishment that will far outstrip the value of your paycheck. Even so, don’t build the kind of culture we describe in this book just for others; do it for yourself. You—and your patients—will be so happy you did.
Yes, things are changing all around us. But what if you began to see these changes as opportunities instead of threats? As Elliot Joseph, CEO of Hartford Healthcare, told us:
This is clearly the most exciting time in my career, and I know at the same time a lot of my colleagues think it’s the most uncertain time in our careers. I choose to see this as a historic moment of great opportunity and great excitement.
We understand that you might be nervous to undertake this journey. But you won’t have to go it alone. Our goal in writing this book also includes building a community that will help stimulate and advance the conversation when it comes to the topic of employee engagement in health care organizations. Visit our website anytime for more information and leads on other leaders near you whom you can befriend, or reach out to us by picking up the phone or writing an e-mail. We would love to hear from you, and we promise to respond immediately!
We’re all in this together, folks, and we look forward to sharing the ride with you. Let’s enjoy the journey and make it an adventure. It’s going to be fun.