NURS 6221: Managing Human Resources | Week 8

Working with phenomenal people on some of the toughest and most interesting business problems in the world [is a pro of working with Bain & Company]. You are constantly being pushed to improve and expand your skills and somehow finding room for a lot of fun [with] your co-workers.

— Consultant for Bain & Company, Glassdoor, Inc’s 2012 #1 Best Places To Work

To prepare for today’s challenging health care environment, health care organizations need employees who are energized with a passion for their work. Finding and keeping exemplary employees is one of the keys to running an effective unit, department, or organization. Given the critical shortage of health care workers, retaining employees is one of the more important responsibilities of nurse managers. In fact, some have called nurse managers the “chief retention officers” of organizations. What type of working environment encourages employees to stay? How can nurse managers foster relationships that engender a sense of satisfaction and engagement in employees similar to that expressed in the above quote?

In Week 7, you began exploring the elements that create a positive workplace. This week builds on those concepts as you explore how positive workplaces can facilitate a culture of engagement. Discussion: Creating a Culture of Engagement Nursing Essay

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Assess workplaces for cultures of engagement
• Analyze interventions that positively improve workplace culture
• Evaluate the correlation between workplace culture and organizational commitment
• Analyze the impact of intrinsic motivators on professional fulfillment
• Evaluate the impact of intrinsic motivators on professional performance

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings NURS 6221: Week 8: Creating a Culture of Engagement Paper

Manion, J. (2011). From management to leadership: Strategies for transforming health care (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Chapter 3, “Building Commitment: Inspiring Others to Follow” (pp. 69–114)This chapter focuses on inspiring commitment in the workplace. The author differentiates between commitment and compliance and lists the different kinds of organizational commitment.

Fasoli, D. R. (2010). The culture of nursing engagement: A historical perspective. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 34(1), 18–29. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Fasoli’s article evaluates the history of work engagement and its effect on nurse retention. The author analyzes the history and modern use of work engagement and explores how these are used as a framework for creating a culture of nursing engagement.

Shantz, A., & Latham, G. (2011). The effect of primed goals on employee performance: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management, 50(2), 289–299. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This study analyzes the effects of subconscious motivation on job performance. The results reveal that someone’s subconscious can be primed to accomplish job-related goals and that HR professionals can use this to their benefit.

Vlachoutsicos, C. A. (2011). How to cultivate engaged employees. Harvard Business Review, 89(9), 123–126. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article tells the reader how to make the most out of engaged employees in the workplace. The author provides and supports with real-life examples six steps that readers can use to help them achieve their goals.

Wisotzkey, S., Bell, T. D., & Grim, R. (2011). Connect and engage for better nurse retention. Nursing Management, 42(10), 14–18. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

The authors of this article examine the components of successful nurse retention. Their study reveals that social connectivity and positive psychology are the foundations of successful retention and that nurse managers can use these to make informed decisions about hiring employees.

Document: Creating a Culture of Engagement: Employee Survey (RTF document)

Document: Creating a Culture of Engagement: Management Survey (RTF document)

Required Media

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Creating a culture of engagement. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 20 minutes.

This week’s presenter discusses best practices for creating a culture of retention.

Discussion: Creating a Culture of Engagement Nursing Essay

[T]he way to create a culture of retention is, in fact, to create a culture of engagement and contribution.

—Jo Manion (2004, p. 30)

When employees feel engaged and motivated, they are often more committed to an organization. Organizational commitment is broadly defined as an employee’s intent to stay with the organization. Nurse managers can have significant influence on an organization’s culture and thereby on employee engagement and commitment.

To prepare

• Select one of the following perspectives and complete the corresponding survey for this Discussion. Do not look at the scoring directions until after you have completed the evaluation.
  • If you hold or have held a management position in your recent or present workplace, access the document, “Creating a Culture of Engagement: Manager Survey,” found in this week’s Learning Resources.
  • If you have yet to hold a management position, or would prefer to answer the survey from the perspective of an employee, access the document, “Creating a Culture of Engagement: Employee Survey,” found in this week’s Learning Resources.
• After you have completed the survey, reflect on the results. Based on score breakdown, select the culture cluster you consider the most critical to address in this workplace. Then, review this week’s media, “Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Development.” What strategies could you, as a nurse manager, employ to address this cluster?
• Consider how this culture facilitates or negates your feelings of organizational commitment.

By Day 3

Post an evaluation of a recent or past workplace by sharing the total score of your survey. Explain whether this score accurately captures the culture of this workplace. Identify the culture cluster that you consider the most critical to address, and suggest at least one intervention you could initiate to effectively change this aspect of the workplace’s culture. Explain how this culture encouraged or diminished your feelings of organizational commitment.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

• Find a colleague whose critical culture cluster is one of your stronger ones. Share a strategy for strengthening this aspect of his or her culture.
• Use authentic experiences and this week’s Learning Resources to evaluate a colleague’s intervention, offering suggestions and insights.
• Assess a colleague’s workplace. Applying what you know about your own intrinsic motivators, explain why this workplace would or would not be a good fit for you. Discussion: Creating a Culture of Engagement Nursing Essay

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION;

Discuss creating a culture of engagement in nursing

Introduction

If you’re a nurse, it’s likely that you want to improve the health care outcomes for your patients. But how can you do this? You might be surprised to learn that creating a culture of engagement is one of the best ways to achieve this goal. In fact, research shows that organizations with higher levels of employee engagement have better patient outcomes than those without. Here’s how you can use this strategy:

Create an atmosphere of recognition and celebration

A strong culture of engagement is one that recognizes its members for their hard work and celebrates their accomplishments.

Celebration can be simple or formal: a simple thank you for an accomplishment, or a more formal award recognizing top achievers in the organization. The key is to keep it simple, but make sure your celebration inspires people to do more.

Celebrating achievements and recognizing achievement are key to building a strong culture of engagement. But don’t stop there think about other ways you can celebrate your employees’ successes, such as by hosting a company-wide party or giving out gift cards for outstanding work.

Take employee engagement to the next level

Employee engagement is a key factor in employee retention, satisfaction and productivity. It’s also an important component of overall business performance.

To ensure your workplace culture is aligned with the values you want to instill in your employees, it’s critical that you create an environment where everyone feels valued and respected. When employees feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves and when they understand how their work contributes to the goals and objectives of the organization they will be more likely to stay on board with your mission as well as provide exemplary service when needed.

Empower your employees

• Empower your employees. One of the best ways to create a culture of engagement is to give employees the tools and resources they need to do their job, while also encouraging them to take ownership of their work. When an employee feels valued and supported, they’re more likely to be engaged in what they do, as well as excited about being at work every day.

• Share information with employees about what is happening within your organization so that everyone knows where they fit into it all (e.g., “We’re going through some restructuring here at XYZ Healthcare.”). This can help reduce uncertainty for new hires who may not understand exactly what’s going on with them yet—and will likely stick around longer once they understand!

Cultivate a culture of appreciation

Another way to create a culture of engagement is by cultivating a culture of appreciation. While this may seem like it’s an obvious step, it can often be overlooked. If you’re looking for ways to recognize your employees and make them feel appreciated, consider the following:

• Create an environment where employees are valued and appreciated for their hard work.

• Make sure that your employees know how much they’re valued by creating opportunities for them to express themselves (e.g., through employee awards or recognition ceremonies).

• Be sincere when offering praise don’t just say what you think people want to hear!

Creating a culture of engagement is key to improving health care outcomes.

A culture of engagement is key to improving health care outcomes. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it mean?

• Employee engagement is the ability of employees to identify with the mission and values of their employer. The more engaged you are as an employee, the better prepared you are to make decisions that help your organization succeed. This can be simple things like knowing how much time people spend on social media during work hours or whether they’re interested in learning new skills or it could mean something more complex like understanding how your company values diversity or having access to an open-door policy for workers who need guidance on issues affecting them personally or professionally (e.g., family medical leave).

• Engaged employees tend to perform better at work because they’re happier with their jobs; this leads them onto more productive paths than those who aren’t engaged at all! Studies have shown that organizations with higher levels of employee engagement have lower turnover rates than those without such policies/practices implemented widely across all levels within their organizations.”

Conclusion

Creating a culture of engagement is key to improving health outcomes. It starts with recognizing that nurses are more than just employees they’re part of the team. By empowering them and cultivating an atmosphere of appreciation, you’ll increase their likelihood of staying on board with the organization long term.