All hospitals aim to make patients healthier and happier. For this not-for-profit health system with four award-winning hospitals and more than 200 sites, making sure their employees are thriving is one of the key components of making patients healthier and happier.
With this as a driving goal, this health system created one of the industry’s most innovative employee wellbeing programs. Its implementation helped this health system exceed state and national success rates time and again.
This health system’s wellbeing program was launched with executive leadership support as a key part of their overarching engagement, culture, and business strategy. From the very beginning, not only was it the right thing to do, but they believed the employee experience would drive the patient experience. Helping employees reduce stress, combat burnout, sleep better, and improve their general health and wellbeing means they’re able to provide the best care possible for each patient that comes through their doors.
Personify Health played an essential role in supporting and amplifying a employee wellbeing efforts.
Opportunity
A Wide-Ranging Program
Since this health system’s wellbeing program launched in 2008, the organization sought to increase employee happiness, optimism, and resilience by following evidence-based best practices.
“We employ next and best practices from worksite health promotion resources such as behavior change models and positive psychology — and those developed in-house through trial and error,” says the health system’s organizational health and wellbeing director. “We want employees to know that we trust them to prioritize their wellbeing and that they feel supported at every point of their wellness journey.
Foremost among these best practices is “boots on the ground.” Each of the health system’s four hospitals, shared services, campus and medical groups has a dedicated team of coaches and coordinators. The wellbeing program team provides personalized support to individual employees, groups, departments, and campuses for all areas of wellbeing.
For example, if a department goes through an adverse patient event and wants extra support, the wellbeing team might coordinate a session where staff can talk to a chaplain and feel heard and supported. Their well-loved program allows their employees to try new things and potentially find new hobbies that can help manage stress more effectively. Onsite fitness centers and classes support physical fitness and healthy eating. The wellbeing program also includes massage days, health fairs, cooking classes, and additional programs to promote social connection and support, such as meet- up groups for gardeners, moms, and hikers. They also encourage community involvement through local partners and the health system’s fundraising foundation.
“We know that employees who are thriving in multiple areas of wellbeing and maintaining joy in their work have more energy and resilience while providing amazing care to our patients. Plus, taking care of our greatest asset is simply the right thing to do.”
Solution
Why Personify Health?
“We switched from our previous provider to Personify Health’s platform to add high-tech to our high-touch program, and to enhance the feeling of ‘systemness.’ In other words, we use Personify Health to help us drive a common culture, shared values, and similar wellness experience across our campuses,” explains the director.
The health system selected the Personify Health platform because it is evidence-based, reflects the same multi-faceted wellness philosophy, and caters to their 24-hour workforce with the flexibility of a robust mobile app. They were also excited to bring additional services and offerings to employees through Personify Health’s partnerships and third- party solutions. Many of the offerings support their strategic goals, such as building a more resilient workforce and increasing emotional intelligence.
Personalization and autonomy are also paramount to the health system. The Personify Health app encourages employees to embark on their own wellbeing journey, set goals and habits that are meaningful to them, and use their rewards when and how they want to, whether that’s getting a gift card, or giving money to charity through the app.
“We really appreciate that Personify Health works with us to build our program, not establish a new one,” says the director. “Ultimately, we wanted a partner that would help us take what we had already achieved and amplify it, not change it. Giving employees the ability to continue working on their health and wellbeing goals in between our existing touchpoints or events was also huge,” adds the director.
Outstanding Results
The health system’s wellbeing program has been extremely successful in impacting employee engagement and satisfaction. After introducing the wellbeing program, the organization became a four- time recipient of an industry award which recognizes excellent companies for their extraordinary ability to create an engaged workplace culture. They’ve also been recognized as an American Heart Association Fit Friendly company.
The insight from real-time program analytics has allowed the health system to build upon their success over time. “The Personify Health analytics allow us to measure the success of the program so we can make informed decisions and customize the program as necessary,” said the director. Some of the key results the health system saw among program participants include:
Success
How to Amplify the Success of Your Wellbeing Program
You can achieve amazing results with your wellbeing program by instituting these best practices based on the health system’s key learnings and takeaways:
Start With Support from Leadership.
You may have heard it before, but leading by example and supporting wellbeing from the top are both crucial factors in the success of any wellbeing initiative.
Make it about your employees, because it is!
Employees that are thriving in their overall wellbeing make it possible for the organization to thrive as a whole. Ask them what they want, provide the environment, culture, and tools that support health, and trust them to prioritize their wellbeing.
Employ both high-tech and high- touch elements in your program.
Having great technology that fits seamlessly into your employees’ lives is only part of the picture. Pair it with personal touchpoints in the workplace to spread awareness for your wellbeing program, encourage social support, and foster employee engagement.
Daily habits lead to lasting change.
No matter how your wellbeing program is structured, enabling employees to take steps to improve their wellbeing every day will help them find success.
Look at the numbers.
Use data, not only from your wellness program analytics, but also from other metrics within your organization that evaluate engagement so you can make informed decisions that optimize performance and outcomes.
Never stop learning.
Keep up with emerging research — especially from fields outside of worksite wellness, such as organizational development and positive psychology, to uncover new opportunities to grow your program.
Health System Client at a glance:
Conclusion
Through its wellbeing program and the Personify Health app, the health system created a culture that prioritizes wellbeing as an engagement, retention, health, and business strategy at all levels of the organization.
“Our wellness program exists because we know that taking care of our health system family is the right thing to do,” said the director. “Empowering employees with onsite support, resources, and tools such as Personify Health to drive their own wellbeing journey shows employees how much we care about them, so that they can continue to provide excellent and compassionate patient care.”
Ready to take your employee wellbeing program to the next level? Talk to an expert at Personify Health to get started.