Taking the pulse to put employee experience at the heart of our success

As we are all aware, labour shortage is a reality and Vitalité Health Network is not immune. This makes it all the more important to look after our valuable human resources so that they can develop professionally, grow and stay with us to meet the health care needs of our province.

That's why, when the Network mapped out its strategic path for transformation in 2022, we identified employee experience as one of our three major directions, along with patient experience and community engagement. Each of these directions is an essential factor in the organization’s success.

Employee experience refers to all the interactions an employee has with their employer, from recruitment to departure, and at every point of contact between the two. It encompasses the physical, cultural and technological environment in which employees work, as well as their overall perception of their workplace. This has a profound effect on the engagement, productivity and retention of our health care workers.

In its performance report, the Network has indicators that give an overview of the workplace experience. Although they are important, they do not provide sufficient information to enable a rapid response. To properly manage process quality, you need indicators that show the performance of key steps in the processes and help you anticipate results.

A new way to take the pulse

Since June, Vitalité has adopted a new and more frequent approach for measuring and gaining a better understanding of the employee experience. We will now survey employees quarterly on key employee experience factors, including a question that produces the Employee Net Promoter Score (ENPS), which measures employee loyalty and satisfaction in the same way that the traditional Net Promoter Score measures patient satisfaction. Each team will be informed of its results. Managers and their teams will have to discuss the results and identify what factors they control or which influence the employee experience, to contribute to its improvement.

To improve the employee experience and better understand the challenges involved, we are adopting the same learning approach that we use to improve the patient experience and the engagement of our communities, i.e. pinpointing problems and enlisting the help of employees to identify solutions with the aim of improvement, rather than perfection, so that we can take action quickly while learning from our mistakes.

With a workforce of over 8,000 employees and a wide variety of workplaces, it is important for employees and their managers to be involved in developing and implementing local solutions that meet their particular needs. By acting on this information, we can continually refine our employee experience initiatives and ensure that we meet the needs and expectations of our most valuable resource: our employees.

Thank you to the health care workers who choose Vitalité Health Network every day!

Frédéric Finn
Vice-President of Employee Experience

 

The “Voice of Our Leaders,” the blog of Vitalité Health Network’s Leadership Team, covers various topics related to transformation of the health system. The team members share their thoughts – transparently and from their own perspectives – on the issues, challenges and priorities within their areas of responsibility and the health system as a whole.  Happy reading and happy reflection!

If you would like to share your thoughts or comments on this blog, please contact us at engagement [at] vitalitenb.ca.