The Substance Abuse Treatment Facility leadership began a program dubbed World-Class Employee Engagement 1:1 Check-Ins.
Established in June 2020 as a best practice, the goal is to create a workplace culture of excellence, appreciation and accountability.
Why meet one-on-one?
- Employee Engagement Check-ins give employees a voice within uninterrupted time reserved exclusively for them, and ensure they are getting the appreciation and coaching they need along the way.
- It is vital that employees feel comfortable expressing their opinions about their workplace and that their opinions, feedback and recommendations are valued/taken seriously by leadership
- Frequent communication between managers and employees leads to engaging conversations between them and helps employees stay engaged in their work.
- A continuous performance improvement process helps employees & their managers stay on the same page and helps each other engage themselves at work.
- Employee engagement is key to organizational performance, leading to positive effects such as higher productivity and morale, improved work quality, and decreased job turnover.
- The Strategic Business Plan has a goal of “Excellence in People” by improving staff performance through mentoring and accountability checks. “Doing what we said we would do enhance our credibility as SATF’s Healthcare Leadership.”
How does it work?
- The heart of this best practice is SATF Healthcare leaders meeting with their direct reports no less than monthly to provide undivided attention, recognition, encouragement, mentoring, resources and opportunities to learn and grow, as well as to identify and mitigate barriers to success.
- With the implementation of the Employee Engagement 1:1 Check-Ins, SATF Healthcare is reaping the dividends of investing in the development of an engaged, high-performing workforce strategically aligned with its vision to “deliver world-class correctional health care right here, right now!”
- By implementing the check-ins at other workplaces, supervisors and managers could boost morale, improve employee engagement and productivity, all while improving retention and reducing turnover.
Feedback on the engagements:
- “It has improved communication with my staff in the particular areas that they can directly make an impact on. As well as challenging them to strive to improve their own skills.”
- “The 1:1’s with staff help me to understand the items that need assistance, provide feedback on their strong work, and identify where I can improve as a leader to collectively grow and improve as a program.”
Anyone interested in learning more about “World-class Employee Engagement Check-ins” may contact Dr. John Choy. His email address can be found in Global.
Story by Dr. John Choy, SATF.