Performance improvement: how to get employee buy-in

The radiology department at Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, Mich. operated with little change under the same leadership for nearly 20 years. Its equipment was archaic and its operations production focused. Staff morale and both physician and patient satisfaction were low. Given a directive to measurably improve the service and quality offered by the department, the new director let her staff know she needed their support. She then set out to weave in performance expectations for both the organization and the department. Her goal was to create a relationship to both individual and organizational performance improvement, and in turn, to add value to the success of each individual, the department and the organization. Defining work processes was important for the definition of a common vision and core behaviour. The result was the F.A.S.T. concept (friendly, accurate, safe and timely) that put each general work process in a flowchart showing its steps. The next phase involved identifying the measurement for each critical point in the process and determining how to measure it. At each step, questions were defined, answered and translated into individual job descriptions and performance plans. Now, employees know how they and their departments are doing through quarterly reviews. Results are presented monthly at staff meetings, where report cards are posted to provide timely feedback. In some cases, individual report cards within a modality are shared. Successes are celebrated, both in staff meetings and on annual Quality Day, where departments present story boards showing how they have improved service or quality.