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Building an engaged workforce at Cleveland Clinic

Authors Patrnchak JM

Received 13 February 2013

Accepted for publication 15 March 2013

Published 16 May 2013 Volume 2013:5 Pages 9—20

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S43998

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Joseph M Patrnchak

Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

Abstract: Employee engagement is widely recognized as a critical factor in organizational performance. This article examines an ongoing cultural development initiative at Cleveland Clinic designed to significantly increase employee engagement. Key components of this initiative include the introduction of serving leadership, new caregiver wellness and recognition programs, “Cleveland Clinic Experience” training focused on the institution’s core mission, and changes in the institutional vocabulary. Since 2008, the results include a dramatic improvement in engagement, as measured by the Gallup Q12 survey, with parallel improvements in patient satisfaction, as measured by the clinic's scores on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. In addition to a discussion of the key components of the clinic’s engagement initiative, the article provides a partial review of the literature focused on employee engagement as well as a summary of “lessons learned” that may serve as a guide for others facing the challenge of increasing employee engagement in large, mature health care institutions.

Keywords: health care, employee engagement, culture change, hospital performance, patient satisfaction

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