NURS 6221: Managing Human Resources | Week 8

Working with phenomenal people on some of the toughest and most interesting business problems in the world [is a pro of working with Bain & Company]. You are constantly being pushed to improve and expand your skills and somehow finding room for a lot of fun [with] your co-workers.

— Consultant for Bain & Company, Glassdoor, Inc’s 2012 #1 Best Places To Work

To prepare for today’s challenging health care environment, health care organizations need employees who are energized with a passion for their work. Finding and keeping exemplary employees is one of the keys to running an effective unit, department, or organization. Given the critical shortage of health care workers, retaining employees is one of the more important responsibilities of nurse managers. In fact, some have called nurse managers the “chief retention officers” of organizations. What type of working environment encourages employees to stay? How can nurse managers foster relationships that engender a sense of satisfaction and engagement in employees similar to that expressed in the above quote?

In Week 7, you began exploring the elements that create a positive workplace. This week builds on those concepts as you explore how positive workplaces can facilitate a culture of engagement.

 

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Assess workplaces for cultures of engagement
• Analyze interventions that positively improve workplace culture
• Evaluate the correlation between workplace culture and organizational commitment
• Analyze the impact of intrinsic motivators on professional fulfillment
• Evaluate the impact of intrinsic motivators on professional performance

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings NURS 6221: Week 8: Creating a Culture of Engagement Paper

Manion, J. (2011). From management to leadership: Strategies for transforming health care (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Chapter 3, “Building Commitment: Inspiring Others to Follow” (pp. 69–114)This chapter focuses on inspiring commitment in the workplace. The author differentiates between commitment and compliance and lists the different kinds of organizational commitment.

Fasoli, D. R. (2010). The culture of nursing engagement: A historical perspective. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 34(1), 18–29. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Fasoli’s article evaluates the history of work engagement and its effect on nurse retention. The author analyzes the history and modern use of work engagement and explores how these are used as a framework for creating a culture of nursing engagement.

Shantz, A., & Latham, G. (2011). The effect of primed goals on employee performance: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management, 50(2), 289–299. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This study analyzes the effects of subconscious motivation on job performance. The results reveal that someone’s subconscious can be primed to accomplish job-related goals and that HR professionals can use this to their benefit.

Vlachoutsicos, C. A. (2011). How to cultivate engaged employees. Harvard Business Review, 89(9), 123–126. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article tells the reader how to make the most out of engaged employees in the workplace. The author provides and supports with real-life examples six steps that readers can use to help them achieve their goals.

Wisotzkey, S., Bell, T. D., & Grim, R. (2011). Connect and engage for better nurse retention. Nursing Management, 42(10), 14–18. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

The authors of this article examine the components of successful nurse retention. Their study reveals that social connectivity and positive psychology are the foundations of successful retention and that nurse managers can use these to make informed decisions about hiring employees.

Document: Creating a Culture of Engagement: Employee Survey (RTF document)

Document: Creating a Culture of Engagement: Management Survey (RTF document)

Required Media

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Creating a culture of engagement. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 20 minutes.

This week’s presenter discusses best practices for creating a culture of retention.

Discussion: Creating a Culture of Engagement

[T]he way to create a culture of retention is, in fact, to create a culture of engagement and contribution.

—Jo Manion (2004, p. 30)

When employees feel engaged and motivated, they are often more committed to an organization. Organizational commitment is broadly defined as an employee’s intent to stay with the organization. Nurse managers can have significant influence on an organization’s culture and thereby on employee engagement and commitment.

To prepare

• Select one of the following perspectives and complete the corresponding survey for this Discussion. Do not look at the scoring directions until after you have completed the evaluation.
  • If you hold or have held a management position in your recent or present workplace, access the document, “Creating a Culture of Engagement: Manager Survey,” found in this week’s Learning Resources.
  • If you have yet to hold a management position, or would prefer to answer the survey from the perspective of an employee, access the document, “Creating a Culture of Engagement: Employee Survey,” found in this week’s Learning Resources.
• After you have completed the survey, reflect on the results. Based on score breakdown, select the culture cluster you consider the most critical to address in this workplace. Then, review this week’s media, “Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Development.” What strategies could you, as a nurse manager, employ to address this cluster?
• Consider how this culture facilitates or negates your feelings of organizational commitment.

By Day 3

Post an evaluation of a recent or past workplace by sharing the total score of your survey. Explain whether this score accurately captures the culture of this workplace. Identify the culture cluster that you consider the most critical to address, and suggest at least one intervention you could initiate to effectively change this aspect of the workplace’s culture. Explain how this culture encouraged or diminished your feelings of organizational commitment.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

• Find a colleague whose critical culture cluster is one of your stronger ones. Share a strategy for strengthening this aspect of his or her culture.
• Use authentic experiences and this week’s Learning Resources to evaluate a colleague’s intervention, offering suggestions and insights.
• Assess a colleague’s workplace. Applying what you know about your own intrinsic motivators, explain why this workplace would or would not be a good fit for you. NURS 6221: Week 8: Creating a Culture of Engagement Paper

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Creating a Culture of Engagement in an Organization

Introduction

When people talk about workplace engagement, they often focus on the employees and their connection to the company. While this is important, it’s not enough on its own to create a culture of engagement within an organization. There are some factors that you can control as part of your leadership role in creating more engaged employees:

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is a measure of how much employees are connected to the organization. It’s not just about satisfaction, performance and productivity—it’s also about retention. Many organizations focus on their bottom line when they think about employee engagement, but what they don’t realize is that if employees aren’t engaged in their work then they may leave anyway. This can be bad news for companies because it means losing money or talent (or both) without any real benefit for either party involved!

Understanding engagement

Engagement is a state of mind. It’s not just about what you do, but how you do it.

Engagement is a feeling, not a behavior. You can engage in any number of ways: by listening attentively to others and allowing them to speak freely; by smiling when people come up to you; by asking questions when given an opportunity; etc., etc.. Engagement doesn’t necessarily mean that someone will always be engaged – but rather that they have chosen this way of being because they believe it will help them achieve their goals better than others would have done so using different methods (e.g., motivation).

The role of leadership in employee engagement

Leadership is critical to employee engagement. Leaders set the tone and culture for their organizations, which can ultimately influence employee behavior and attitudes. They are responsible for creating an environment where employees feel empowered, motivated, respected and valued in their work.

Leadership can make or break employee engagement: it’s important that leaders understand how they can help create a culture of engagement in their organization by engaging with them at all levels (or at least understanding how these factors affect different groups within an organization).

The role of management in employee engagement

The role of management in employee engagement is to be leaders, role models and examples. Managers should lead by example and demonstrate fairness and consistency across the organization. They should also be transparent with their employees, communicating openly about what is happening at work so that everyone knows where they stand on important issues such as pay rates or promotions.

This can only happen if managers are committed to creating a culture which encourages engagement among their staff members:

The role of employees themselves in engagement

The role of employees themselves in engagement is critical. Employees can influence how engaged they are by their actions, as well as what they do and don’t do at work.

Employees can be a part of the solution to improve engagement, taking ownership for improving their own engagement levels and becoming an active participant in creating an engaging culture within your organization. If you want to create a culture where people feel valued, empowered, connected with one another and inspired by what they do every day at work (and beyond), then it’s time for you take responsibility for implementing some new practices that will help achieve this goal!

Some tips for how to create more workplace engagement.

Here are some tips for how to create more workplace engagement.

• Be transparent and honest with your employees. This can be difficult, especially if you’re in a position of power, but it is important for them to know that their opinions and ideas matter—and that you take those into consideration when making decisions. They also need to know that they won’t be punished if they speak up about something they disagree with or want changed in their department or company as a whole (as long as it’s constructive).

• Give employees opportunities for growth and development within the organization; this will encourage them to stay loyal rather than looking elsewhere when things get tough at work because there isn’t much opportunity here anymore!

• Make sure everyone feels valued by giving recognition publicly every now and then (such as employee awards) so everyone feels appreciated by management personally instead of just through email updates alone.”

Conclusion

We hope this article inspires you to think critically about engagement in your workplace. The best way to develop your employees’ engagement is by empowering them with a strong set of skills and knowledge about what constitutes engaged work and how it can be achieved. Knowing that their work matters will make employees happier, more productive and fulfilled in their lives outside of the office!