Page 139 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

126B RE-ENGAGE

: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: HOW MAKING MANAGERS
BETTER MAKES THE DIFFERENCE AT WINCHESTER HOSPITAL

In 2008 the Boston Business Journal announced that Winchester Hospi-
tal, in Winchester, Massachusetts, was, for the sixth year in a row, one
of the Best Places to Work in the Boston area. The only difference that
year was that the 230-bed, 2,600-employee hospital (16 sites) was more
than just one of the best—it was number one, beating out the other 392
employers that applied. What made this achievement even more im-
pressive was that Winchester Hospital was also selected—in the same
year—as the number one employer in the Boston Globe’s Top-Places-
to-Work competition based on employee opinions about company
leadership, compensation and training, diversity and inclusion, career
development, family-friendly flexibility and values, and ethics. The
hospital ranks in the 90th percentile in the state in patient satisfac-
tion (as rated by Press-Ganey, which specializes in measuring patient
and employee satisfaction for the health-care industry) and enjoys an
87 percent occupancy rate, an 8 percent turnover rate, and a 2 per-
cent nurse vacancy rate. There’s more: in June of the same year, the
American Nurses Credentialing Center awarded Winchester Hospital
its highest honor—Magnet recognition for providing “the very best in
nursing care and upholding the tradition within nursing of professional
nursing practice.”
In reviewing Winchester Hospital’s winning Best-Places-to-Work
survey results, we noted that scores on manager effectiveness were
particularly outstanding—the highest of any participating U.S. em-
ployer. To uncover the story behind the scores, we interviewed Anne
Lang, Winchester’s vice president of human resources and legal ser-
vices, and Kathleen Beyerman, director of staff development, clini-
cal and nursing research. Beyerman also directs the hospital’s unique
Community Health Institute, whose mission is to serve the health-
care needs of the surrounding community of 350,000.

Q: Why do you think Winchester Hospital received such high
scores on the survey questions related to managing employees?