Baylor healthcare system: efforts in reducing turnover rate essay

Baylor Health Care System is one of the premier health care systems in the United States. Located in north Texas, U. S. , Baylor employs approximately 16, 000 people who serve more than 110, 000 patients annually in 12 hospitals and 85 clinics.

For 103 years Baylor has not only provided quality healthcare, but has been a major contributor to the community by supporting programs through the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, The United Way, The American Heart Association, and Habitat for Humanity. In 2003, the company launched a new human resources initiative. Their goal was to improve relationships between employees and managers in an effort to reduce employee turnover and make Baylor Health Care System a workplace of choice.

In order to do this, the human resource team knew they needed to revamp their leadership training curriculum. They conducted a needs assessment with the key leaders and contributors within the organization to determine the skills and behaviors which had to be changed in order to achieve their goal. Intervention We didn’t want a canned training program. We wanted one that was customized to Baylor’s needs that integrated with other training and HR systems in our organization,” said Phyllis Wright, Director of Training and Organizational Development for Baylor Health Care System.

“ Our goal is to have all of our HR systems integrated so we hire and train leaders based on the behaviors and skills on which they will be assessed. The needs identified by the leadership assessment align directly to the needs addressed by our leadership curriculum. EDS (Electronic Data Systems) referred Baylor to FranklinCovey for support in developing a customized leadership curriculum. Baylor Health Care System proceeded to collaborate with FranklinCovey to create the curriculum for its 1, 360 leaders. Together, they developed fifteen customized leadership courses tailored to Baylor’s needs and to strategically support their mission and vision. The courses combined Baylor’s core competencies with aspects of The 4 Roles of Leadership, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and FOCUS: Achieving Your Highest Priorities training.

Also included were concepts from other leadership development though leaders. Results The end result was a curriculum focused on increasing such leadership capabilities as problem solving, conflict resolution, and communication. The curriculum also included a three- part evaluation system which provides feedback from participants to determine the effectiveness of the training. Part one is a satisfaction survey that attendees complete immediately following the course.

Part two measures what attendees have learned using pre- and post-tests, and part three asks attendees to identify how they have applied the training in their own job at Baylor. Over the past 18 months, the Training and Organizational Development Department at Baylor has administered over 100 leadership classes with satisfaction and retention score averages of more than 90 percent. Additionally 100 percent of the respondents reported they have made behavioral changes as a result of the training. By partnering with FranklinCovey to customize our leadership curriculum, we have been able to ensure everything in the course will directly assist with an individual’s job responsibilities at Baylor,” said Kathy Jones, Training Manager. “ It ensures focused use of the time leaders have available for development and training.

” Employee Fulfillment Baylor is fortunate to have nurtured an environment of quality care, integrity and respect, where employees want to stay. Baylor’s nursing turnover rate is less than 10% annually, which is far below the regional rate for bedside nurses. Baylor is proud to offer nurses the opportunity to work in an environment that is safe, healthy and rewarding for themselves and their patients. By providing staffing that is appropriate to the workload, Baylor supports nurses to meet the needs of patients. There is no mandatory overtime at Baylor, and flexible scheduling is offered. Therefore, Baylor attracts 30% of the graduates from local nursing schools.

Baylor Dallas has earned the prestigious designation of Nursing Magnet hospital, which is the highest level of recognition for professional practice of nursing in a hospital setting.