Employee Satisfaction Surveys

fedupnurse · May 25, 2002

My hospital does these via Gallup pretty often. When they get bad marks on certain questions, the suits say we didn't understand the question! How condescending! You didn't like the TRUTHFUL answers because it shows YOU aren't doing your jobs as managers and administrators! So now they hand out those questions at general staff meetings. I think they think if they have us answer them enough we will put down what they want to hear.

The other thing that is a total waste of money are these extremely expensive consultants. They come in, make things worse and still collect their hundreds of thousands of dollars.

No one should be able to make any decisions regarding nursing practice unless they have practiced as a staff nurse during the past 2 years. All these suits who have been out of the loop for 5 or more years and don't still roll up their sleves and get their hands dirty are clueless!

Uhoh, you got me started again!!!!

LasVegasRN · May 25, 2002

Okay, I am taking a deep breath.....................ahhh, ok.

Before I got into management I was a believer in SPEAKING YOUR MIND! Tell the truth! The total truth so help you God!! If we don't speak up nothing will change!! Yadda, yadda, blah blah blah.

After I got into management, I learned what they really do with these Employee Satisfaction Surveys:

1. Top management calls a meeting for middle management - Gee, we are SHOCKED by these results! What is the problem? Why weren't we aware of this before? Go forth, you middle managers, form a committee and have MEETINGS to discuss why the employees are not happy and come back with suggestions on improvement and action plans.

2. Middle management gets a stack of papers the size of a NYC phone book to sort through and devise "action plans" to address the concerns of the employees. You hold a MEETING to discuss with your employees the concerns, ask for their input on improvement initiatives, come up with some really good ideas.

3. Middle management holds a MEETING with Senior management to go over their results and initiatives. Senior management tells you WHAT IS REALISTIC AND WHAT IS NOT and makes you cut out a portion of your suggestions and MODIFY initiatives to meet their definition of "realistic" improvement initiatives.

4. Senior management holds a MEETING with Top management and presents Senior managements' improvement initiatives (as if they came up with all of it on their own). Top management sees that things were not half as bad as the employees made it out to be and decides that a few fluff measures can be taken without changing anything too drastically. Top management gives Senior management bonuses for the wonderful way they addressed the employees concerns.

5. Senior management holds a MEETING with the employees (middle management attending also) and lets the employees know that they pride themselves in having a "finger on the pulse of the employee concerns" and tells them of the new improvement initiatives which boils down to letting you have free water refills in the cafeteria with their super special cannisters with the company logo on them.

6. The employees hold a MEETING with middle management asking what the heck happened to all of their suggestions?

And so it goes........:stone

I realize this is a very negative view, but, nonetheless, it was my experience.

CATHYW · May 25, 2002

I think these things are bogus, and a perfect waste of time and money. The hospital I used to work for did these annually, and so does the company I work for now. Nothing EVER changes! I think the suits want it to look like they are "communicating" with their employees, and have the results on paper to prove it.

If they ever truly formulated an action plan and ACTED on it, we'd have to have more Occ Med Nurses-the employees would be fainting, left and right! LOL!

cbs3143 · May 25, 2002

Here's an old story of how upper management interprets the rumblings from the masses. Sad, but there is a lot of wisdom in it, not just for healthcare workers, but across the board.

In the beginning was the plan,

and then came the assumptions,

and the assumptions were without form,

and the plan was completely without substance.

And a darkness was upon the faces of the workers,

and they spoke amongst themselves saying,

"It is a crock of sh*t and it stinketh."

And the workers went unto their supervisors and sayeth,

"It is a pail of dung and none may abide the odor thereof."

And the supervisors went unto their managers and sayeth,

"It is a container of excrement so strong that none may abideth its strength."

And the managers went unto their directors and sayeth,

"It is a vessel of fertilizer and none may abide its strength."

And the directors spoke amongst themselves saying,

"It contains that which aids plant growth, and is very strong."

And the directors went unto the vice presidents and sayeth,

"It promotes growth and is very powerful."

And the vice presidents went unto the president and sayeth,

"This new plan will actively promote growth and efficiency in the company, and these areas in particular."

And the president looked upon the plan and saw that it was good...

And the plan became policy.

THIS IS HOW SH*T HAPPENS!!!!

Chuck

CATHYW · May 25, 2002

ROFLOL! Man, have you got it nailed!

MPHkatie · May 25, 2002

Well,

our hospital does a survey about every 3 years....and after the last one nurses got back pay, because they were so grossly underpaid compared to other hospitals and we stated that.... so in some cases things do work.

MPHkatie · May 25, 2002

I totally forgot to add, in addition to back pay the Rn salary was adjusted and is now higher than other area hospitals...

nell · May 25, 2002

Well, MPHkatie, our hospital is like LasVegasRNs and cbs3143s. They keep trying to do a phone survey of employee's opinions despite our telling them to do a mail-in one. Apparently, the firm they hired only does phone surveys. They wonder why no one is participating when they call pm shift people at 8am, dayshift people when they're not home (because they're AT WORK) and night shift people in the middle of the day.

I think our management doesn't realize we are a 24/7 facility. They bought one of those canned "service excellence" programs and have never had an "almost mandatory" meeting at a time when the night shift can go without interrupting their sleep!!!

They spent all of this $$$ on a stupid, paternalistic program and then tell us we're using too much linen and need to cut back. So I explained to each of my patients that we didn't have enough linen for them to barf in the bed, let their diapers leak or shoot p**p all over the isolette. They cooperated just a well as management does.

LasVegasRN · May 25, 2002

You know what changed our RN salaries? Another company came into town, offered everyone $5,000 a year more to START. ALL of us, and I do mean the entire nursing staff, put in our resignations at the same time. Within a week, they matched the salaries and increased the pay grades. Well, well, well.

donmurray · May 25, 2002

I once attended one of those "Excellence" seminars. A Canadian (as I recall) imported to the UK specially for the event, got up and told us that he had come to tell us the "blindingly obvious" Then spent the rest of the day doing just that! It felt like we were living the children's story about The Emperor's New Suit, except there was no little boy who didn't know what was expected!

The best bit was later, when a friend who did not go, on principle, got a cheap certificate of attendance. Excellent!

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · May 26, 2002

They do those surveys so that the suits can say "We care about our employees and are responsive to them", but it rarily results in any positive change.