Founded in 1913, Children’s Health is a leading pediatric health-care system, dedicated to providing world-class care to children in Dallas, North Texas, and surrounding regions. In 2014, like their counterparts at hospitals and health systems throughout the nation, the executive leadership at Children’s Health was looking for new ways to reduce operating costs. They already had utilized many common cost-saving measures, such as implementing management-directed cost-reduction initiatives and participating in a group purchasing organization, but were searching for additional ways to make their operation more efficient while improving patient care and satisfaction. As these discussions unfolded, it was not long until the executives realized there was one viable source they had yet to tap—their employees.
Making life better for children has always been the mission of Children’s Health, and one the health system couldn’t fulfill without the dedication of its 6,000 employees. For more than a century and through tremendous growth and change, the organization had succeeded thanks to the individual and group contributions of its team members. The executive team was certain that their front-line employees could deliver success once again and help Children’s Health uncover unique cost-reduction strategies.
The challenge then became finding a process that would engage front-line staff and allow Children’s Health to efficiently gather, track, evaluate, and reward employee suggestions.
The Solution
The solution to Children’s Health’s search for cost savings through employee engagement came out of the blue, as many great solutions do. In the summer of 2014, C-level executives at Children’s Health received an e-mail introducing Ideas at Work and knew immediately that it was worth a closer look.
Ideas at Work is an employee engagement program that, unlike traditional employee suggestion programs, gives a voice to entire organizations through a Web-based platform that makes ideas easy to collect, review, implement, and reward. Created by the experts at Performance Plus, who have decades of experience in the employee engagement industry, Ideas at Work helps organizations realize results quickly with no financial risk or upfront investment.
Children’s Health was particularly drawn to the turnkey, team-based, quick-results nature of Ideas at Work. It is a comprehensive system designed to reward employees for collaborating with their teammates to suggest cost-saving ideas with significant financial benefits to the organization. Ideas at Work also functions as a campaign, so everyone’s energies are concentrated within a 90-day time period, and results are realized within a short period of time.
Results
Children’s Health kicked off its Ideas at Work employee suggestion program, which it named “A Better Way,” on October 14, 2014. Within the first eight hours of idea submission, 10 ideas were submitted by seven teams. The first approved idea alone generated a savings of $61,000 per year. At the end of the 12-week campaign, Children’s Health had uncovered more than $4.3 million in savings through employee suggestions.
By the end of the 12-week program, executives and front-line employees alike were believers in the power of effective team-based employee engagement.
“I was impressed by the creativity and engagement of team members to suggest improvements and work together to identify ways to improve our organization. Many ideas required cross-functional teamwork and exploration, and all involved were willing to learn from each other to achieve a positive outcome,” says Children’s Health SVP and Chief Human Resource Officer Kim Besse.
“The engagement of all levels of the organization and the collaboration across multiple divisions has been wonderful and fostered innovative ideas. Even the review of these great ideas has led to discussions of new opportunities,” notes Dan Carney, VP, Facilities Development and Operations. “This process has helped us all think differently, so we can find A Better Way.”
The program was so successful at uncovering cost savings and engaging employees that Children’s Health kicked off a second Ideas at Work campaign in June 2015. Even with the great success of its first campaign, the health system discovered that there were still big ideas and big savings to uncover.
In total, for the two 12-week campaigns, the results included:
- More than $6.3 million in approved savings
- 409 total ideas submitted
- 174 total ideas approved
- A 42.5 percent idea approval rate
- An average per-idea savings of more than $36,000
- A top saving idea valued at $500,000
With savings like these from this unique employee engagement initiative, Children’s Health is considering running additional Ideas at Work campaigns in the future.
Employee Suggestion Program Tips
- Secure highly visible commitment from senior leadership.
- Select a program that has an efficient design and structure.
- Emphasize program training and orientation.
- Keep everyone engaged and informed through regular communication.
- Track and measure results.
- Provide meaningful recognition and rewards for participants.
Ideas at Work can help increase employee retention, save money, and improve patient care. To learn more or see a brief demo, contact sales@performplus.com or 678.397.1813.
