STORIES FROM THE FIELD: Communication and Employee Engagement


A manager in a hospital requested to have a third party hold meetings with the employees to determine the staff’s current pulse. Each meeting had four to five employees who were asked the same questions. Meetings were held over multiple days. The data gathered were entered in a mobile application and used to identify the most important areas to the employees. One of the most important considerations in this research was to gather employee input on solutions to specific, ongoing problems in the hospital.


From the data, the manager identified four major categories for improvement, assigned a supervisor and a lead employee to each category, and assigned target dates for completion of the task. The man- ager enlarged the action plan and hung it in a visible area in the department. Each supervisor up- dated their assigned area by using the stoplight communication board. In daily huddles, key issues were highlighted to reinforce communication. To keep the process fluid, a manager or supervisor met with a different employee at least weekly, asked the same questions, and recorded the responses in the mobile application. This allowed the action plan to be communicated and updated in real time, as issues were resolved or new ones identified.


Human Resources Challenges


Many nutrition practitioners enter into the foodservice business because they are passionate about using great food to deliver an excellent customer or patient ex- perience. Keeping employees motivated and engaged and providing them with the training they need and the benefits they desire are constant challenges. In food- service management, oversight of multiple employees is common, requiring ongoing time and attention to human resources issues (see Chapter 11, Human Resources 101). Some top human resources issues are decreasing absenteeism, motivating em- ployees, improving customer service, and providing training on a budget.


Employee Absenteeism


Employee absenteeism can be difficult to address once it has become a habit or an accepted behavior by your team. After all, you cannot force employees to show up on time, or at all. The following are some ways to help reduce absenteeism4


:


› An employee wellness program can help lower absenteeism and demonstrate sustainable practices. Proactively preventing absenteeism can be done through


educating employees on health and wellness concerns. This will give your em- ployees the best tools to make healthy behavioral changes, which can result in less absenteeism.


› An employee could be stressed because of workload, difficulties with coworkers, or feeling overwhelmed. Stress can cause unplanned absences; take a proactive


approach, investigating areas of stress for employees and determining what re- sources you might need to minimize the stressors’ impacts.


› Employees can be affected by their personal lives, and there may be a genuine reason an employee fails to show up for work. Workplaces should create a sup-


portive environment in which employees feel comfortable talking to frontline managers or supervisors about stressors outside of the workplace.


› Remember to reward good behavior. If someone does not show up to do their job, it puts a strain on the entire team. Be sure to acknowledge the employees who do


show up on time every day to keep the operation running. 108 EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT IN NUTRITION & DIETETICS


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