building employee capacity and engagement: innovative approach at the scarborough hospital in canada

Rhonda Lewis, LLB, CHRP, SHRP Vice President, Human Resources & Patient Relations

Building Capacity and Enhancing Engagement

Innovative Approach at

The Scarborough Hospital

Two acute care

hospital sites

Six outpatient

satellite sites

The Scarborough Hospital

• Regional centre for Dialysis

• Renowned for its Mental Health, Orthopaedic Surgery, Maternal Newborn, Paediatrics, Chronic Disease and Cancer Care programs.

• Referral centre for Vascular Surgery, Pacemakers and Cataract Surgery

• Affiliated with the University of Toronto

3200 employees; 700 physicians; 500 volunteers

Building Capacity

Why?

• To facilitate effective functioning in the workplace

• To adequately meet the labour demand to achieve organizational goals

How?

• By investing in career development opportunities for current and future

employees and creating an enhanced recruitment base.

Enhancing Engagement

What?

• Developing the skills, knowledge

and capability of current

employees (internal focus)

• Attracting qualified new

employees (external focus)

What?

• Promoting the delivery of

discretionary effort by current

employees

• Inspiring interest and instilling

passion in future employees

“Organizations that endear

are those that endure”

Rajendra Sisodia, David B. Wolfe, and Jagdish N. Sheth, Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit

from Passion and Purpose

Literature-Based Research

A study* involving more than 28,000 employees in 10 business

sectors and 15 countries worldwide found that organizations

providing career development opportunities are:

6 times more likely to engage their employees than

organizations that do not;

Better than 4 times less likely to lose talent in the next year

than organizations that do not;

Almost 2.5 times more likely to be productive than

organizations that do not.

*by Right Management, 2010

The findings of a survey* involving 244 Canadian companies

revealed that there is a high awareness of the value and benefits of

career management programs, with:

92% of respondents agreeing that career development drives

employee engagement and retention;

83% agreeing that career management plays a critical role in

the achievement of business objectives;

80% acknowledging that a lack of career development

opportunities was the primary reason for voluntary employee

departures;

*by Knightsbridge, 2010

Three Key Areas of Focus:

Fostering an Enhanced Recruitment Base by

Inspiring Interest and Instilling Passion

Enabling Career Development by Defining

Career Pathways

Creating an Ongoing Leadership Pipeline

Approach at The Scarborough Hospital

Current Employees Future Employees

Defining Career

Pathways

Ensuring Leadership

Pipeline

Instilling Passion Inspiring Interest

TSH Talent Management Goals

Increased Employee

Engagement

Enhanced Recruitment

Base

Framework

Current Employees Future Employees

Increased Employee

Engagement

• Encourages learning of new

skills.

• Enables progression within

the organization.

• Increases employee

employment outcomes.

• Supports professional

growth.

• Provides options in times of

downsizing

Enhanced Recruitment

Base

• Educates students on

health care career choices.

• Potentially increases

student enrolment into

health care programs.

• Fosters partnerships with

educational institutions.

• Supports future workforce

planning at TSH.

Current Leadership

Goals • To have a pool of

high potential leaders

to fill leadership gaps

when required.

• Purposeful, strategic

planning for

leadership needs.

• Provides continuity in

the leadership

pipeline and

develops a deeper

capacity for

achieving results.

Process • Potential individual

successor(s) are

identified, using a

standard template.

• Group evaluation of

all leadership is

undertaken, usinga

Nine-Box Succession

Planning Grid.

• Development

opportunities for

identified potential

successors are

implemented.

Metrics • Percentage of key

leadership positions

filled internally.

• Time to fill rate for

leadership

vacancies.

• Tracking and

completion of

development plans

for identified

potential

successors.

Future Employees

Strategy • Create an ongoing

pipeline of new

employee talent by

inspiring interest.

• Provide high school

students with early

exposure to the

varied careers in the

health care field.

• Increase student

enrolment into

relevant health care

education programs.

Plan • Biannual multi-year

approach.

• High school students

will return each year

to explore career

options.

• Tours will provide

students the

opportunity to

interact with staff in

order to inspire

interest in the

various available

health care careers.

Outcome • Increased employee

engagement since

the students are

family members of

current employees.

• Greater awareness

among students of

health care career

opportunities.

• Increased possibility

of recruiting future

employees with

knowledge of TSH.

#careercruze

Future Employees / Volunteers

Strategy • Create an ongoing

pipeline of student

volunteers to support

our volunteer needs.

• Support the Code

Career Program by

instilling a passion

for health care

through volunteer

opportunities.

• Expand our student

volunteer base with a

view to enhancing

the diversity of our

volunteer corps.

Plan • Design varied short-

term assignments

that would support

the students’ career

objectives.

• Expose students to

identified health care

careers in a safe

environment.

• Students will be able

to observe the roles

of professionals ,

while learning the

values of

volunteering.

Outcome • Increased

employee

engagement since

the students are

family members of

current employees.

• Greater awareness

among students of

health care career

opportunities.

• Increased

possibility of

recruiting future

volunteers with

knowledge of TSH.

#volunteercruze

Value Created

50.9%

57.0%

63.6%

73.7% 76.4%

81.9%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

TSH 2010 Result Ontario Average TSH 2013 Result

Employee Engagement Survey Results

Overall Engagement Career Development

Validation of the TSH Model

Lessons Learned

Organizational focus on career development is a key driver

of employee attraction and engagement

Value propositions must inspire and endear in order to

attract and engage

Capacity must be built:

internally and externally

through short-term and long-term plans

on a system as well as localized basis

Actions must speak louder than words

The greatest danger for most of us lies not in

setting our aim too high and falling short;

but in setting our aim too low and achieving

our mark.

Michelangelo