PDF Summary:Patients Come Second, by Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett

In Patients Come Second, authors Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett advocate for a patient-focused healthcare model driven by engaged and motivated employees. They contend that exceptional patient care stems from fostering a joyful, purpose-driven work environment that empowers staff. The authors outline strategies for cultivating strong workplace bonds, promoting community involvement, and tapping into employees' deeper motivations for pursuing healthcare careers.

By embracing transformational leadership and prioritizing employee well-being, Spiegelman and Berrett argue that healthcare organizations can inspire the authentic compassion and care vital to outstanding patient experiences. They provide insights and examples from their careers in medical leadership to guide the reader.

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The authors champion how crucial exhibiting genuine care for employees' well-being and personal lives is as a core value within organizations that deliver medical services. They argue that demonstrating authentic concern for employees creates a sense of trust and loyalty, ultimately leading to enhanced patient care.

Personalized Gestures: Handwritten Notes and Supporting Interests

Spiegelman and Berrett advocate for personalized gestures as a powerful way to show employees that their well-being and personal lives matter. This goes beyond simply acknowledging birthdays or work anniversaries; it requires comprehending what's truly important to each individual.

For instance, Spiegelman, known for his introverted nature, created the Beryl Cares program to send handwritten notes to employees to acknowledge important events in their lives, professionally and personally. These notes, personalized with comments specific to each individual, demonstrate genuine concern for their well-being and foster a feeling of connection.

Berrett, known for his extroverted personality, takes a more hands-on approach, offering support to employees during difficult times, like driving stranded nurses to work during an ice storm. Both authors, despite their differing personalities, prioritize showing employees that they are valued as individuals, contributing to a culture of care and mutual respect within their companies.

Practical Tips

• Develop a "Hobby Hour" initiative where employees can dedicate one hour per week during work hours to pursue a personal interest or hobby. This could be anything from reading to practicing a musical instrument, as long as it's not work-related. It demonstrates that you support their personal growth and interests beyond their professional roles.
• Start a tradition of 'Unbirthday' surprise gifts, where you give thoughtful presents to loved ones on a day that's not their birthday or any holiday. The gift should be something that connects to their current interests or needs, like a book on a topic they've been curious about or a gadget that simplifies a daily task they've complained about. The surprise element and the fact that it's on an ordinary day make it more personal and memorable.
• Start a conversation with a "Curiosity Checklist" of open-ended questions designed to uncover deeper interests and values of the people around you. Questions like "What's something you've always wanted to learn?" or "What's a cause you're passionate about?" can reveal personal details that help you craft personalized gestures.
• You can create a personal appreciation calendar to track significant events in the lives of your friends and family. Set up a digital calendar with reminders for birthdays, anniversaries, and other milestones. When a reminder pops up, take a moment to write a thoughtful message or send a small gift to acknowledge the occasion. This gesture shows you care and strengthens your relationships.
• Start a personal blog or social media page dedicated to sharing stories about people who have made a difference in your life. For each post, detail the unique qualities or actions of the individual and how they impacted you. This not only serves as a public acknowledgment of their contribution but also encourages others to think about the specific ways people around them make a difference.
• Create personalized well-being check-in cards to send to friends and family. Design small cards with encouraging messages and questions about their recent experiences, hobbies, or challenges. For example, a card could read, "I've been thinking about you and wondering how your garden project is coming along. Let's catch up soon!"
• Create a community support network on social media to offer assistance during emergencies. Use platforms like Facebook or Nextdoor to establish a group where members can post requests for help or offer services such as transportation during severe weather, meal delivery for those who can't leave their homes, or even virtual support for those facing personal challenges. This not only fosters a sense of community but also ensures that help is readily available when needed.
• Create personalized appreciation notes for your team members to express specific gratitude for their contributions. Tailor each note to highlight an individual's unique skills or achievements, showing that you recognize and value their personal input. For example, if a team member successfully led a project, write a note commending their leadership and the positive impact it had on the team.

Engaging With the Broader Community Beyond the Company

The authors underscore the importance of engaging with the larger community beyond the organization as a means of strengthening employee connection to the company's purpose and principles. This involves promoting volunteering and fostering philanthropic efforts aligned with workers' passions.

Practical Tips

• Implement a weekly "alignment check-in" with a friend or accountability partner. During these sessions, discuss the actions you've taken in the past week and how they contribute to your long-term goals. This regular conversation can provide an external perspective and help ensure that your daily decisions are consistently moving you towards your desired outcomes.
• Personalize your email signature with a line that reflects how your role contributes to the broader organizational purpose. This not only reminds you of your impact with every email sent but also communicates the organization's commitment to its purpose to external contacts.
• Engage with a community that shares your mission to reinforce your commitment through social interaction. Find online forums, local groups, or social media communities where members share your mission and actively participate in discussions and activities. For instance, if your mission involves promoting literacy, join a book club that focuses on educational outreach, or volunteer with organizations that work towards this goal. Being part of a like-minded community can provide support, inspiration, and accountability.
• You can boost your motivation by setting up a personal reward system where you treat yourself after completing specific tasks. For example, after finishing a challenging work project, you might indulge in your favorite dessert or take a day off to do something you love. This creates a positive association with task completion and can increase your drive to tackle future projects.
• Create a personal purpose statement by reflecting on moments you felt most fulfilled and use it to guide your daily actions. Start by jotting down instances where you've felt a strong sense of satisfaction or meaning, then look for common themes. Craft a statement that encapsulates these themes and refer to it when making decisions to ensure they align with your sense of purpose.
• Develop a personal "focus ritual" to signal to your brain that it's time to concentrate. This could be a short series of actions you perform before starting a task that requires deep focus, such as a five-minute meditation, organizing your workspace, or a quick physical warm-up. The repetition of this ritual can help condition your mind to transition into a state of concentration more easily.
• You can boost your own morale by starting a "Good Things Jar" where you write down positive events or accomplishments each day and review them at the end of the week. This tangible reminder of the good in your life can increase your sense of satisfaction and achievement, reinforcing a positive mindset.
• Start a "Skill Swap" session with friends or colleagues to learn from each other and foster collaboration. Organize a casual gathering where each person teaches a skill they're proficient in, ranging from cooking a dish to using a software program. This encourages a culture of sharing knowledge and working together, as well as appreciating each other's abilities.

Aligning the Organization's Philanthropic Efforts With Employees' Passions

Spiegelman and Berrett emphasize allowing employees to choose causes they are passionate about when making philanthropic efforts. This aligns their intrinsic motivation to serve with their workplace. They provide examples of successful programs that empower employees to decide how to make a community impact.

Berrett describes how Medical City invested in providing pop-up tents for employees to use at community events, motivating them to proudly display the hospital's logo while supporting their personal interests. Similarly, Spiegelman details how BerylHealth created the Better Beryl Bureau (BBB), a group that empowers employees to choose how the company allocates its resources for community service. These programs demonstrate that giving employees agency in community engagement not only strengthens their connection to the company's goals but also makes the company's outreach more meaningful and impactful.

Context

• Long-term community relationships are a key component of CSR strategies, demonstrating a company’s commitment to ethical practices and social values beyond profit.
• Being attuned to community needs can help companies stay ahead of regulatory changes and ensure compliance with local laws and standards.
• Ensuring that outreach programs align with core values helps maintain strategic consistency across all company initiatives, avoiding mixed messages and confusion.
• Positive outreach initiatives can attract media attention, providing free publicity and enhancing the company’s public image.
• Investing in community projects can strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, including local governments, non-profits, and community leaders, facilitating smoother operations and potential collaborations.
• This concept involves companies taking responsibility for their impact on society and the environment, often through active outreach and engagement initiatives.
• Trust is built over time, requiring sustained efforts rather than one-off initiatives. Long-term partnerships and consistent presence in the community demonstrate genuine commitment.
• Gathering feedback from participants and stakeholders involved in outreach programs can provide insights into their effectiveness and areas for improvement.
• Local organizations can offer valuable perspectives on cultural nuances and community-specific issues, ensuring that outreach efforts are culturally relevant and sensitive.

Assessing and Continuously Enhancing Staff Motivation

The authors explain why it's crucial to evaluate employee involvement and create systems for continuous improvement. They argue that implementing regular satisfaction surveys is crucial for gauging employee sentiment and identifying areas that need enhancement.

Survey of Staff Involvement and Dedication

Spiegelman and Berrett emphasize the value of regular employee engagement surveys as a tool to measure and track progress in building a strong company culture. While they acknowledge that the term satisfaction can carry negative connotations, they prefer the term engagement as it implies a deeper level of commitment and connection to the company's purpose. They stress that it's crucial to not just collect data but also carefully analyze the results, looking for patterns and themes that can guide strategic decisions.

Enhance and Track Progress

The authors provide practical guidance on how to analyze and act on survey results regarding staff engagement. They advocate for creating dedicated teams to address areas with lower scores, empowering them to conduct interviews and research to determine the root cause and develop improvement strategies.

The authors also emphasize that transparency and communication are vital throughout the process. For example, they describe how BerylHealth formed groups of employees from various departments to investigate the five lowest-scoring survey categories and tasked them with presenting their findings and recommendations to the rest of the company. This open and collaborative approach demonstrates a commitment to continual improvement and fosters a sense of ownership among employees.

Practical Tips

• Consider implementing a "job swap" day or shadowing program within your organization. Employees from areas with higher engagement scores can swap roles with those from lower-scoring teams for a day or a few hours. This not only fosters empathy and understanding across different parts of the company but also allows for the exchange of best practices and ideas that could boost engagement in less motivated teams.
• Implement a "no-surprises" policy in your personal relationships. Make a commitment to those close to you that you will share important information and feelings as they arise, rather than waiting for the "right time." This could mean setting aside time each week to discuss anything that's on your mind or might affect the other person, ensuring a continuous flow of open dialogue.
• Organize a 'hackathon' style event focused on tackling one low-scoring survey category. Employees from different departments can form teams to brainstorm and develop actionable plans within a set time frame, fostering a sense of urgency and collaboration. The competitive element can drive innovation and engagement.
• Volunteer to be part of a committee or group in a local community organization, such as a neighborhood association or a school board. Offer to take on the role of gathering information on a specific issue the group is facing, and then present your findings and recommendations at the next meeting. This will give you practical experience in research, analysis, and presentation skills in a real-world setting.
• Start a "One Percent Better" journal where you write down one small thing you did each day to improve yourself or your circumstances. This could be as simple as reading an article related to your field, practicing a new language for 10 minutes, or even decluttering a single drawer. The key is to make consistent, incremental improvements that add up over time.
• Encourage employees to personalize their workspace by allowing them to bring in items from home or choose their desk accessories. This can make them feel more connected to their work environment, fostering a deeper sense of belonging and ownership. For example, if someone loves plants, they could bring in a small desk plant, which not only personalizes their space but also can improve air quality and mood.

Celebrating Achievements and Successes, Both Internally and Externally

Spiegelman and Berrett emphasize that it's vital to celebrate achievements and successes, both internally and externally, as a way to reinforce what the organization stands for and build a sense of pride among employees. They advocate for frequent and significant recognition of accomplishments, tailored to employees' specific preferences, to validate excellent work and inspire continued excellence.

Sharing Accolades and Feedback Reinforces Values

The authors provide various examples of successful acknowledgment initiatives they introduced within their workplaces. They highlight the effectiveness of peer-to-peer recognition programs, like BerylHealth's PRIDE awards and Presby's Traveling Trophy, which empower employees to acknowledge the contributions of colleagues across various divisions.

They also encourage celebrating successes beyond the traditional metrics of profit and productivity, focusing on actions that uphold the institution's essential principles, such as kind gestures towards colleagues and people receiving care. They advocate for sharing accolades publicly, both internally and externally, to further amplify the positive impact of these achievements.

Other Perspectives

• Recognition programs might not be successful if they are not well-aligned with the company's culture or if they fail to adapt to the changing dynamics within the workplace.
• Employees may feel pressured to participate in these programs, which can lead to insincere or perfunctory acknowledgments rather than genuine appreciation.
• Overemphasis on celebrating actions that uphold an institution's principles could inadvertently create a culture of performative gestures rather than genuine commitment to those values.
• There is a risk that emphasizing non-traditional metrics for success could dilute the focus on achieving tangible business outcomes, which are necessary for the sustainability of an organization.
• Publicly sharing accolades can sometimes create a competitive or envious atmosphere among employees, which may be counterproductive to fostering a collaborative work environment.

Deeper Purpose Driving Health Care Organizations

The authors reflect on the deeper purpose that drives those who work within health care organizations, emphasizing that it is a calling, not just a job. They argue that successful leadership in the medical field requires dedicating themselves to inspiring and fostering this sense of deeper purpose among employees.

Healthcare: A Calling, Not Simply Employment

Spiegelman and Berrett argue that opting for a healthcare profession is rooted in a desire to make a difference in the lives of others. They emphasize that those who choose this path often prioritize personal fulfillment and purpose over financial gain or career advancement, highlighting the inherent altruism that permeates the healthcare sector. They recognize the challenges and sacrifices healthcare workers face, often working long hours for modest compensation, and draw a link between those who thrive in this environment and their tie to a deeper purpose.

Employees Aim to Impact Lives

The authors highlight the motivation to pursue a healthcare career as a desire to leave a positive impact on other people's lives. This transcends the technical aspects of the role and instead emphasizes the human element of providing compassionate treatment. They recount their own experiences, demonstrating this underlying motivation.

Berrett recounts his own journey, starting with his hospitalization in his teenage years, highlighting the pivotal role caring healthcare professionals played in shaping his view of the field. Spiegelman recounts his time volunteering in a children's cancer unit, forming a strong bond with a young patient named José. These stories emphasize the enduring impact of careers in healthcare and the legacy that drives healthcare professionals to persevere even amidst challenging circumstances.

Practical Tips

• Start a journal to reflect on your daily interactions, focusing on moments where you could have shown more compassion or where you witnessed compassionate care. This practice will help you become more aware of the opportunities to provide emotional support in your own life, whether it's with family, friends, or colleagues.
• Engage in virtual simulations or interactive online scenarios related to healthcare. Look for websites or apps that offer immersive experiences where you can make decisions as a healthcare provider. These simulations can provide a low-risk environment to explore the complexities of healthcare careers and can shape your views without the need for physical presence in a healthcare setting.
• Volunteer for projects or roles that align with your desired legacy. If you aspire to leave a legacy of innovation in healthcare, look for opportunities to join committees or task forces focused on implementing new technologies or practices in your workplace.

Leaders Must Tap Into Their Core Motivations to Foster Engagement

Motivating Your Team Through the Sacredness of Healthcare

The authors conclude by emphasizing the sacred nature of healthcare work and the need for leaders to embrace this perspective to foster employee engagement, ultimately leading to better patient experiences. They advocate for a leadership style that embraces compassion, kindness, and respect, both towards patients and towards employees, as the cornerstone of a successful healthcare organization.

The authors refer to this foundation as a "higher power," a guiding principle rooted in their spiritual beliefs, individual ethics, and dedication to serving others. They challenge those in leadership to tap into their own sense of higher purpose and, in turn, inspire their employees to embody this concept in their roles. This involves recognizing the profound impact healthcare workers have on people and fostering an environment where they feel valued and empowered to effect change. The authors invite readers to join them in this mission, to embrace the principles outlined in the book, and to participate in the ongoing conversation about fostering a more engaged and caring healthcare system.

Practical Tips

• Implement a "Mindful Moment" at the beginning of each shift, where the team takes a minute to reflect on the importance of their roles and the lives they touch. This brief, routine practice can help center the team on the sacred mission of their work, encouraging a mindset of engagement and compassion before the demands of the day begin.
• Create a "Respect Challenge" with friends or coworkers where you commit to giving a genuine compliment to at least one person in your healthcare environment every day. This could be about their work ethic, a specific task they've done well, or their positive attitude. Sharing your experiences with others can create a ripple effect, encouraging a culture of respect and recognition.
• Create a "Purpose Recognition Program" where you acknowledge and reward employees who demonstrate a strong commitment to the company's purpose. This could be through actions that go above and beyond their job description to advance the company's mission. Recognize these individuals in team meetings or through internal communications to highlight the importance of purpose-driven work.
• Volunteer your time to support healthcare workers indirectly by helping with tasks that can ease their burden. Offer to run errands, provide transportation, or assist with administrative tasks at local health organizations. Your contribution can free up their time and energy to focus more on patient care.