Listening sessions help turn feedback into action

Approximately a 3-minute read

Key takeaways: 

• The organization’s leadership team has been rounding with employees to help build a better workplace that is more nimble and responsive to staff concerns.
• The initiative was created as the result of feedback delivered in the 2022 Vital Voices engagement survey.
• Since rounding began, MLT leaders have partnered closely with segment and unit leaders. In response, segment leadership has implemented a number of important improvements.

Last December, the Michigan Leadership Team (MLT) began regularly rounding with employees to hear their thoughts and feedback on how the organization runs on a daily basis. 

For the employees, rounding is a chance to gain the ear of leaders with whom they don’t typically interact. For leaders, it’s a chance to build a better workplace that is more nimble and responsive to staff concerns.

“MLT Rounding was born out of results we heard in the 2022 Vital Voices survey, and our goal is to improve communication and build a stronger culture of accountability,” said Dee Hunt, M.S., Michigan Medicine’s chief human resources officer. “In just a few short months, we have learned so much from our staff members and have begun the work to make their lives a little bit easier.”

Matt Comstock, M.B.A., M.H.S.A., executive director for administration and chief operating officer for the U-M Medical School, is an executive co-sponsor of the rounding initiative. He said the listening sessions have been invaluable so far.

“Our teams have been so open and forthcoming with their concerns and thoughts on how we can improve the work we do,” Comstock said. “Similarly, unit and segment leaders have been incredible in working with us to spearhead actions in direct response to what we are hearing on our rounds.

“It’s truly been a group effort.”

Touching all areas

So how does rounding work? Each month, members of the organization’s leadership team pair off and visit various areas of the organization.

Rounding sessions have taken place in the Adult Hospitals, C&W, Ambulatory Care areas, Shared Services, and next week, leaders will visit the U-M Medical School.

Once the medical school rounds are complete, MLT will begin the cycle over again and plans are in place to keep rounding going for the foreseeable future.

Taking Vital Actions

Since rounding began, MLT leaders have partnered closely with segment and unit leaders. In response, segment leadership has implemented the following improvements.

These include:

• Engaging with unit leadership to overhaul and enhance nursing orientation and onboarding programs.
• Providing training and professional development to staff members to increase safety in relation to patient/family interactions.
• Widening access to a lactation room on the fourth floor of University Hospital.
• Providing access to a pedestrian bridge from parking areas to the third floor of C&W.
• Updating status boards in C&W to create the ability to better notify families of delays in surgery.
• Creating a team on 11W to help solve supply and pharmacy issues.

The feedback MLT has received from rounding efforts has been incredibly positive.

“It’s great to know that leadership, all the way from our local unit to the very top, want to hear our voices and partner to improve things we think are important,” said one team after a rounding session in C&W.

For Rose Glenn, chief communication and marketing officer at Michigan Medicine and another executive co-sponsor of the initiative, it’s that type of feedback that shows that rounding is having the impact that the leadership team hoped.

“The voices of our staff are critical to our success as an organization,” Glenn said. “We want to improve their work experience so that they can in turn improve the experience of everyone we serve. That’s what rounding is all about.”