How was the Joy at Work Committee started at CHCA?

In 2019, Bronx Partners for Healthy Communities’ Workforce Innovation Program offered Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) an opportunity to participate in a 12-week virtual coaching program called, “Finding and Creating Joy in Work”.  This course was created by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a non-profit organization focused on improving health care worldwide by providing tools and resources to partner organizations through training sessions, conferences, and advisory services. The IHI's Joy in Work initiative aims to help healthcare organizations address burnout, which can lead to staff turnover and negatively impact the quality of care/customer service.  

Prior to the pandemic, CHCA embarked on this initiative which was aimed at gauging the happiness of our employees in their workplaces and identifying any existing gaps or areas for improvement.  During the pandemic, we paused our efforts, and this year, we made the decision to rekindle our work.    

Conducting One-on-One Interviews with our Employees  

This initiative started by asking administrative staff members to share their experiences at CHCA, Jennifer Calix, HR Coordinator, and Derek Cabrera, Help Desk Analysts teamed up together and reached out to employees that work across all the departments, such as finance, compliance, workforce, maintenance, etc. They interviewed 38% of the total number of office staff members. Jennifer and Derek collected the responses to two basic questions: 

1. What are the “Bright Spots” from working at CHCA? What makes it a good day at CHCA?
2. What are the “Pebbles in your Shoes”?  What are the areas of improvement at CHCA?
   

After recording each staff’s experience, themes were created from the responses. The findings of the research were shared with the management team and with employees to ensure transparency across the organization. Jennifer and Derek designed an eye-catching display of the themes on both floors of our organization. This display also serves as a reminder of the areas that we excel in and those we need to improve on as an organization. 

What were the Bright Spots?

Bright Spots are the things that help make a good day at work. Identifying the bright spots helps us understand what our staff values. The bright spots help us see what we are doing well as a community. 

Several themes that emerged from the interviews were: 

• Peer Relationships: The kindness, appreciation, and support present among the staff. 
  
• Benefits: Employees expressed content with their benefits package, including vacation time, flexibility, and health insurance. 
• Mission: Highlights our work environment and commitment to culture. 
• Continuous Workflow Improvement: Engaging workload.
  

What were the Pebbles in Our Shoes?

Pebbles in our shoes are impediments to joy at work. Discovering the common pebbles amongst our staff helps identify areas for improvement within our company. These are the areas that we will work together as an organization to improve. Employees identified the following themes: a need for all levels of employees to practice their coaching skills on a consistent basis and staff also expressed experiencing gaps between the different departments and units within the organization. 

Establishing A joy at Work Committee 

Now that we understood the areas that we needed to focus on improving, we needed a team of staff that could lead this initiative and ensure that we are working to meet our goals. CHCA assembled a diverse team of five individuals from across the departments; having staff members representing a mix of our administrative staff was an important aspect of this work. The committee reviewed its charter with the members, so everyone was on the same page with expectations, responsibilities, and deliverables.   

Next Steps for the Committee

Since its formation, the committee has led two activities to help address one of the pebbles, experiencing gaps between the different departments and units within the organization. The first activity was an Ice Cream Social to bid farewell to the end of summer. CHCA created an ice cream bar with different flavors of ice cream and several delicious toppings. As staff enjoyed their cup or cone, the Committee leaders led a fun Ice Cream theme trivia game; the winners received a Carvel’s gift card.

The second activity was a “Get to Know” exercise implemented during World Kindness Day, where administrative staff were paired off and provided with an empty card with prompts and questions to get to know their colleagues. This activity aimed at creating stronger bonds amongst our staff and closing the gaps in our working relationships and communication.  

The Joy@Work Committee continues to meet on a monthly basis to determine which strategies can be implemented to target the pebbles in our findings and continue to improve our work environment, communication, and relationships.  

Why is this work important?

At CHCA we value our employees, and we want them to feel motivated and engaged in their roles and the services we deliver every day to our communities. Our administrative staff supports our mission and drives the growth of our business, and we are committed to driving their personal and professional growth. The work we do through the Joy@Work initiatives is aimed at meeting these goals and building an internal community that shares and promotes values such as dedication, respect, communication, and understanding.

For more information on CHCA, please visit us at CHCANY.ORG