Case Study: Royal Children's Hospital Foundation

Business Description:

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is the charity attached to Brisbane’s Royal Children’s Hospital. The Foundation raises funds for the care and treatment of sick kids from all over Queensland, northern New South Wales, interstate, and even overseas. The funds raised also provide support for outreach programs and telephone help lines for sick and injured kids in regional centres. With the help and support of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, the hospital is able to care for more than 100,000 children each year.

Karenlee Spillane is CEO of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation and has been working in not-for-profit organisations for 13 years.


Business Challenge/Problem:

Finding dedicated people with the right values match and the skill set to grow and support our business.

The not for profit sector is a competitive environment with over 700,000 organisations in Australia.  People are often attracted to the industry because they have an affinity with the cause.  While this is important, it is also essential that those in the not-for-profit industry have the skills, expertise and innovation to operate professionally with sometimes limited resources.

For those seeking a sea change, it is important to understand that the issues faced by a typical corporation are no different in the not-for-profit sector.

As a result of this misconception, the organisation has faced relatively high staff turnover rates.


Business Challenge/Problem:

Staff retention is a key challenge for the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation. While the cause is positive, providing a positive workplace environment is also paramount.

Another challenge for the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is facilitating opportunities for advancement and ensuring staff are in “the right job”. This is particularly important in retaining staff that fall into the Generation Y category because of their tendency to leave if their position isn’t consistently challenging. This area remains a primary focus for the senior management team.

 
The Solution:

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation started working with Onetest in 2003 initially to assist with its recruitment, deploying Onetest’s:

• Cognitive ability test, designed to predict future job performance
• Work preferences profile, to assess likely match to a job role
• Values assessment, to predict an individual’s fit within a company’s culture

Initially the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation had used an external consultant to address the deeper recruitment challenges. In 2006, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation partnered with Onetest to examine these organisational challenges and implement strategies to overcome these recruitment challenges.

Onetest advised the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation to conduct a perception survey among its 50 employees in order to identify any factors that could be improved to reduce turnover rates.

In addition, the survey served as a way to subliminally reinforce company values.

The survey was conducted online using the Onetest Freestyle survey tool, making it easy for staff to do while allowing Onetest to receive the responses instantaneously.

The survey examined:

• Staff members’ understanding of their roles
• The extent to which staff members felt empowered to do their jobs
• Quality of communication and cooperation between departments
• Staff recognition and rewards for good work
• Opportunities for career growth
• Perceptions of supervisors
• Perceptions of the senior management team

The 2005 Result:

The principle recommendation from the first survey was that staff morale, while high, was impacted by the perception that senior management kept themselves at arm’s length from staff and did not communicate well with other staff members.

While this was the perception it was important for senior management to understand the impact of it and to take appropriate actions to open the lines of communication and address the concern.

In response to the feedback from this survey, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation refined its recruitment policy. This includes the introduction of a panel style interview when recruiting for new positions, better structured interview procedures, and changes to how positions are advertised.

This approach has proved successful with the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation employing staff with a good skill base and strong values match.


The 2006 Result:

Reassuringly the results of the 2006 survey showed improved communication between management and frontline staff.
 
In 2005, 62% of respondents believed that senior managers embodied the ground rules and values of the organisation. In 2006 this figure increased by more than twenty per cent, with 88% agreeing with the statement.

Other results included 80% of staff indicating they felt they had the power, resources and tools to do their job to the best of their ability and over 90% of employees stated that they would recommend the organisation as an employer to others. These results indicated that the organisation had made significant inroads in addressing staff concerns and are on the right track to reducing turnover rates.

After the 2006 survey The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation created a strategy that would ensure the issues highlighted were addressed and communicated to staff. This in turn has allowed management to work together with staff to enhance the quality of the staffs’ working life.

This strategy included sharing the results - the good and the bad - with all staff and announcing the company’s direction and outlook, so employees could feel part of the Foundation’s vision.

The senior management team has initiated a practice of recognising good work, offering praise and sharing the glories of successful campaigns.  This enables all team members to feel involved and reassured that their contribution is important to the organisation.

To be seen as accessible, the senior management team has invited staff to voice their opinions freely and to feel comfortable raising any issues of concern or suggestions for improvement.

Future Steps:

As a result of the feedback provided through the surveys, the Foundation has decided to conduct a staff perception survey every two years so they can adopt a continuous improvement process.

This is an integral way for the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation to demonstrate to staff that the organisation is serious about constantly improving the culture of the organisation.


Testimonial:

“I would recommend that other not-for-profit organisations do staff perception surveys. It gives a really good picture of the culture of the organisation as well as providing valuable insight into staff morale. It also highlights any possible issues before they become a major problem.

Additionally, it’s important to have a third party conduct the survey. This provides staff with the ability and peace of mind to comment honestly and Onetest could interpret the results objectively.”