It started as a way to model spectacular care – the kind of care that we want every client to receive. It quickly became a pivotal tool in addressing the health human resources crisis and fostering interprofessional understanding and respect. 

Like many organizations, VHA Home HealthCare (VHA) – a large not-for-profit homecare organization operating in multiple regions across Ontario – has had an awards program in place for decades. But in 2015, as part of our work to integrate the voices of clients and families into all that we do, we overhauled the program to put nominations in the hands of clients and families.  

Once a year, we open up a nomination process for clients to identify any member of the VHA team who has had an impact on their life and has delivered spectacular client care. We receive handwritten letters, emails and telephone calls with poignant descriptions of real impact. This year we received 680 nominations from clients, up from 401 in 2022. For context, VHA has a workforce of about 3,000. Ten winners are selected by a group of their peers and a client partner to receive a Client Choice Award. 

To bring more visibility to what spectacular care looks and feels like, we invest in producing high-quality videos showcasing client and family stories and the impact their VHA care provider has had in their life. These interactions normally play out behind closed doors in clients' homes, so it is rare and wonderful to have them publicly shared and celebrated. 

The awards are presented at VHA’s annual staff recognition party, which also includes long-service awards and retirements. You can hear a pin drop when the videos are played live, and there are more than a few tears. It is immensely meaningful for winners to have their colleagues witness the profound and powerful relationships they have with their clients. The depth of emotion speaks to the shared pride and gratitude we feel as a community of care providers. 

The videos demonstrate the complex and nuanced situations that our care providers experience daily and the caring, innovative and specialized ways in which they respond. The experience contributes to interprofessional understanding and respect, benefiting our entire team. As staff see themselves reflected in situations that others face, it creates a shared experience among people who will never work in the same room together. The videos help to educate employees about all the little things and concrete actions that make care truly spectacular in the eyes of clients. 

As the health human resources crisis continues to impact our sector, VHA’s Client Choice Awards program helps us honour, encourage, support and retain staff. Accreditation Canada has named it a leading practice. The model is simple enough for any healthcare organization to adapt in order to engage, inspire and retain more staff.

Fortuitously, the program has opened up a new line of communication with our clients and families as well. They love to share their appreciation for the excellent care they receive from their personal support workers, nurses, rehabilitation service providers and coordinators, and they appreciate the opportunity to tell their stories.

We enthusiastically recognize the nominees, as well as the winners, publishing nominee names internally and externally. Our chief executive officer personally sends each nominee a copy of their nomination so that they can see the wonderful things their clients have written about them. 

And while the program has grown year after year and has become embedded in our organizational story and culture, we have continued to find ways to expand its impact. 

In early 2020, we asked our workforce to help define what makes VHA unique. Working in home care is not easy, and it is not for everyone. We wanted to understand what attracted people to join VHA and, even more importantly, what about our culture inspires them to stay. These insights became our employee value proposition (EVP). We distilled the ideas into three pillars: leading with purpose, building bonds that matter and being empowered every day.

Always looking for new ways to motivate and celebrate our team, this year VHA added a new awards program to strengthen our culture of leadership excellence. VHA’s Leadership Awards recognize individuals at all levels who consistently demonstrate impactful leadership behaviours and acknowledge that leadership is independent of job title. Like the Client Choice Awards, the selection committee includes a diverse group of VHA staff, service providers and a client partner. At VHA, leadership is about living our values, which is why the awards are aligned to the three pillars of our EVP. 

Employee recognition is not a “nice-to-have” in healthcare. It is essential. The human connection matters, and not just to clients. Deep appreciation coupled with genuine, caring leadership can help retain the workforce we so desperately need.

Comments

Be the first to comment on this!