Our People Strategy - Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services Our People Strategy will make...

Because We Are Stronger Together

Our People Strategy( (

2 ) Alberta Health Services

CLEAR VISION. SHARED PURPOSE. COMMON GOALS.

A SAFE, HEALTHY AND INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE.

EXCELLENT LEADERS. EMPOWERED PEOPLE.

3Our People Strategy: Because We Are Stronger Together )

Executive Summary ............................................................... 4

The Why of Our People Strategy ............................................. 6

The Who of Our People Strategy ............................................. 8

Our Vision and Values ......................................................... 10

The How of Our People Strategy ........................................... 12

The What of Our People Strategy .......................................... 14

Our People Strategy Actions ................................................. 19

Measuring Our Success ........................................................ 23

High Level Action Plan .......................................................... 26

Appendix ............................................................................. 31

Acknowledgements .............................................................. 34

( Table of Contents


Our People Strategy will make our work more meaningful to each of us and improve the health of Albertans.

Whatever your role at Alberta Health Services, it’s important to providing quality health care to Albertans.

The collective skill, talent and wisdom our workforce brings to Albertans’ health form the core of Our People Strategy. Our workforce has exceptional depth and breadth: some 131,000 employees, physicians, midwives and volunteers in hundreds of cities, towns and rural communities across the province.

Their work is as diverse as life itself, ranging from prenatal and pregnancy care to palliative and end of life care to immunization and public health to emergency care and renal treatment. It includes building and running hospitals and health centres, searching for new knowledge and adopting innovation—in every aspect of our work.

For the past two years, AHS has explored how our workplace can become stronger and healthier—Our People Strategy outlines how we will do that.

The views and experiences of some 60,000 people throughout AHS helped shape Our People Strategy. They told us they want to be safe, respected and empowered. They want to know where our organization is going and why. We heard they want to understand how their contributions bring us closer to our goals. And they want to feel respected, valued and supported at work.

With that in mind, Our People Strategy has four priorities and two goals.

Our priorities are:

• Clear vision. Shared purpose. Common goals.

• A safe healthy and inclusive workplace.

• Excellent leaders.

• Empowered people.

Our goals are:

• A safe, healthy and valued workforce and, in turn,

• Improved patient and family experiences, quality and safety.

( Executive Summary

Dr. Verna Yiu

Todd Gilchrist

Dave Bilan


These goals go hand in hand. When health care workers are highly engaged in their work, their patients’ outcomes and experiences improve.

Our People Strategy is one of four foundational strategies that guide AHS’ efforts to sustain safe, high-quality health care in Alberta. The other three are Patient First, Information Management and Information Technology, and Clinical Health Research, Innovation and Analytics. Our People Strategy addresses a critical success factor for the other three strategies: an engaged workforce connected to our collective efforts to improve Alberta’s health care system.

Our People Strategy will reach its goals through a concrete, three-year course of action that will:

• Seek front-line leaders’ advice on issues and initiatives affecting their teams and their communities.

• Clarify the roles of corporate teams (such as Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology) so front-line leaders can focus on their teams, and on our patients and their families.

• Strengthen the support leaders need to communicate and engage more effectively.

• Increase workplace health and safety.

• Simplify how we identify, develop and assess our leaders.

• Clearly identify how decisions are made, and by whom.

These actions will give leaders more opportunities to interact, collaborate and communicate with their teams, and our patients and their families.

On behalf of AHS’ Executive Leaders Team, we would like to thank the many people who contributed to Our People Strategy.

Because we are stronger together, it is vital for our workforce to feel more connected to our organization and to know how we each contribute to the health of Albertans. Our People Strategy is a roadmap to these goals. We look forward to the journey to make our work more meaningful to each of us and improve the health of Albertans.

Dr. Verna YiuPresident and Chief Executive OfficerAlberta Health Services

Todd Gilchrist Vice President Human Resources

Dave Bilan Interim Vice President Collaborative Practice Nursing and Health Professions

Priorities

• Clear vision. Shared purpose. Common goals.

• A safe, healthy and inclusive workplace.

• Excellent leaders.

• Empowered people.

Our People Strategy embodies our vision: Healthy Albertans. Healthy Communities. Together.


Modern life moves at a dizzying pace.

Change is constant. Knowledge is doubling every 12 months—with the pace accelerating. And workplaces are rapidly evolving.

It is a time of complex challenges and great opportunities.

Our People Strategy details how AHS will face these challenges and opportunities in its many workplaces. Together.

Successful and effective organizations of every size embrace and establish sound workplace practices to engage their people. For good reason. When people are highly engaged, their performance excels. In health care, research shows the patient experience improves and adverse patient events decrease when workers are more engaged.

Research confirms workforce engagement is a valid objective for Our People Strategy. It also indicates we need a comprehensive approach to improving engagement.

( The Why of Our People Strategy

Engagement:

The degree to which people logically and emotionally connect to their work and the organization they work for, and how it affects their performance.


Potential to be Great

Through discussions, online consultations and surveys, people told us about the importance of communication, collaboration, change-adoption practices and our organizational values. Time and again, they said we have the opportunity—and potential––to work together to make our organization a great place to work and make a difference to Albertans.

This means paying attention to the foundations of our work (such as practices, basic needs and the work itself), as well as elements such as empowerment, communication and productivity.

AHS gained insight into the importance of the engagement of its workforce through surveys in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

For example, our overall engagement level remained unchanged from 2012 to 2014, at 53 per cent. By comparison, some of Canada’s leading health care organizations have engagement levels in the range of 75 per cent. Our recent survey reflected a balance of positive and negative movement, rather than things staying the same. But it also clearly indicates we have room for improvement in our workforce. As we noted earlier, when engagement increases, worker performance excels, the patient experience improves and adverse patient events decrease.

We gained additional insight into workforce engagement through Our People Strategy’s consultation process.

Our People Strategy’s action plan honours and addresses our consultation and engagement survey findings: our people want to work together to create a healthy workforce community where everyone feels respected, valued and supported.


AHS is Canada’s first and largest province-wide, fully integrated health system.

We are Alberta’s largest employer and one of the largest in Canada. Our 106,000 employees make up four per cent of Alberta’s labour force.

Together with 17,000 volunteers, more than 8,000 physicians and nearly 100 midwives, we promote wellness, prevent disease and injury, and provide health care. We work in hospitals, health centres, classrooms and workplaces and focus on safe, high-quality, patient- and family-centred care and services. And we serve all four million people in the province. Our workforce is in cities, towns and rural communities across Alberta, which covers more than 740,000 square kilometres and an area three times the size of Great Britain.

As is the case with other workers in Alberta, our demographics are shifting. In 2015, one-third of our employees were over the age of 50. Within 10 years, millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000) will make up 75 per cent of our workforce and they will bring different attitudes and preferences to the workplace.

( The Who of Our People Strategy

We focus on safe, high-quality, patient- and family-centred care and service. And we serve all four million Albertans.


Front-line

• Nurses as well as more than 20 regulated health care professions including physiotherapy, respiratory therapy, diagnostic imaging, and laboratory and X-ray technology make up the majority of our front-line health care workforce. Other regulated professions include audiology, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, social work and some physician groups. These roles are complemented by non-regulated professions such as health care aides.

• Many front-line workers are in part-time positions, which can affect workforce supply and demand.

• This workforce is at the forefront of efforts to transform health care service and delivery, as well as how we deploy workers.

Support

• Workers in a wide range of critical roles––from contract management to communications––who support front-line health care.

• Their skills can often transfer to other sectors and their exit rate is double that of the clinical workforce. We must recruit and retain this workforce more effectively.

• As non-clinical roles are often removed from the front line, it is sometimes harder for these workers to feel connected to our patients and their families.

Physicians

• More than 8,000 physicians, dentists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons and podiatrists make up AHS’ medical staff. Depending on their work, they may be directly employed by AHS or have independent practices and businesses.

• Another 1,600 physicians in the community work indirectly with AHS and have an equally important role contributing to Alberta’s health care system.

• Our physicians have a variety of roles, settings and relationships, creating both challenges and opportunities.

Midwives

• AHS funds nearly 100 midwives who provide full-scope, low-risk maternity care. The goal is to improve access to maternity services across Alberta.

• They are independent health care providers who work in the community and at AHS facilities (through AHS appointments and privileges).

• Midwives participate in AHS programs and committees and work with AHS to grow midwifery services in Alberta, especially in rural communities and with vulnerable populations.

Volunteers

• Nearly 17,000 volunteers complete the backbone of our organization.

• Their skills and commitment make a huge difference to our organization, making them a valued part of our health care team.


The foundation of Our People Strategy is built on our vision and values.

It is about creating a workplace in which we are safe, healthy, valued, and can reach our full potential. A workplace in which we feel the strength of working together to improve patient and family experiences, quality and safety. Our organizational values and guiding principles are the foundation to creating such a workplace.

Our values guide how we behave and how we make decisions. While our vision and mission guide us towards where we are going, and the Health Plan and Business Plan determines what we will do, our values and guiding principles set expectations for all of us on how we do it.

Values

Our values of compassion, accountability, respect, excellence and safety guide the decisions and actions we take to achieve our vision.

They are the lens for how we see our organization and how we interact with one another and with our patients and their families.

Through Our People Strategy, we will embed our vision and values in many ways. For example, in our:

• Performance reviews.

• Decision-making processes.

• Learning and development programs.

• Sourcing, attracting and recruiting talent.

• Policy development and renewal processes.

• Communications and community engagement.

• Approach to employee recognition and celebrations.

• Approach to making changes and ensuring sustainability.

( Our Vision and Values

Vision

Healthy Albertans. Healthy Communities. Together.


Guiding Principles

In creating and implementing Our People Strategy, we are committed to:

• Welcoming diversity and supporting inclusion across AHS.

• Collaborating with others in AHS, and with our partners throughout Alberta.

• Grounding our actions and decisions in AHS’ values and standards, such as our Code of Conduct, Just Culture and Patient- and Family-Centred Care.

AHS’ Four Foundational Strategies

Our People Strategy is one of four AHS foundational strategies to achieve AHS’ vision: Healthy Albertans. Healthy Communities. Together.


Alberta Health Services’ Our People Strategy was shaped by:

• 60,000 people in our workforce who responded to the Workforce Engagement Surveys, the Patient Safety Culture Survey and the Clinical Frontline Leaders Survey and participated in professional practice vision consultations. We also consulted extensively with 1,000 employees, physicians and volunteers.

• The knowledge and expertise of corporate and clinical teams across the organization.

• The goals of AHS’ Health Plan and Business Plan and three other foundational strategies.

• A literature review of the link between workforce engagement and organizational performance.

( The How of Our People Strategy


Cycle of Engagement

Go Further

Individually and together, AHS’ workforce is passionate and heartfelt about providing the best possible health care and experiences.

Committed to making a difference to our patients and their families every day, they said they wanted to go further and create a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued and supported.

Shared Goals

AHS’ Our People Strategy aligns to a number of existing AHS strategic directions and goals.

The Health Plan and Business Plan’s three strategic directions focus on improving Albertans’ experience and achieving quality and sustainability. They weave AHS’ commitment to quality into all aspects of our work.

• Ensuring quality of care in our communities.

• Partnering for better health outcomes.

• Achieving health system sustainability.

The Patient First Strategy notes that our work must reflect a patient- and family-centred approach. It discusses four sub-themes of such care:

• Promote respect.

• Enhance communications.

• Support a team-based approach to care.

• Improve transitions in care.

Common Themes

Some of the common themes we heard when creating Our People Strategy were:

• The most important thing we can do is improve health care for Albertans.

• Working with knowledgeable teams keeps us motivated, energized and engaged.

• It’s important to know and respect the skills and jobs of the people we work with.

• We want to be treated the way we treat others: with respect and equality.

• Let’s embed our values into everything we do every day.

• Be more aware of the outside influences on our organization.

• We want to speak, be heard and have our questions answered.

• When we take better care of our workers, we’re able to take better care of our patients.

• We look to leaders to interpret our role in the bigger picture.

Enga

gement

More engagement

Better patient care

Illustration adapted from The Relationship between Employee Satisfaction and Hospital Patient Experiences; Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement by J. Peltier, A. Dahl and F. Mulhern.


A clear plan to reach our goals.

Our People Strategy is organized around two goals, four outcomes and four strategic priorities, with a detailed action plan to deliver on them.

By taking this approach, we have directly linked our workforce’s needs with our organization’s needs.

Our People Strategy is about how we support each other. It is about creating a workplace in which we all feel safe, healthy and valued, and can reach our full potential. Through Our People Strategy, workforce engagement will be higher, and patient and family experiences will improve as a result.

Our People Strategy reflects and builds on much of the good work that is already underway in the organization.

( The What of Our People Strategy


Our People Strategy Framework

Four Priorities and 11 Broad Actions

Clear Vision. Shared Purpose. Common Goals.

• Clarify our vision, mission, goals, values, priorities and guiding principles–and communicate them so we all know how our work connects to the big picture.

• Implement supports for leaders to meet their communication and engagement accountabilities.

• Make decisions and manage change in ways that respect those involved.

Excellent Leaders.

• Clarify the leadership behaviours and competencies we need and implement a talent development program to support leaders in meeting those expectations.

• Enable leaders and their teams with appropriate authority and services that support their needs.

• Develop an integrated approach to workforce planning and define our employee value proposition to support leaders in recruiting and deploying the right people.

A Safe, Healthy and Inclusive Workplace

• Provide inclusive work environments that protect and support physical health and mental well-being.

• Set and endorse expectations for workplace health and safety behaviours and performance, and provide support to meet those expectations.

• Prioritize physical safety in the design and management of our work environments.

Empowered People.

• Clarify the behaviours and competencies we need in our people and implement a talent development program to support them in meeting those expectations.

• Promote and provide opportunities, resources and supports for people to access learning and development in support of organizational priorities and local actions.


Two Goals

Leading toSafe, healthy and valued people.

Improved patient and family experiences, quality and safety.

Four Outcomes

Improved workforce engagement.

Improved patient safety culture.

Improved workplace health and safety.

Improved patient care experiences.


Creating tomorrow’s attributes.

Our People Strategy will guide and direct the attributes of our workplace today to create the attributes we have in the future.

Today’s Attributes

We care deeply about providing quality health care for Albertans.

We want to be more engaged in improving AHS’ quality, results and value.

We can struggle to keep up with change. We want to contribute to decisions that affect us.

We want more information, direction and support from our leaders.

Our People Strategy Role

Our roadmap to how we support each other. With it, we will create a workplace that makes all of us feel safe, healthy, valued and able to reach our full potential.

Builds on good work already underway and our ability to work together in everything we do.

Tomorrow’s Attributes

Albertans will have better health care experiences.

Through engagement, we perform better and understand our contributions to AHS.

Change is well defined, manageable and positive. We have a voice.

Our leaders have the time, skills and resources to give us information, direction and support.


Our People Strategy will focus on existing work to:

• Communicate our vision, goals and values so we know how we can contribute to the big picture.

• Support leaders, teams and individuals with workplace health and safety.

• Prioritize physical safety in the design and management of our work environments.

• Align learning and development programs to defined behaviours and competencies.

• Enable leaders and their teams with appropriate authority and services that support their needs.

• Promote and provide ways for people to access the learning and development they need.

Our People Strategy will also:

• Give teams and leaders support to communicate and engage.

• Respect the people involved in decisions and changes.

• Do more to provide inclusive work environments that protect and support physical health and mental well-being.

• Define and enhance our employee value proposition.

• Promote excellence in professional practice.

We will focus on aligning and strengthening existing work.


The four priorities of Our People Strategy respond to the themes that emerged from the consultation process. These priorities are supported by a detailed action plan and reflect a comprehensive approach to supporting us to reach our full potential, in support of our organizational goals.

The action plan is complemented by comprehensive communication and engagement tools that will help mobilize leaders and teams to leverage the strategy and its opportunities. The strategy, action plan and communications tools will be published on AHS’ intranet, Insite.

( Our People Strategy Actions


We heard in our consultations about the importance of workplace health and safety and why it must be an organizational priority supported by infrastructure, accountability and leaders. Beyond legislated obligations, we also need to feel safe, healthy and valued at work, wherever that may be: cities, towns or rural communities. That means a workplace that promotes and protects our physical and mental health.

Over the past six years, investments in our workplace’s health and safety have resulted in significant increases in safety performance. We see room for more improvements and will use our 2014 safety results as benchmarks:

• More than 4,000 worker injuries.

• $13.4 million in direct Workers’ Compensation Board claims.

• $37.5 million in insurance premiums.

• 25,000 days lost due to injury or illness, which is equal to 100 full-time jobs.

Safety is one of our organizational values and Our People Strategy will further embed safety within the culture across the organization.

A SAFE, HEALTHY AND INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE.

Research shows organizations are more successful when their people can connect their role and work to the bigger picture.

Our Workforce Engagement Survey identified organizational vision as the top driver of our workers’ engagement. Our People Strategy consultations suggested that while more than half of us feel a strong sense of engagement in our personal efforts at work—we still have a strong desire to be more connected to our collective efforts. This strategic priority recognizes that feeling connected to our organization and knowing how we contribute to it are fundamental to our engagement.

Through Our People Strategy’s action plan, we will see and experience:

• Clarity on our vision, mission, values, goals and priorities.

• Leaders supported in their communication and engagement accountabilities.

• Visibility, transparency, communication and engagement from executive and senior leaders teams.

• Decision-making that is guided by our values, patient experiences and outcomes.

• Those of us leading change will have the knowledge and skills to do it well.



Work is underway to align with the 2013 National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. We are also participating in a national study led by the Mental Health Commission of Canada on how Canadian workplaces are implementing the standard. This work is intended to improve psychological safety in our environments and contribute to the growing body of national knowledge.

A safe workplace is essential to diversity and inclusion. We will become diverse and inclusive by ensuring all of us—employees, volunteers, physicians, midwives, patients and family members—feel safe, welcome and valued regardless of race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status, sexual orientation, education or diversity of perspective.

We will embed this commitment in all aspects of our work. We are already taking positive steps. Aboriginal awareness learning is available for all staff through MyLearningLink. In addition, our Transgender Guidelines provide guidance for supporting employees through gender transitions. Both are examples of how we are already proactively creating a supportive and inclusive workplace.

Through Our People Strategy’s action plan, we will see:

• Reduced health and safety risks through infrastructure planning and improved security at clinical sites.

• Contributions acknowledged, recognized and celebrated.

• A renewed commitment to diversity, inclusion, cultural competency and sensitivity.

• Greater support for workers facing chronic and serious stressors in their jobs.

• A clearer approach to communicable disease management.

• Leaders better equipped to deal with workplace health and safety.

People told us everything we’re trying to achieve begins with leaders. Our success depends on strong, effective and values-based leaders at every level.

We know leaders play an important role in helping us feel respected, valued and supported at work. They are also pivotal in empowering workers to make appropriate decisions in their jobs.

This strategic priority recognizes our success begins with strong and effective leaders and management that reflects our values and principles.

EXCELLENT LEADERS


Through our consultations, people said resources and professional development are empowering.

When it comes to making decisions that affect us, we must strike a balance between organizational consistency, community needs and our ability to act. We look to leaders to ensure workloads are reasonable, roles and expectations are clear, and that we understand how we contribute to our organization’s goals.

We can do more to create learning environments that encourage problem-solving and innovation.

Therefore, this strategic priority recognizes our value and the importance of empowering us to be effective in our roles.


• New development programs and performance review approaches to support us.

• Access to MyLearningLink from home, as well as enhanced on-site access to learning.

• Professional practice support for our people to guide excellence.

EMPOWERED PEOPLE


• An integrated approach to develop and support leaders that includes: – Leadership development programs.

– Coaching, mentoring and career pathways.

– Performance review resources and processes.

– Succession management.

– Hiring practices.

• Leaders equipped with the knowledge and skills to better manage and lead change.

• Front-line leaders more focused on employee and patient needs through reduced administrative workload.

• Easily understood authority and decision-making to manage costs and people resources.

• Clarity around the services provided by corporate departments such as Human Resources, Finance and IT.

• Leaders able to identify and act on engagement and health and safety.


The ability to clearly track progress is critical to measuring our success.

This includes carefully selecting appropriate measures so we can evaluate progress and celebrate successes, as well as change course should the need arise.

Research shows us how difficult it is to demonstrate a clear cause and effect between action and outcomes when it comes to people. While elements such as turnover, sick time and injury rates can be accurately quantified, concepts such as motivation, satisfaction and engagement are harder to pinpoint and assess.

With this in mind, we have identified three ways to measure the success of Our People Strategy:

• Long-term high performance targets.

• Success measures.

• Action plan activity measures.

( Measuring Our Success


Long-Term High Performance Targets

Our long-term high performance targets use Canadian health care best practices to demonstrate progress against our goals and outcomes.

High Performance Targets

By 2018/19

• Recognized as one of Alberta’s top employers.

By 2020/21

• Recognized as one of Canada’s top 100 employers.

• In top 25 per cent of Canadian health care employers for workforce engagement.

• At or above national average for patient safety.

• In top 10 per cent of Canadian health care employers for lowest lost-time injury rate.

Two Goals

Leading toSafe, healthy and valued people.

Improved patient and family experiences, quality and safety.


Success Measures

Our success measures use internal or best-practice targets to demonstrate progress against Our People Strategy’s Strategic Priorities. Targets for each of these measures will be established and maintained alongside development of AHS’ Balanced Scorecard. Definitions for these success measures are provided in the Appendix on page 31.


EXCELLENT LEADERSHIP.

A SAFE, HEALTHY AND INCLUSIVE WORK PLACE.

EMPOWERED PEOPLE.

Increase engagement survey scores related to organizational vision and values.

Demonstrate improvements in the Patient Satisfaction Survey.

Increase engagement and patient safety culture survey scores related to leadership.

Increase the internal talent pool of prepared leaders.

Build leadership competency assessed against LEADS.

Reduce the Disabling Injury Rate.

Exhibit continuous improvement in the Workforce Influenza Immunization Rate.

Develop a workforce that appropriately reflects the diversity of the communities in which we operate.

Increase engagement and patient safety culture survey scores related to professional development, learning culture and workload.

Increase the ratio of people accessing employer-supported learning opportunities.

Action Plan Activity Measures

We will regularly monitor progress on our action plan commitments, ensuring they are completed on time and in a way reflecting the guiding principles of Our People Strategy.


Four Strategic PrioritiesWhat we will focus on

11 Broad ActionsWhat we will do

34 DeliverablesHow we will do it

Key Statistics

• New work: nine of 34 deliverables are new (see New below). The rest call for us to do more of existing work or adjust our approach to activities already underway.

• Quick wins: eight of the deliverables begin to immediately address feedback gathered through the Our People Strategy consultation (see «).

• Strategic alignment: 20 deliverables link with one or more of the AHS’ other enabling strategies, including Patient First Strategy, AHS’ Strategy for Clinical Health Research, Innovation and Analytics, and the Information Management/ Information Technology Strategic Plan.

( High Level Action Plan


Implementation TimingStrategic Priority Broad Action Deliverables 2016/17 – 2018/19*

Clear Vision. Shared Purpose. Common Goals.

Clarify AHS’ vision, mission, goals, priorities, values and guiding principles; communicate them so that we all know how our work connects to the big picture.

« New Establish a long-term vision for AHS.

Review and refresh AHS’ values, incorporating the recommendation to include empathy. Include accountabilities for safety. Embed principles to guide behaviours.

Develop and implement a community engagement and communication plan aligning our vision, mission, goals, priorities, values, and guiding principles.

Implement supports for leaders in meeting their communication and engagement accountabilities.

« Provide all leaders, particularly executive and senior leaders, with supports for their communication accountabilities.

Use the Workforce Engagement Survey and PulseChecks as the foundation for an engagement program that supports all leaders and particularly executive and senior leaders with their engagement accountabilities.

Make decisions and manage change in a way that respects those who are involved.

Adjust the policy development and revision process to incorporate criteria related to our values and guiding principles, diversity, and appropriate local decision making.

« New On a phased basis, incorporate an approach to values based decision making that considers the impact on our people.

« Incorporate front-line and, if appropriate, patient input into the operational planning processes.

« Establish a front-line leader advisory council to advise on key issues and initiatives affecting our people.

Identify the different roles required for successful change adoption (including the sponsor) and equip leaders with the ability to manage and lead change utilizing our chosen methodology Prosci.

Least activity Most activity*



A Safe, Healthy and Inclusive Workplace

Provide inclusive work environments that protect and support physical health and mental wellbeing for all.

Assess and take steps to close the gap between our approach to psychological safety and the Canadian Standards Association Standard.

Develop and implement a recognition and celebration approach reflecting our values and patient- and family-centred care.

Develop and implement programs to support people in demonstrating cultural competency and sensitivity.

« New Engage the Canadian Centre for Diversity & Inclusion and administer its Diversity Census Tool.

Adjust, develop and implement programs and policies that support people exposed to chronic and serious stressors in the workplace.

Set and endorse expectations for workplace health and safety behaviours and performance, and provide support to meet those expectations.

« New Include workplace health and safety performance improvement (including physical safety of work environments) in operational planning processes.

« New Develop and implement a mandatory communicable disease assessment policy and process.

« New All leaders complete introductory workplace health and safety leadership training.

Prioritize physical safety in the design and management our work environments.

Wherever possible, incorporate worker health and safety risks into infrastructure investments and all phases of infrastructure projects.

« New Complete a provincial review of security in clinical settings and address situations where people may feel physically unsafe.




Excellent Leaders

Clarify the leadership behaviours and competencies we need and implement a talent development program to support leaders meeting those expectations.

Identify and endorse a single set of leadership behaviours and competencies.

Develop and implement an integrated talent development program for leaders based on established behaviours and competencies.

Enable leaders and their teams with appropriate authority and services that support their needs.

« New Communicate the services of corporate departments and how to access them.

Review, refresh and facilitate the adoption of delegation of authority frameworks.

« Implement and continually evaluate improvements to corporate services and processes.

Develop an integrated approach to workforce planning and define our employee value proposition to support leaders in recruiting and deploying the right people.

« New Define and enhance the AHS employee value proposition.

On a phased basis, develop and implement an integrated strategic workforce planning approach for our clinical, non-clinical and medical workforce.




Empowered People

Clarify the behaviours and competencies we need in our people and implement a talent development program to support them in meeting those expectations.

Establish an integrated set of expected behaviours and competencies for employees, physicians and volunteers.

Develop and implement an integrated talent development program for our people based on established behaviours and competencies.

Promote and provide opportunities, resources, and support for people to access learning and development in support of organizational priorities and local actions.

« Provide employees with access to MyLearningLink from home computers.

Support, communicate and implement excellence in professional practice.

Review provincial access to clinical educators and professional practice leaders and recommend opportunities to link with them.

Incorporate on-site learning needs into the assessment of potential infrastructure and IT investments.

Implement a systematic approach to learning at AHS.



Success Measure Definitions

The success measures identified on page 25 will be reported on using the following definitions. Targets for each of these measures will be established and maintained alongside the development of AHS’ Balanced Scorecard.

Workforce Engagement

Research points to a strong relationship between engaged people and organizational success.

Within health care, evidence shows the patient experience improves and adverse patient events go down when health care workers are more engaged.

Currently, our workforce engagement scores measure the percentage of employees, physicians and volunteers (three measures) who completed the workforce engagement surveys and agree or strongly agree with statements expressing favourable engagement. AHS compares its results internally and with the external survey provider.

In 2014, 51 per cent of employees, 39 per cent of physicians and 84 per cent of volunteers agreed or strongly agreed with survey statements that express favourable engagement.

Patient Safety Culture Survey

As the psychological safety of our work environments improves, and as people feel more valued, respected and supported, patient safety benefits.

Strong patient safety occurs when everyone feels safe, encouraged and enabled to discuss quality and safety concerns.

The Patient Safety Culture Survey is compared against other Canadian health care organizations and internally against past surveys.

The high performance target identified for Our People Strategy reflects an average of two summary questions about perceived patient safety on the unit and in the organization.

The 2014 Patient Safety Culture Survey was completed by more than 22,000 people—more than double the 2010 survey response rate.

Influenza Immunization

Our own health, and the health of our patients, matters.

Getting the influenza vaccine is the single best way of protecting ourselves, our patients and their families from influenza.

This rate measures the percentage of the workforce immunized each year.

In 2015, 64 per cent of AHS staff, volunteers and physicians were immunized.

( Appendix


Disabling Injury Rate (DIR)

A focus on workforce health and safety should result in a reduction in the number of disabling injuries.

A disabling injury is any claim resulting in lost time or modified work.

The DIR is the count of disabling injury claims per 100 employees.

Through Workers’ Compensation Board reports, AHS compares its results across the organization and to peer organizations in Canadian health care.

In 2014/15, 3.56 disabling injury claims were made per 100 employees.

Patient Satisfaction Survey

Within health care, evidence shows the patient experience improves and adverse patient events go down when the workforce is more engaged.

As our workforce becomes more engaged, we can expect to see patient care experiences improve.

This measure reflects the percentage of adult patients who rate their overall care in hospital as 8, 9 or 10 (with 0 being the lowest satisfaction and 10 being the highest).

AHS compares its results to previous surveys.

In 2012, overall patient satisfaction was 64 per cent, compared to 62 per cent the previous year. In 2013/14 and 2014/15, patient satisfaction with hospital care was 82 per cent.

Diversity

AHS strives to build a workplace that highly values diversity and welcomes and respects people’s participation.

Diversity includes dimensions such as race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status, sexual orientation, education or diversity of perspective.

AHS will develop the tools and capacity to measure diversity.

Prepared Leaders

Organizations with strong learning cultures tend to have strong leader development.

This measure reflects AHS’ work to build leaders from within the organization through succession planning, leader development, mentoring and other formal and informal efforts.

AHS will compare its results internally and, where possible, externally against peer organizations.


Leader Competency

Our leadership development and learning initiatives are underpinned by the LEADS in a Caring Environment framework.

The framework is a hallmark of health leaders and health care excellence across Canada.

It defines the key skills, abilities, knowledge and attitudes required to lead at all levels; contributes to an effective and efficient health system; and creates meaningful health system change.

The framework features five domains: lead self, engage others, achieve results, develop coalitions and systems transformation. Each of these five domains consists of four core measurable capabilities.

AHS will compare its results internally and, where possible, externally against peer organizations.

Accessing Employer-Supported Learning

Organizations with strong learning cultures invest more in their people’s learning and development-—and realize strong returns.

AHS will monitor the number of employees accessing employer-supported learning, compare its results internally and, where possible, externally against peer organizations.


Executive Sponsors Todd GilchristVice President, Human Resources

Dave Bilan Interim Vice PresidentCollaborative Practice Nursing and Health Professions

Authors and Core Project Team

Elaine Watson Executive Director, HR Business Partnerships (Central & Southern Alberta) Project Lead

Peggy Mann McKeown Manager, Workforce Projects, HRProject Manager

Tracey West Manager HR Strategy Office, HR

Our People Strategy Steering Committee Members

Todd GilchristVice President, HR (Co-Chair)

Linda DempsterFormer Vice President, Health Professions Strategy & Practice (HPSP) (Co-Chair)

Tom BriggsSenior Program Officer, Planning & Performance, Corporate Services

Jeanette DeereProject Lead Ambulatory SCM, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Former Chair of the Alberta Clinician Council

Deb GordonVice President & Chief Health Operations Officer, Northern Alberta

Carolyn HoffmanSenior Program Officer, Quality & Healthcare Improvement, Quality

Brenda HubandVice President & Chief Health Operations Officer, Central & Southern Alberta

Dianne MacGregorAssociate Chief Nursing Officer, Inter-Professional Practice & Education, HPSP

Amanda ProctorPatient & Family Advisor

Deborah RhodesVice President, Corporate Services & Chief Financial Officer

Michele RondotVolunteer Services Manager, Calgary Zone

Dr. Clayne SteedAssociate Medical Director, Rural, South Zone

Colleen TurnerInterim Vice President Community Engagement & Communications (CE&C)

Dr. Verna YiuVice President, Quality & Chief Medical Officer

( Acknowledgements


Our People Strategy Advisory Committee Members

Nadia AndersenManager, Internal Communications, CE&C

Judy BloomExecutive Director, Clinical Workforce Planning, HPSP

Dr. Ann ColbourneSenior Medical Director, Culture, Transformation & Innovation (CoACT), Quality

Jamie DavenportDirector, Home Care Development, Senior’s Health

Gert ErasmusSenior Program Director, Workplace Health & Safety (WHS), HR

Elaine FinsethAssociate Chief Allied Health Officer, Inter-professional Practice & Education, HPSP

Karmen FittesDirector, Organizational Effectiveness, Talent Management Strategies, HR

Karleen GilkerSite and Seniors Manager, Redwater

Larry GrattonSite Manager, Sundre

Richard HeronDirector, Non-Clinical Workforce Planning, HR

Laura HillManager, HR Workforce Analytics, HR

Sandra JardineDirector, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management Strategies, HR

Mark KentExecutive Director, Negotiations and Labour Relations, HR

Neil NearySenior Consultant, Engagement & Patient Experience, Quality

Daphne QuigleyPatient Care Manager, Neurosciences, University of Alberta Hospital

Jamie RiceExecutive Director, Provincial Medical Affairs, Office of the Chief Medical Officer

Kerry RobertsNursing Unit Manager, Cardston Health Centre

Cynthia StulpRadiation Therapy Manager, Cancer Control

Debbie WhitesellDirector, Talent Development & Learning Services, Talent Management Strategies, HR

Norma WoodExecutive Director, WHS, HR

Our People Strategy Action Plan Working Group Members

Paula BeardExecutive Director, Patient Safety, Quality

Donna CarterProgram Manager, Recognition, Diversity & Values, Talent Management Strategies, HR

Marguerite de FreitasExecutive Director, Internal Communications, CE&C

Brad DorohoySenior Program Director, Talent Management Strategies, HR

Peter FroeseExecutive Director, Diagnostic Imaging, Edmonton Zone

Barbara Brady FryerSenior Provincial Director, Knowledge Management, Research Innovation & Analytics (RI&A)

Dr. Lana HawkinsSenior Practice Lead, Psychology & Spiritual Care, Inter-professional Practice, HPSP

Holly KnightClinical Director, CoACT, Quality

Marc LeducExecutive Director, Innovation & Research Operations, RI&A

Glen ShorttDirector, Centres of Expertise, Information Technology

Colleen MitchellSenior Advisor, Employee Relations, HR

Marni PanasConsultant, Engagement & Patient Experience, Quality

Connie SheaExecutive Director, HR Business Partnerships & Ability Management

Jennifer YellandSenior Advisor, Occupational Health & Employee Wellness, WHS, HR

Sandra YoungExecutive Director, Quality & Patient Safety Skills Development, Quality

Clayton WhitneyProgram Director, CoACT, Quality

Report Production and Review

Terry BullickPublisher and Editor, Apple Magazine

Danielle Chapman Administrative Assistant, Internal Communications

Kass RafihExecutive Director, Web Communications

Kathryn WardExecutive Director,Community Enfgagement

Dave VeitchDirector, Print, Video and Proactive Media

Layout by Sherry Mumford and Tina Houston

With thanks to our Health Advisory Councils, Provincial Advisory Councils, Patient and Family Group and Wisdom Council.

Our People StrategyBecause We Are Stronger Together

June 2016

Our People Strategy - Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services Our People Strategy will make...

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