Discussion: Creating a Culture of Engagement

[T]he way to create a culture of retention is, in fact, to create a culture of engagement and contribution.

-Jo Manion (2004, p. 30)

When employees feel engaged and motivated, they are often more committed to an organization. Organizational commitment is broadly defined as an employee's intent to stay with the organization. Nurse managers can have significant influence on an organization's culture and thereby on employee engagement and commitment.

To prepare

Select one of the following perspectives and complete the corresponding survey for this Discussion. Do not look at the scoring directions until after you have completed the evaluation.

If you hold or have held a management position in your recent or present workplace, access the document, "Creating a Culture of Engagement: Manager Survey," found in this week's Learning Resources.

If you have yet to hold a management position, or would prefer to answer the survey from the perspective of an employee, access the document, "Creating a Culture of Engagement: Employee Survey," found in this week's Learning Resources.

After you have completed the survey, reflect on the results. Based on score breakdown, select the culture cluster you consider the most critical to address in this workplace. Then, review this week's media, "Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Development." What strategies could you, as a nurse manager, employ to address this cluster?

Consider how this culture facilitates or negates your feelings of organizational commitment.

Post an evaluation of a recent or past workplace by sharing the total score of your survey. Explain whether this score accurately captures the culture of this workplace. Identify the culture cluster that you consider the most critical to address, and suggest at least one intervention you could initiate to effectively change this aspect of the workplace's culture. Explain how this culture encouraged or diminished your feelings of organizational commitment. (I was working as a nurse sometime back)

Read a selection of your colleagues' responses.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

Find a colleague whose critical culture cluster is one of your stronger ones. Share a strategy for strengthening this aspect of his or her culture.

Use authentic experiences and this week's Learning Resources to evaluate a colleague's intervention, offering suggestions and insights.

Assess a colleague's workplace. Applying what you know about your own intrinsic motivators, explain why this workplace would or would not be a good fit for you.

Required Readings

Manion, J. (2011). From management to leadership: Strategies for transforming health care (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Chapter 3, "Building Commitment: Inspiring Others to Follow" (pp. 69-114)

This chapter focuses on inspiring commitment in the workplace. The author differentiates between commitment and compliance and lists the different kinds of organizational commitment.

Fasoli, D. R. (2010). The culture of nursing engagement: A historical perspective. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 34(1), 18-29.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Fasoli's article evaluates the history of work engagement and its effect on nurse retention. The author analyzes the history and modern use of work engagement and explores how these are used as a framework for creating a culture of nursing engagement.

Shantz, A., & Latham, G. (2011). The effect of primed goals on employee performance: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management, 50(2), 289-299.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This study analyzes the effects of subconscious motivation on job performance. The results reveal that someone's subconscious can be primed to accomplish job-related goals and that HR professionals can use this to their benefit.

Vlachoutsicos, C. A. (2011). How to cultivate engaged employees. Harvard Business Review, 89(9), 123-126.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article tells the reader how to make the most out of engaged employees in the workplace. The author provides and supports with real-life examples six steps that readers can use to help them achieve their goals.

Wisotzkey, S., Bell, T. D., & Grim, R. (2011). Connect and engage for better nurse retention. Nursing Management, 42(10), 14-18.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

The authors of this article examine the components of successful nurse retention. Their study reveals that social connectivity and positive psychology are the foundations of successful retention and that nurse managers can use these to make informed decisions about hiring employees.

Document: Creating a Culture of Engagement: Employee Survey (RTF document)

Document: Creating a Culture of Engagement: Management Survey (RTF document)

Required Media

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Creating a culture of engagement. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 20 minutes.

This week's presenter discusses best practices for creating a culture of retention.

Optional Resources

Lee, J. S. Y., & Akhtar, S. (2011). Effects of the workplace social context and job content on nurse burnout. Human Resource Management, 50(2), 227-245.