Create multiple pathways for feedback
Turnover is one of the most obvious signs that culture could be slipping, says Mike Folino, associate director of nutrition services for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. When one of the operation’s divisions started losing employees, Folino’s team tried to address the problem by walking around and verbally asking such questions as “What do you need? What makes your job difficult? What makes it easy?” But when they asked, workers said everything was fine.
So, the operation handed out a questionnaire and gave staff a chance to return the document to someone other than a manager in their reporting structure. “We got people writing full pages of information,” he says. “I’m a Gen Xer, and I think that’s probably generational. You had people growing up writing on message boards, emails or texts. It’s an easy way for us to get really good feedback.”