At the Johns Hopkins Medicine Town Meeting on June 21, more than half of attendees agreed that having a strong advocate for their career development would be the best way to improve employee engagement and faculty satisfaction. What would help in your department? Cast your vote and leave any other suggestions that you may have.
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Accountability for executive staff.
I don't pay for parking, since I take the shuttle to work, but one of the best strategic goals
for Johns Hopkins would be free parking.
Imagine how patients would feel, knowing they have to spend 1/2 day or sometimes all day at Johns Hopkins, if they did not have to pay the expense of parking.
Imagine how employees, who don't have access to public transportation or the shuttle system,
would feel if they could work at Johns Hopkins and not pay for parking. That additional monthly
amount could go for other much needed household items.
Where do I begin?
I agree with the above statements regarding "merit" pay raises. It truly does not matter how good you do your job, you are only getting 1%. We lose way too many good employees because they can go outside of Hopkins and get way more than they can here.
I think everyone has some good points, but Mark & Michele have really nailed it. We don't ONLY do this for the money, but it sure does help.
I like working for Hopkins and the opportunities in working for an organization like this are endless. I realize that the company is large but I would like to see more employee appreciation efforts (i.e. company event days, team building retreats/activities outside of work). Additionally, easier access to research opportunities and publishing opportunities would be great.
As an SOM employee, I think we also should be given adequate cost of living raises at a minimum and merit raises when warranted. It would also be nice if parking could be FREE or at least on a sliding scale based on your salary with the option of pre- or post-tax for parking and health care benefits, which is what many of the other research universities do.
I am able to attend training, but it would be nice to have REAL opportunities for advancement (not just more work) without needing to leave your position/the department and to offer raises based on the new position, not necessarily what your current salary is. It's not fair that external candidates can and often do make THOUSANDS more for the same position than an internal candidate simply because they are already in a low paying position. It's a horrible way to treat current staff.
How about thinking of all employees as equals who do their job components well to contribute to the whole? JHH and JHU are a trickle-down economy in terms of salary and benefits but also respect. That really should stop. A top-rated anesthesiologist isn't any better than the technician who noticed ahead of time that the oxygen tank or inhalant is getting low. This includes the scientists who toil to bring new technologies to the clinic or their technicians who make the laboratory run smoothly. We're all important.
I am frequently asked to give "tentative" appointment dates to our patients, who tend to think that's a "definite" date. Then I find out soon afterwards that the date I gave the patient won't work for the staff necessary to attend the appointment. Since we don't have a clinic, per se, but only see patients that are referred to us, and since we're limited to the hours we can actually book appointments, this makes it difficult to do my job. I (fairly routinely) need to book patients as far as 6 to 8 weeks in advance, and frequently do not know possible staff conflicts that far in advance. The patients get frustrated, and tend to think I'm giving them the brush-off by not giving a firm date. Communication is important, but equally important is for the staff to hold certain time slots available (not scheduling conference calls, etc.) since our patient time is limited and inflexible.
Recognizing the value of all departments and employees. Our department is never mentioned and often feels left out. Most employees don't even know where we are.
Better raises.
Getting rid of the parking expense would help greatly. It is to expensive for a 1% annual increase.
I have only been working for Hopkins for a short period of time. I think having a strong advocate to help with my career development, is key to my success. Everybody in every department is busy. They are supposed to be. It is too easy to "slip between the cracks" in this large of an organization, and with some kind of program in place to help new employees, (and existing employees) you are showing that you WANT them to succeed and will do everything you can to help them get to their maximum performance level and goals. When people feel appreciated and cared for, the amount of work you can get out of them is simply amazing!
Stagnant salaries. Pay increases of 1% don't even cover inflation. It's demoralizing to see that no matter how hard you work, your chance of a promotion or salary adjustment is slim to none.
It would really help if Hopkins could get us a tax break for parking here. In today's world, it does not make sense to park anywhere except in the garages; if we could get this fee excluded from our taxable income, many of our employees would be smiling.
NPs should be considered for performance bonuses. There is no incentive to see more and more patients. I have always worked on a bonus + salary system which incentivizes one to see more patients and increase productivity. NPs in DC have full practice authority. I see ~ 45 patients a week--close to what my physician partner sees, yet I am not rewarded to adding to the bottom line. Moreover, other NPs in the practice see btw 10-15 % of the volume, but are paid approximately the same salary. Fairness in pay increases satisfaction and productivity.
Cost of living raises for employees
Having a real break room! Also to have upper management listen to our concerns and follow through with what our concerns. That other departments service us do their jobs and be held accountable if not done. Not make excuses(i.e. we are short staff). We are short staff on any day of the week and we do not delay rooms, so what their points. The Wbg cafeteria is not up to par. Food choices pitiful. We have to look at filthy floors, trash overflowing. No place to rinse our dishes. The or's themselves are not always cleaned or not setup properly after cleaning. Why are we still having these issues?
I totally agree with this statement. There is very little in the way for breakrooms or a place to go to make a private call to your personal doctor on your lumch break! And yes the dirty floors...
Wow! I would like to hear that the ORs in "Wbg" are being cleaned!
better raises. Not just 20 to 30 cents more an hour per year is not enough.
The top priority of JH should be 'patients first'. All processes - administrative, medical, financial, etc., need to be recalibrated as 'patient-focused' from the start. Every leader's first question should be "Is this strategy/process/policy/etc. in the patient's best interest?"
We all have seen top medical centers fail miserably at being 'patient-focused' to the extreme delight of their competitors when the birds come home to roost - for years
We need more time for staff education .
It's been over 7 years since employees have had a pay increase that keeps up with inflation. Pay raises are compressed so tightly that "outstanding" to "marginal" has only a 1% difference. Performance has degraded and there is no incentive to perform. The health system seems more concerned with political issues and ideology than taking care of the employees which have made them successful. As an employee with over 30 yrs., I've seen the degradation and feel as an organization, we've lost tract of our priorities.
There's not much love floating around the hospital.
There's a definite lack of nurse mentoring.
It's easy to feel demoralized.