Employees make a difference through their daily actions and by the feedback they provide. That's why Yale New Haven Health System leadership is again seeking employees' confidential, candid feedback on the 2016 annual YNHHS Employee Engagement Survey, which will run from 7 am Monday, April 18, through 7 am Monday, May 9. All employees are encouraged to participate and all responses are anonymous.

This year all YNHHS delivery networks will conduct a "pulse" survey – a much shorter version of the full survey that should take less than 10 minutes. Responses will help leadership "take the pulse" of the organization and learn what YNHHS is doing well and what we need to work on to ensure a great work environment.

"We have a talented, diverse workforce. Understanding employees' aspirations, needs and concerns will enable us to more effectively work together," said Kevin A. Myatt, senior vice president and chief human resources officer. "Employees' insights will be used to strengthen the partnership between employees and our organization and help us create an environment that supports our collective success." 

All YNHHS organizations will ask 12 identical survey questions, which are structured to show progress on areas identified in the 2015 survey as needing improvement.

Feedback will also show how the health system is doing with important diversity and inclusion work, and how connected employees feel to the organization. An open-ended question will also be included, allowing employees to provide additional comments. Each YNHHS delivery network also has the opportunity to ask a few organization-specific questions if desired. In addition, YNHH nurses will be asked to answer nine questions that support the hospital's Magnet designation.

Employees will complete the survey on the website of the Advisory Board, a national survey company. It also compiles, summarizes and provides the results to YNHHS. No individual responses will be shared.

To take the survey, use any computer with internet access and visit www.ynhhs.org/survey, or click the links on each YNHHS organization's intranet landing page, Employee Self Service or the YNHHS HR intranet.

This year, employees will determine their own, unique, private password to access the Advisory Board's confidential site. Your private password combines the two digits of your birth month, last two digits of your birth year and last five digits of your employee ID number.

The employee ID number links employees to their correct organization and reporting structure, and eliminates the need to complete demographic questions.

After completing the survey, employees can link to another site to enter drawings for Stop & Shop and Amazon gift cards as a thank you for participating. Again this year, survey participation is a metric in YNHH's PIP program. The threshold goal is 70 percent of employees taking the survey, target is 75 percent and max is 80 percent. These goals are slightly lower than last year's, reflecting the transition to a private password.

This eliminates the possibility of inadvertently taking the survey for the wrong organization – for example, an employee who works for one delivery network but is physically located at another.

"Every member of our health system team is encouraged to take the survey," Myatt said. "Your valuable feedback helps us assess ongoing efforts to enhance our environment as a great place to work and to provide care to those who need it most."