Q&A:
Why Culture Matters: Realizing Your Mission
Hardwired Results® interviews Chris Comeaux, coach for the Studer Covenant Alliance, on how culture connects to mission and bottom line results.

HR: Culture sounds like an abstract concept. How does it connect to meeting the organization’s mission?
CC: I’ve met so many innovative leaders in end of life organizations as I travel the country in my speaking and coaching engagements. They are so passionate and visionary about creating a gold standard for patient-focused care at the end of life. But innovative strategies only get hardwired if there’s an employee culture that supports it. In fact, I was in a meeting recently where a great organizational strategy was completely sabotaged by staff who weren’t on board.

Therein lies one of the greatest lessons about leadership. As Quint Studer likes to say, "Culture precedes strategy…and culture with strategy is unbeatable."

Culture is like fertile soil in an organization. When leaders create an environment where employees have input and are recognized in a meaningful way for great work, they are actively engaged in meeting the organization’s mission every day with every patient and family. The other key ingredient to creating this kind of culture is setting clear expectations and holding employees accountable with a measurable and objective evaluation system.

HR: So how can you create a culture where employees have input and feel recognized for their contributions?
CC: We recommend some very specific timetested tools that engage employees and boost retention of high-performing employees. One of the most important is Rounding for Outcomes, where leaders regularly ask employees specific questions to obtain actionable information. The questions build relationships, harvest opportunities for recognition, and identify barriers to getting the job done, as well as areas for process improvement. Then leaders act on them and follow up with employees so they know their input made a difference.

Another key tactic is handwritten thank you notes from leaders to employees. When these are specific and mailed to an employee’s home, they speak volumes in appreciation. It's a simple tactic that is executed in a very particular way (see sidebar page 8.) We also implement a Bright Ideas process in end of life organizations we coach that harvests great ideas from employees. We use a detailed process to "hardwire" consistent follow-up with employees about their ideas and those that are implemented. All of these are very prescriptive tools that support organizational strategy and move performance.

HR: How exactly does culture drive organizational performance?
CC: It's very integrated. We call it a Five Pillar approach to service and operational excellence. The five pillars are Service, Quality, People, Finance, and Growth. Under each pillar, organizations track measurable metrics. We find that when high-performing employees are recognized and given the tools they need to do their jobs, retention improves. High retention of good employees ensures more consistently excellent service to patients and their families, which improves quality, boosts patient referrals, and improves access for better financials. It's a continuous upward spiral that provides increasing organizational resources to provide better care to more patients who need us. This feeds our passion to realize our mission.

As a coach for the Studer Covenant Alliance, Chris Comeaux coaches a diverse variety of organizations nationwide to excellence in end of life care. As a former CEO, he was also instrumental in growing a North Carolina hospice and palliative care organization into one of the top providers in the region.