Changes in health care have resulted in new expectations from First Responsible Caregivers (FRC’s) and team leaders. With an online development assessment, Pro Senectute identified each employee’s development opportunities and needs. After a debriefing with their supervisor, FRC’s and team leaders are now working on their development with a much sharper focus.
Like many other healthcare organisations, Pro Senectute has gone through a significant cultural shift in recent years. More and more, the organisation has to account for the quality that they provide and monitor the financial parameters in which that happens.
Marjon van Wijnbergen, Head of Human Resources at Pro Senectute, noticed that a lot of FRC’s were having trouble filling this new role. Their team leaders were also searching for the right way to give direction to this change. “Our FRC’s are used to providing care and are very good at doing so. But we’re asking a lot more of them now. I think it’s important that we help ease them into this.”
HFM proposed to let all 40 FRCs and 9 team leaders participate in an online development assessment, followed by a development meeting between employee and supervisor. “What appealed to me in this approach, was that we kept control of the project. Of course, you can outsource conducting interviews to a psychologist.
But in the end, the goal is to build a relationship between employees and their supervisors, in which their personal development becomes a continued point of discussion.” For the FRC’s and team leaders, information sessions were organised beforehand to answer their questions and take away any concerns that they might have had. Van Wijnbergen: “We have been very transparent in why we were doing this and have stressed that nobody’s job was in jeopardy.”
Thanks to HFMtalentindex, the team leaders conducted development meetings with all FRC’s, based on the online assessment. “This was also quite exciting for the team leaders. Some reports contained pretty firm statements. But they all had productive meetings.
The assessment report helps the employees reflect on themselves. This strengthens the relationship. I expect next year’s performance appraisals will also be given more depth because of this experience.”
The results of the online assessments also revealed a collective concern: many FRC’s have trouble persuading others around them. Extra attention will be paid during this year’s FRC peer sessions to developing this skill. Van Wijnbergen: “We have unanimously concluded that this has been a great project. But it was only the beginning. Now we want to take it further.”
“Our employees have even started a Facebook group, to share their test results.” Marjon van Wijnbergen, Head of HR