So a fish walks into a Starbucks…..
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke doesn’t it? But fish, coffee, and the Ritz-Carlton all have something in common. They are examples of customer service at its best.
During his keynote presentation, Creating the Ultimate Patient Experience, Joseph Michelli, PhD http://www.josephmichelli.com/ shared concepts that contribute to excellent patient and customer care.
Though the Pike Place Fish Market, Starbucks, and Ritz-Carlton don’t care for patients, many of their principles can be translated to health care.
The fish market focuses on connecting with customers at the human level and creating a lively experience for them. They genuinely care about their clients and give them an experience to talk about with others.
Starbucks got its start by acting as the “living room of the community” and treating customers and employees with dignity and respect.
The Ritz-Carlton develops the customer experience by engaging their employees and allowing them to make innovations. They acknowledge that great ideas often come from “the front line.”
So how can we apply these principles to health care?
First off, leaders can listen to their employees who might have brilliant ideas on how to improve patient experiences. They also can develop a work environment where employees feel valued and heard. Michelli pointed out that employee satisfaction highly correlates with quality patient care and patient satisfaction. In other words, happy nurses equal happy patients. Leaders should help employees grow and measure their engagement with tools like Gallup’s Q12.
Employees also can play a role in developing an outstanding experience for patients and colleagues. By encouraging and supporting each other they can make the workplace experience better. Michelli recommends staff come up with three cost neutral things they can do to engage people and enhance the work experience. When it comes to patients, nurses can ask themselves what they can do to make the patient experience unique, personal, and memorable.