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Annapolis Valley District Health Authority

There is no single formula for achieving a healthy workplace and fostering worklife balance, and success often depends on implementing approaches that best match an organization’s culture.

Thus it may come as no surprise that Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley District Health Authority (AVDHA) decided to adopt the ‘FISH Philosophy’ to help guide renewed employee engagement efforts and build a strategic foundation for Quality Worklife (QWL) initiatives.

While the FISH Philosophy was not the only tool AVDHA used to advance QWL, it certainly was one of the most innovative and reflected the organization’s maritime location.

The FISH Philosophy was born out of the experience of Seattle’s famous Pike’s Place Fish Market, where spectators are entertained by fishmongers serving customers in unconventional ways, enthusiastically flinging seafood from station to station to the delight of customers and tourists alike.

The FISH Philosophy is a change management tool based on four simple principles: 1) Be there for your co-workers and customers; 2) Incorporate a sense of play into your workplace; 3) Make someone's day; and 4) Choose your attitude about how you show up for work.

“At AVDHA we wanted to ignite a change in our organization and provide a clear focus on the key drivers of organizational health and quality work life,” said Janet Knox, President and CEO for AVDHA. “The FISH Philosophy was one of several tools we could capitalize on in conjunction with employee focus groups to find new ways to demonstrate that the health and satisfaction of our health teams is a priority and key to providing quality health services to our citizens.”

To formalize its efforts, AVDHA developed an official plan for organizational health that focused on people, leadership, and organizational practices that have helped to integrate and align all the principles across AVH.

“The focus on creating a healthy organization challenged us to look at many practices that impact the quality of our work environment,” said Ms. Knox.

Other elements of the plan included defining AVDHA’s leadership principles, leadership development including mentor programs, career development and leadership champions, succession planning, as well as communication and conflict resolution skill and process management and mapping.

The plan was implemented using a progressive excellence approach that focused on “doing the right things at the right time and seizing opportunities as they presented,” according to Leanne Campbell, AVDHA’s Healthy Workplace Consultant. “We built our QWL efforts on a strong foundation focused on sustainability and engaging management, physicians and frontline employees as key stakeholders across the organization.”

Clearly, AVDHA is on the right track, as their quantitative data is beginning to show encouraging shifts in:

Rates of attendance, workplace illness and injury;
Recruitment and retention successes;
Rates of grievances filed and resolved; and
Participation of health team members in organizational work projects and organizational events.

“From a qualitative perspective, we know our efforts are succeeding because the energy within the organization has become more positive,” said Ms. Knox. “People are engaging and making the commitment to support AVDHA’s mission, vision and values. Our employees tell us it’s clear that the workplace has undergone a positive change.”

Ms. Knox and Ms. Campbell caution that a complete shift in organizational culture and quality work environments typically takes a minimum of 3-5 years, and recommend the following elements as vital to any successful change initiative:

Have staff positions within your People/Human Resources Strategy dedicated to leading the change using a consistent approach;
Ensure senior leadership support and engagement at all stages;
Build the culture shift into the strategic and operational plans of the organization so there’s accountability for the outcomes and the organizational structure is engaged at all levels (i.e., CEO, Board, management, physicians, unions and frontline staff).

Following AVDHA’s example in addition to leveraging proven change management tools such as the National Quality Institute’s Progressive Excellence Program and the FISH Philosophy line of videos ensures that quality worklife in your health organization won’t be ‘the one that got away’.