Data-Driven Decision-Making Services

BBA services help Senior Leaders to collect and interpret data which might not otherwise be available, including physician, management and staff perceptions and opinions. We can also assist in developing and implementing strategies that use this data to strengthen the entire organization.

1. Employee commitment/contribution surveys. Through these surveys, BBA accurately assesses two key
--- aspects of an organization’s human resources efforts:  how committed management and employees feel to their
--- organization, and the extent to which the organization supports their efforts to contribute to the organization’s success. 
--- Through the survey process, client organizations are provided with:

  • A thoroughly tested but flexible survey instrumen
  • Easily understood and well communicated results
  • Extensive healthcare databases
  • Consulting assistance in helping leadership to develop skills in survey interpretation, communication and problem-solving
  • Assistance in developing action plans that achieve meaningful improvements in both the “commitment” and “contribution” of management and staff

2. Physician commitment/contribution surveys. Similar to the surveys decribed above, these tools assess the
--- extent to which members of the medical staff feel some sense of commitment to the organization, and in turn feel the
--- organization supports their practice and efforts to provide patient care.  This process provides client organizations with:

  • A thoroughly tested and benchmarked set of standardized items
  • The ability to add items which address unique issues of interest to your particular organization
  • Multiple methods of data collection, including online survey options
  • Survey results that are easily understood and clearly communicated
  • Extensive healthcare databases
  • Consulting assistance in helping leadership to develop skills in survey interpretation, communication and problem-solving
  • Assistance in developing action plans that improve service to physicians as “customers,” thus strengthening the physicians' overall level of commitment to the organization
  • Improved support for physicians’ practice, allowing for an enhanced contribution to the organization's success

3. Organizational effectiveness assessments. These tools allow healthcare leaders to obtain in-depth
--- information that cannot be acquired with a written questionnaire, in addition to participants' suggestions for resolving
--- issues of concern and strengthening the organization.  All steps of the process can typically be completed in a single
--- week (aside from the preparation of the written report). These include:

  • Individual one-hour interviews conducted with a cross-section of leaders drawn from all levels of the organization
  • Two-hour focus group meetings conducted with homogeneous groups of approximately 12 employees selected from throughout the organization.  Normally, approximately 8-10% of the employee population is invited to participate
  • An exit conference with senior leadership held immediately after the final interviews and focus group meetings have been completed, in order to provide them with an overview of the findings
  • A detailed written report and recommendations provided to Senior Leadership within approximately three weeks of completion of the interview and focus group process

4. Union vulnerability assessment. This process utilizes a thorough, systematic approach that has proven
--- effective in helping healthcare organizations to strengthen their resistance to organizing and to avoid the disruption of a
--- potential union campaign.  The approach mirrors the process used to conduct an “organizational effectiveness
--- assessment,” but specifically focuses on factors that are currently driving union organizing in hospitals and healthcare
--- organizations nation-wide.  The vulnerability assessment involves several core activities:

  • A review of labor relations-related policies and procedures and the employee handbook
  • Individual interviews conducted with members of leadership
  • Focus group meetings with non-supervisory staff members
  • Problem-solving and feedback assistance to resolve issues revealed by the assessment and to communicate resulting action plans to all employees

5. Workforce Planning. With a systematic, proactive approach to ensuring that the right number of workers will be in
--- the right jobs at the right time, this process typically results in a comprehensive plan that includes data to analyze and
--- project workforce demands. This information can be used to shape recruitment, retention and on-boarding strategies
--- to meet current and future workforce requirements. BBA offers the following consulting services to assist healthcare
--- organizations with workforce planning:

  • Initial consultation and management education, to increase understanding and support for workforce planning
  • Assistance with development of an organization-wide plan –
      • Facilitation of planning sessions with steering teams
      • Documentation of work plan
      • Customized consultation, coaching and support
  • Assistance with development of departmental plans –
      • Identification of “red flag” areas
      • Assessment of work environment; identification of retention/turnover drivers by department
      • Assistance with development of recruitment/retention/ on-boarding strategies
      • Training and coaching of internal expert

6. Multi-source feedback. 360-degree feedback is a powerful tool for providing individual members of leadership
--- with an assessment of their performance strengths and developmental needs.  BBA offers standardized, benchmarked
--- multi-source feedback instruments that can be customized as needed and then used to gather perceptions of
--- individual leadership performances among board members, higher-level leaders to whom board members report,
--- senior leaders, mid-level leaders, and so on. In the end, the following is generated for each individual leader:

  • Reports showing group responses from superiors, peers and subordinates, so that differences in perception become clear at each level of the organization
  • Recommended measures to help strengthen performance areas found to be in need of development
  • Baseline data that can help guide the BBA executive coaching plans, as well as the ongoing measurement of progress toward development goals