Solution: NAS designed an onboarding program that provided tools (30- and 90-day surveys) for obtaining information and employee feedback necessary for process improvement. It also identified important touch points throughout the first year of employment to help reinforce the employee/employer relationship and promote employee retention rates.

The program is now in its second year, and Karen Quigley, Nurse Recruiter for Heartland, stated, “The 30-day survey has allowed us to keep our fingers on the pulse of how new hires are feeling. We have used this information to reinforce with our leaders the importance of connecting immediately with their new hires.”

Results: After a year of the project, the turnover rate was 15.4 percent, an 11 percent reduction. Employee morale continued to improve over the year, which was especially evident in the 90-day, open-ended survey. Data collected from the first 90-day survey indicated 56 percent of the respondents were concerned about orientation, training and personal issues such as benefits and scheduling. Heartland acted upon these concerns and in the third 90-day survey, only 28 percent of the respondents cited those areas and 23 percent stated they were happy and there was nothing Heartland could do to make things better.