Program encourages and rewards employees for new ideas that improve service to customers or save resources
Abu Dhabi, UAE. 9th May 2011.Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA), owner/operator of the SEHA HealthSystem comprised of a dozen hospitals and more than 60 ambulatory and family health clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi today announced a new employee suggestion program called MUSHARAKA that will reward SEHA employees with significant cash prizes or merchandize in return for their ideas on how to improve the quality of its services to its patients and customers.
“MUSHARAKA is an Arabic word that means participation, collaboration or sharing,” said H.E. Saif Bader Al Qubaisi, Chairman of SEHA. “The intent of the program is to engage our employees in our mission of continuous quality improvement and solicit their participation in achievement of our vision. In return, they not only share in the credit for improvements, the can share in the benefits derived in the form of a financial incentive. These ideas can be about any quality issue that directly increases the efficiency or effectiveness of SEHA performance. Some examples are how to reduce waiting times for patients, improvements to procedures, how to increase customer satisfaction, enrich the patient journey, improve patient safety, improve clinical outcomes and the like. Ideas that eliminate waste and overhead costs or permit us to redirect savings to patient needs are also welcome.”
Carl V. Stanifer, C.E.O. of SEHA added, “Great organizations are always looking for ways to improve. Our mission is to continually improve customer care to recognized international standards. Our employees are the front line of customer service. They know ways to get things done better. This program acknowledges their interest and motivates them to share their ideas with management. In return, they reap a financial reward of AED 2,000if their idea was accepted and an additional of AED 15,000 if it was implemented. That is an indication of how important we think their contribution can be to improving customer care in the SEHA HealthSystem.”
Clyde Eder, who is SEHA’s Chief Operating Officer and whose department is sponsoring the program said, “Once a year, we plan to recognize the most important and valuable employee idea submitted from each of our operating units, 8 in all. It can come from anyone of our nearly 17,000 employees system wide and from any of our hospitals or clinics. If we adopt it and it proves to be a truly valuable suggestion and is judged by management to be the most valuable one made, the person that made the suggestion will be honored at an annual awards celebration and presented with a further financial reward. The amount will be determined by the magnitude of the quality improvement achieved but it could be as high as AED 70,000 which is pretty substantial.”
Ideas can be submitted by employees through the SEHA intranet. All employees need do is log on and enter their password, complete the submission form on line and press enter. The idea is logged and delivered to the MUSHARAKA Program Manager. An employee receives and acknowledgement and a token gift of appreciation delivered to them a few days later. Within the month, their idea is evaluated by a committee and if feasible, put into practice for further quantification.
“We are automating the entire process,” commented Bashir Al Muharibi, Deputy CIO for SEHA. “We are in testing now. The system will mature over time. Our goal is have a paperless process that is very simple for the employee to understand. Ideas are categorized by group and type so we can ensure that ideas are original and not duplicates. This ensures the right employee is rewarded for their original idea.”
The program will launch on 15th May 2011. All SEHA employees will be eligible to participate and submit suggestions. Information on the program will be available to all SEHA employees.
