St. Joseph Hospital

Employee Referral Program

ASSESS

St. Joseph Hospital, a not-for-profit Catholic Hospital located in Orange, California, needed to fill a large number of hard-to-fill openings. The positions included RNs, case managers, pharmacists, imaging professionals (nuclear medicine, cardiology, MRI, ultrasound, vascular, interventional, and diagnostic) respiratory, OR technicians, clinical coordinators, phlebotomists, and certified occupational therapist assistants (COTAs).

Earlier in the year, their Human Resources Department had implemented a 90-day employee referral program (ERP), which offered a referral bonus and awarded a grand prize trip to Hawaii. Since feedback was positive and several good hires were made, St. Joseph asked Bernard Hodes Group to design and implement a new program.

STRATEGIZE

Employees liked the trip to Hawaii that was offered in the initial program. To make this more enticing, we would turn it up a notch by offering a grand prize trip to Tahiti and four second prizes to Hawaii. We needed to create "buzz" about the new program through the creation of marketing materials as well as viral marketing. In other words, we needed to get employees talking about the new ERP! We needed powerful graphics, wide spread exposure, and most of all we needed to generate heightened excitement about the program. Our strategy called for challenging employees to make the referrals, and challenging our client's Human Resources Department to market the program internally.

Our goal was to make 80 hires in 80 days, with a chance to win a trip to bask in 80-degree weather. This became our theme for the campaign. We would also develop a HR calendar of events to introduce the program at all major department gatherings, and set-up a booth on the hospital campus with give away items to attract attention throughout the program.

IMPLEMENT

We developed flyers, posters, postcards (which were mailed to employee homes), and table tents for the cafeteria and break rooms. We also introduced fun giveaways, such as hula bobble dolls, palm tree key chains, T-shirts, beach towels, and flipflops. The program was then kicked-off with a tropical themed event, which featured island music and food, and the allure of sizzling in the sun.

Most importantly, our client's HR team marketed the program at departmental meetings throughout the 80-day program. We also added an incentive for department managers in order to add greater support and excitement. The manager with the largest percentage of successful referrals would also win a trip to Hawaii!

To efficiently manage the program, we developed a spreadsheet that included all project elements. This would ensure timely action and provided specific recommendations on how to maximize internal communication and manage responses. For example, we identified when to reorganize table tents and posters, and when to submit articles in their hospital newsletter.

MEASURE

The campaign was a complete success, allowing St. Joseph Hospital to surpass their initial hiring goal of 80. In fact, the program resulted in a 300% increase in hires when compared to results previously attained, and included 56 RNs; 2 case managers; 2 clinical coordinators; 1 nuclear medical technician; 4 OR technicians; 7 respiratory care practitioners; 7 phlebotomy technicians; 1 pharmacist; 2 pharmacy interns; and 1 ultrasound technician. The program resulted in 83 hard to fill hires! Both management and staff have acknowledged the HR Department for the success of the program.