Vicki Hess, RN, MS, CSP

Shortcuts to Employee Engagement: Successfully Leading Change in a “Do More With Less” World

Imagine a workforce full of empowered employees and motivated managers who deliver outstanding service to internal and external customers, and provide exceptional quality and safety results. Sound too good to be true in these topsy‐turvy times?

If you are looking for evidence‐based strategies for moving your team, department, division or entire organization toward full engagement, then join Vicki Hess for this practical, interactive, real‐world workshop.

At the end of the program, leaders will be able to:

• Role model a state of high engagement – with several specific ideas for re‐energizing themselves.
• Spread the engagement message to their team – with exercises to take back to staff.
• Create a lasting culture of engagement – with an exercise that builds a broader view of organization‐wide beliefs and mindsets.

Why Your Employee Engagement Scores Aren’t Improving and What You Can Do About It

Every day your goal as a healthcare leader is to lead an organization that delivers the highest quality, safest and most patient‐ and family‐centered care. And the reality is you can’t do that without highly engaged leaders and staff. Many organizations are trying to improve engagement; few are successful because of 3 obstacles.

During this interactive, thought provoking program, Vicki shares proven ideas for overcoming these obstacles. Looking at engagement in a counterintuitive way creates powerful new opportunities for making long term change.

At the end of the session, healthcare leaders will be able to:

• Identify unproductive beliefs and mindsets about engagement which are holding the organization back.
• Create shared responsibility for engagement across all levels of staff.
• Outline strategies to create positive connections with staff to promote engagement.

The Engagement Survey Results are In…Now What?

The engagement survey results are in and it’s time for the Action Plan Meeting with the team. How can you make this year’s meeting less of a “check the box” event and more meaningful to everyone who participates? How can you create shared responsibility without sounding like you’re trying to pass the buck to others?

Join Vicki and your peers for this workshop to learn proven strategies for changing the conversation (and follow‐up) about the engagement survey results.

At the end of the session, you’ll be able to:

• Describe the powerful effects that beliefs and mindsets have on actions and outcomes as it relates to employee engagement.
• Identify unproductive beliefs and mindsets about engagement that are holding you and your team back.
• Change the way you talk about engagement survey results with a focus on finding more joy in the service to others as the core reason for investing time, energy & improvement.
• Boost shared responsibility for engagement to include the employee’s individual commitment.
• Share proven strategies to keep the momentum going between the results meeting and the next survey.

For Frontline Staff:

The Journey to Joy in Healthcare Today: Shortcuts to Foster Resilience

Does finding joy in your work feel like an oxymoron?

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) doesn’t think so. In 2017, the group wrote a white paper entitled IHI Framework for Improving Joy in Work. Unfortunately, finding joy in healthcare sounds like a lofty aspiration when you’re managing complex patients, complicated budgets or complaining stakeholders.

Here’s the great news. In 2008, Vicki Hess, RN, stood ahead of the curve when she wrote SHIFT to Professional Paradise: 5 Steps to Less Stress, More Energy & Remarkable Results at Work. In her programs, Vicki shares wisdom from her 3 books and provides proven tools for healthcare professionals to find their own joy and become more resilient.

Vicki has worked with thousands of healthcare leaders and staff across the country. She knows what joy in work looks like and what produces it. During her keynote, you’ll discover new beliefs and mindsets that promise to drive positive actions and joyful & resilient outcomes.

At the end of this program, healthcare professionals are able to:

• Describe what makes them feel satisfied, energized & productive at work (AKA – what matters most).
• Explain the shared elements for responsibility when it comes to finding & choosing joy.
• Demonstrate a 5-step process to improve resilience and reconnect with joy at work.

Becoming a Champion of Change: Your Checklist for Success

Working in healthcare can be the best job in the world…until it’s not. Today’s healthcare environment is volatile and change and uncertainty continue to roll in. Your job includes doing more with less; handling the crisis of the day; living with uncertainty; evolving technology; an increased focus on productivity; getting patients and their families engaged; getting along with other team members; rapidly changing regulations and the list goes on. You’re so busy keeping up…how can you possibly stay connected to your initial commitment to producing innovative high-quality care with a positive attitude?

Pull out your Checklist for Success. Using concepts from her popular book, SHIFT to Professional Paradise: 5 Steps to Less Stress, More Energy & Remarkable Results at Work, Vicki shares insights to transform the way you work. You will learn how to bounce back when hit with challenges. You’ll get evidence-based tools and techniques for raising the bar on your own positive experiences at work. You will feel re-energized and ready to work with purpose and passion.

At the end of the program, you will be able to:

• Role model a state of high engagement – with several specific ideas for re‐energizing yourself.
• Identify beliefs and minds that are holding you back from full engagement.
• Demonstrate a proven, 5‐step, process for transforming workplace challenges into positive outcomes.

Thriving in a “Do More With Less” World: 5 Steps to Less Stress, More Energy & Remarkable Results at Work

Are you dealing with the challenges of having to “do more with less”? Who isn’t? Unfortunately, this is the way of the world in healthcare these days and it doesn’t look like things are going to let up any time soon. During this session, you will learn five steps to manage the rampant change and be able to gracefully do more with less. You will leave with proven ideas and strategies for being resilient at work – especially in the face of change.

Through humor, storytelling and a translational approach to current research, you will receive solid take-away tools for use the minute you return to work. You will actively participate in facilitated dialogue, interactive exercises and active problem-solving. You’ll receive helpful follow-up to keep the learning going.

At the end of this interactive & engaging program, you will be able to:

• Create your own “Professional Paradise” – no matter what is happening around you – with several specific ideas for re-energizing yourself.
• Identify beliefs and mindsets that are negatively impacting your stress levels.
• Demonstrate a proven, 5-step, process for transforming workplace challenges into positive outcomes.

Vicki guides healthcare professionals like you who want to create an environment where employees are engaged, customers are satisfied, and goals are achieved.

Her views on patient & employee engagement are evidence‐based, relatable and real world. Organizations that implement her ideas experience increased productivity, safety, quality, retention, patient satisfaction, creativity and more.

As a nurse, keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and author of 4 books; Vicki's goal is to inspire healthcare leaders and staff to take action by sharing high impact, easy to implement ideas that transform the way people work. As a cancer survivor and victim of a surgical mistake, she brings the voice of the patient into her programs.

Vicki earned a BS (Nursing) from the University of Florida and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development from Towson University. She was an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Business for five years.

Vicki is proud to be one of 250 women in the world to have earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation…the speaking profession’s international standard for platform skill. She has been voted a TOP 5 Healthcare Speaker 4 years in a row by Speaking.com and have been recognized as a TOP 25 Speaker overall.

Author/creator of:

• 6 Shortcuts to Employee Engagement: Lead & Succeed in a Do‐More‐with‐Less World (Business Edition & Healthcare Edition)
• SHIFT to Professional Paradise: 5 Steps to Less Stress, More Energy & Remarkable Results at Work
• The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Hiring, Firing & Inspiring (Sigma Theta Tau International)
• 28‐Day Professional Paradise e-Diary
• Engagement Excelerator™ Virtual Coaching Program

Vicki has written for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) blog, AONE Nurse Leader, American Nurse Today, Hospital & Health Network, Becker’s Hospital Review, NurseTogether.com and the Baltimore Business Journal. She also writes a blog on an on-going basis.

“Almost one year later management still sees a positive transformation in how the staff looks at situations and events differently and how they are personally making adjustments to create better outcomes for themselves and their co-workers…Our patient satisfaction scores continue to increase and reflect the employee’s change in individual accountability for their attitude. You played a vital role in helping us make that shift.”
Stephanie Diedericks
VP Strategy
WVU Healthcare

Vicki Hess - Client List