DHAT improves morale with a centralized employee engagement platform

Digestive Health Associates of Texas, P.A. (DHAT) is a healthcare organization, focusing on caring for patients’ digestive health needs and has been raising the standards in GI care since 1996. With 500 employees spread out across 60 offices in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas of Texas, DHAT realized it was time to better connect its workforce to the organization and to one another, reduce employee turnover and improve morale.

The challenge

DHAT realized that important company messages and updates (including new documents, policies, procedures, physician office changes) weren’t being received on the other end as employees had little to no access to their email during the workday. This also highlighted the need to streamline communications across the organization to connect dispersed employees.

Prior to its partnership with Reward Gateway, DHAT relied heavily on service awards – particularly yearly luncheons to celebrate tenure – and quarterly awards. DHAT realized participation with the quarterly awards in particular was low and the organization needed to update its recognition offering in order to celebrate great work all year long.

The approach

To unite and connect employees under one brand, DHAT rolled out a centralized employee engagement platform with Reward Gateway, called Digest This!, to overcome its engagement challenges.  

Digest This! provides a go-to, centralized location for employees to help connect the organization’s 60 locations and improve consistency. It features the latest company news, access to policies, benefits information and all other HR-related information, along with being a place to celebrate and encourage one another. Since launching the platform, there have been 706 blog views and 894 total page views, with the numbers continuing to increase.

To create a culture of appreciation across the organization and improve employee morale, DHAT implemented peer-to-peer and manager-led recognition and reward tools, including eCards based on their core values such as "Deliver an exceptional patient experience" that live on a social recognition wall. This wall increases visibility and boosts connections among employees, as well as helps the organization make recognition more public.

Award nominations are a big piece of DHAT’s recognition and reward puzzle. In the past, the team used to see about three to five nominations for the Employee of the Quarter award. Since launching Digest This!, they've received such an overwhelming number of nominations that they’ve changed the program to Employee of the Month, and the nominations keep rolling in.

Seeking to further demonstrate appreciation for its employees, DHAT launched a new employee discounts program to extend employees’ disposable income. The program includes discounts to hundreds of national retailers, allowing employees to save big at the retailers they already shop at (including big savings on dining out, movie theaters and travel vendors).

DHAT’s new platform also features employee surveys – a key element in improving employee engagement. Gathering invaluable feedback from employees, where anyone can openly submit their feedback at any time through the platform – whether eNPS surveys, polls or onboarding and exit surveys – is a priority for the organization in order to keep a pulse on its people and improve employee retention.