Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1500412
20 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE How Duke's health system supports a workforce that is 60% millennial or Gen Z By Kelly Gooch T o retain workers, hospitals and health systems must ensure they meet employee needs and expectations across generations. is is particularly true as more older healthcare workers have retired or plan to retire, and as younger generations such as millennials and Generation Z make up large portions of their workforces. At Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System, the workforce is 60 percent millennial or Gen Z. Rhonda Brandon, chief human resources officer and senior vice president for the health system, said in a news release that this presents the challenge of meeting workers' desire for more flexibility, clearer advancement pathways and competitive wages. To help meet these desires, Duke increased its minimum wage to $17 per hour, effective July 1, 2022. e change applied to eligible university and health system staff. Duke also announced it will expand the Employee Tuition Assistance Program, effective July 1, 2023, including reducing the service eligibility requirement from two consecutive years of full-time employment to six months of full-time employment. Additionally, Duke University Health System announced in February that it would install weapons detection systems at its hospitals as part of efforts to address the safety of workers, patients and visitors. Other efforts mentioned in a health system news release include investing in salaries of front-line staff; enhanced clinical ladders to support growth; and working to redesign and simplify staff work to reduce stress and burnout. "We want our team members to have joy in their work and to feel valued, seen and heard," Ms. Brandon said in the release. "We want everyone to know that they matter and they belong here as we work together to deliver extraordinary care." n More customers ready to rebuke companies that miss expectations By Molly Gamble T he number of consumers engaging in revenge-seeking behavior against companies has more than tripled over the past three years, reflecting dual trends of declining customer experiences and the digitization of complaining. e finding comes from the National Customer Rage Survey, conducted with 1,000 Americans by Customer Care Measurement & Consulting in collaboration with the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. e survey has been conducted since 2003. Five key findings from the 2023 edition: 1. Seventy-four percent of customers reported experiencing a product or service problem in the past year. 2. "Customer rage" held steady, with 63 percent of customers who experienced a problem reporting feelings of rage about it. 3. e percentage of customers seeking revenge toward a company, such as pestering or public shaming in person or online, over their poor experience tripled since 2020. 4. A quarter of respondents consider hostile behaviors, such as threats, humiliation, foul language and lying, as civil or circumstantially acceptable when protesting against businesses and their values. 5. Digital channels — e-mail, chat and social media — are now the primary complaint channel at 50 percent, up from 5 percent in 2013. "Defusing customer rage is not rocket science," omas Hollmann, PhD, executive director of the Center for Services Leadership at ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business, said. "Although many customers are looking for repairs or refunds, they're also hoping for a sincere apology and acknowledgment of their complaints. ese no-cost actions show that the company cares, is listening to the customer, and values them." n Inova Health promotes 3 dogs to 'chief comfort officers' By Mariah Taylor T hree dogs have been promoted to chief comfort of- ficers at Inova Loudoun (Va.) Hospital, ABC affiliate WJLA reported April 27. The three dogs, Moo, 3, Bartley, 6, and Jeremiah, 8, help patients in the rehabilitation center. Recently, the hospital hosted a ceremony to promote them. "They will now be known officially as Inova's chief comfort officers," Inova Health Foundation President Sage Bolte, PhD, told WJLA. The ceremony also introduced the next round of facility dogs: Rex, Cozy and Bohdi. n