"I think it’s a best place to work because of its people," says Mr. Karam. "They very much respect each other and the departments they interact with." He says the employees embody the core values identified for the system: "Dignity, integrity, compassion, excellence and stewardship."
Established in 1916 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, CHRISTUS St. Michael, a part of CHRISTUS Health, is a not-for-profit, faith-based, Catholic healthcare ministry that serves residents of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. CHRISTUS St. Michael offers an expansive array of healthcare services, which includes heart care, orthopedic treatment and cancer care.
The faith-based element of CHRISTUS St. Michael is a major component of the organization’s success, says Mr. Karam
"We create [our] great work system," he says. "We start the day with prayer and end the day with prayer. It’s not just work but rather it’s a ministry. When you start thinking of your work that way, appreciating that you are being asked to get involved in peoples’ lives when they are most vulnerable, you see what an honor it is to be there for those folks."
CHRISTUS St. Michael has received several recognitions of its outstanding programs, community support and employee satisfaction.
And it’s not surprising, as CHRISTUS St. Michael not only finances several teaching programs but instituted a School at Work program in 2005 to encourage entry-level associates to further their education. The organization also has an on-site state-of-the-art fitness center and swimming pool that staff and their families can use at a discounted price, throws patient satisfaction celebrations and professional recognition days and offers benefits such as an employee assistance program which provides staff with emergency needs and counseling.
Despite all of these perks, Mr. Karam says that without a strong mission and making sure to satisfy the basic needs of an employee, such as a competitive salary, an organization may struggle to motivate staff members to work hard and improve themselves and their facility, and individuals will be less likely to hold themselves and others accountable to the organization’s vision and core values.
To create a working environment that keeps people happy with their career choice and employer, Mr. Karam believes it is of the utmost for an organization to identify its core values, and "to identify a compelling reason for why you want to be a great place to work."
If you can identify such a mission and have staff members truly buy-in to it, you’re off to a great start, he says. The next step to improving your work environment is to benchmark your operations against similar facilities.
"You have to have a baseline for where you are and need to measure [your organization] against others in order to see how you shape up," says Mr. Karam. "One of my favorite quotes is ‘What gets measured gets done.’ Through that process you’ll be able to identity your issues and target them for improvement."
Even with the many recognitions CHRISTUS St. Michael has received, the organization is not complacent with its efforts; rather, these accolades have instead served as a motivating factor for the health system, says Mr. Karam. CHRISTUS St. Michael intends on continue to identify ways to make it a great place to work for its employees. It has created several foundations, offers its staff free health screenings through an annual health fair, free flu shots, a generous PTO plan and free medical insurance. Espousing the organization’s own core vales, it performs an annual evaluation, recognizes exceptional service and ensures it is upholding its code of ethics through an ethics-oversight committee.
Learn more about CHRISTUS St. Michael.
