Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH)

Sreamlines Gift Management and Increases Employee Satisfaction with Altrum

October 24, 2024
Industry Public Sector

About HGH

Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH), located in Ontario, is a regional healthcare facility celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. With over 850 employees, 160 doctors, and numerous volunteers, this hospital plays a vital role in the Prescott-Russell community, focusing on innovation, excellence, and a human-centred work environment.

Setting the Scene

In 2020, HGH discovered Altrum through a recommendation from one of their employees’ spouses. At that time, gift management relied heavily on manual processes, with the HR team tracking everything through Excel spreadsheets—an inefficient and time-consuming approach. The process demanded constant email coordination with both vendors and employees only to provide a limited selection of gift card options. In addition to being inflexible and inefficient for the HR team, this process also disappointed employees. Some didn’t participate in the program due to a lack of suitable choices, while others didn’t collect their gifts, due to lack of time or remote work, resulting in financial losses for the hospital.

 

HGH’s objective was clear: modernize its recognition program and optimize it to improve employee satisfaction while simplifying daily operations for the HR team. Given their annual investments in the program, the team wanted to achieve a greater impact among employees.

The Solution: Celebration Turnkey Gift Management

The human resources team adopted the Celebration solution to benefit from a turnkey management process and a wide selection of gifts suited to all tastes. Since implementing this solution, gift management operates “like magic,” says Isabelle Drouin, Human Resources Director at HGH.

 

Apart from providing Altrum with the list of recipients, all logistics are handled, and we no longer have unclaimed gifts. Even for our employees who are less comfortable with technology, for whom we send invitations by mail, Altrum takes care of everything.”

Plus, it’s a user-friendly platform. Thanks to the dashboards, I can monitor where employees are in the gift selection process and adjust boutique duration when needed, among other things. And if there’s a problem or question, I have a dedicated person at Altrum who responds quickly.”

Gift Programs at HGH

Through the Celebration Platform, HGH can manage all its gifts and recognition programs under one roof, including:

 

  • Years of Service: At Hawkesbury General Hospital, years of service recognition begins from the first year, and continues every five years, with a budget allocated to each tier. Employees celebrating 20+ years of service receive both a gift through the Celebration platform and a complimentary hotel stay certificate. The solution’s flexibility allows for the entire process to be automated.

 

  • Retirements: To commemorate their retirement, employees can select a meaningful gift of their choice within a predetermined budget.

 

  • Draws: During critical periods when staff shortages are particularly high, HGH organizes draws to thank employees. Winners automatically receive access to the Celebration Platform to choose their gift.

 

Finally, HGH has also created boutiques to celebrate employees of the month and offer merit awards at different times throughout the year.

Results

Implementing the Celebration Platform has had a significant impact on Hawkesbury General Hospital’s gifts and recognition programs.

 

  • Improved Efficiency: Gift management has become faster and less manual, with a simplified tracking system that has considerably lightened the HR team’s workload.

 

  • Increased Satisfaction: Staff members value the extensive gift selection and convenient delivery options, with the flexibility to receive items at their workplace, residence, or vacation property. Isabelle Drouin emphasizes that even employees less comfortable with technology find the ordering process easy to use.

 

  • Increased Participation Rate: The participation rate in the gift programs has notably increased, particularly among doctors.

 

  • Elimination of Financial Losses: Since Altrum only bills upon gift order, unclaimed gifts’ losses have been eliminated entirely.
Colorful Celebration Background

Testimonial

The Celebration Platform has significantly lightened the administrative burden related to managing our gifts. Thanks to its flexibility, we can now offer various recognition programs throughout the year with peace of mind. Moreover, the feedback from our staff has been extremely positive, reinforcing our satisfaction with this solution.

 

—Isabelle Drouin, Human Resources Director.

Next Steps for HGH

The hospital plans to strengthen its culture by further diversifying its recognition practices in the upcoming months.

First, they will continue to improve their years of service recognition program by celebrating anniversaries on the exact date. They are also exploring the idea of creating mixed boutiques, offering both popular products and hospital-branded items.

Additionally, the HR team has successfully tested the Orange Program, an online training program designed to help managers integrate non-monetary recognition into their daily routines. The positive impression left by this training encourages them to launch a cohort soon.

Finally, the hospital is considering implementing peer-to-peer recognition software to encourage a 360-degree recognition culture within the facility.

Want to simplify the management of recognition gifts for your employees, like the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital did?

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