Norton Healthcare Lifts “My Ideas and Suggestions Are Valued” from 61.2% to 70.5% Favorable by Creating Great Human Interactions

What Was the Opportunity?

Decision-making in healthcare has become fast-paced and data-heavy, but front-line employee voice is often excluded from the process. At Norton Healthcare, employees had ample opportunity to share feedback through surveys, crowdsourcing, and other channels. The problem was downstream: employees were not seeing how their input influenced changes across the organization.

This gap showed up clearly in the data. The survey item “My ideas and suggestions are valued” had been stuck at a 3.7 mean score for three consecutive survey cycles. While Norton Healthcare’s scores stagnated, national benchmarks on this item continued to improve, widening the gap. The item was also a routine driver of engagement for Norton Healthcare employees, meaning that continued stagnation risked triggering broader engagement decline.

The challenge was specific: Norton Healthcare didn’t have a listening problem (employees were providing feedback through multiple channels) but rather a feedback-loop problem. Employees were sharing ideas but not experiencing the connection between their input and organizational action.

What Was the Solution?

Norton Healthcare designed a three-phase action plan targeting the stagnating “My ideas and suggestions are valued” item. Phase 1 has been fully implemented; Phases 2 and 3 are launching at the end of Q1 2026.

Phase 1: Leader Check-In Accountability (Live)

Leaders were expected to conduct routine one-on-one check-ins with individual team members and held accountable for doing so. Perceptyx created a custom demographic in their census survey app so they could see how survey results differ based on the number of times a manager said they rounded — as tracked by their rounding software — on their direct reports. An integration to their internal recognition and award platform (OC Tanner) was built to support the flow of work, and an alert function was added so leaders could connect staff with HR and well-being resources when needed. The approach made check-in frequency visible, measurable, and connected to existing systems.

Phase 2: Targeted Pulse Surveys for Below-Median Teams (Launching Q1 2026)

Teams falling below the organizational median on “My ideas and suggestions are valued” will receive a targeted pulse survey. The survey is designed to identify at which level of the organization employees feel unheard and to collect grassroots suggestions on how to improve feedback collection, action-taking, and closing the feedback loop. This targets intervention resources at the teams with the greatest need rather than applying a uniform enterprise-wide approach.

Phase 3: Perceptyx Nudges for Leaders of Below-Median Teams (Launching Q1 2026)

Leaders of teams falling below the organizational median will be enrolled in a communication series using the Perceptyx Activate product. The series provides leaders with tools and techniques for promoting transparency, idea sharing, and process improvement. These leaders are also enrolled in a monthly webinar series designed to share employee experience best practices, resources, and strategies. The combination of targeted pulse data (Phase 2) and ongoing nudge-based coaching (Phase 3) creates a reinforcing loop: data identifies the gap, nudges help leaders close it, and subsequent pulses track whether the gap is narrowing.

What Was the Impact?

Phase 1 produced a 9.3 percentage-point gain on the target item. When leaders completed 10 or more check-ins per year with their team members, the item “My ideas and suggestions are valued” jumped from 61.2% favorable to 70.5% favorable. This 9.3-point improvement broke a three-cycle stagnation pattern on an item that had been flat at 3.7 mean, demonstrating that leader check-in frequency has a direct, measurable relationship with employees feeling heard.

The dose-response relationship is the key finding. The data shows that the improvement is tied to frequency: leaders who checked in with employees 10 or more times per year drove the gain. This gives Norton Healthcare a specific, evidence-based behavioral target to set for leaders, rather than a general directive to “check in more.” The threshold of 10+ interactions per year provides a clear, actionable standard.

Phases 2 and 3 are designed to compound the gain. The targeted pulse surveys (Phase 2) and Perceptyx Nudges (Phase 3) launching in Q1 2026 are specifically designed for teams that remain below the organizational median after Phase 1. If the Phase 1 check-in accountability raised scores for teams whose leaders complied, Phases 2 and 3 target the teams whose leaders need additional support, creating a progressive intervention model.