Case Study / Employee Survey The Springs Living (Workers comp injuries)

"We invest a lot in the Great Place to Work program and see results in all parts of our business."
- Fee Stubblefield, CEO

About The Springs Living

For over 25 years, The Springs Living has been a leading independent and assisted living provider in the Pacific Northwest. Like many good operators, The Springs tracks workplace injuries closely. With nearly 20 locations and nearly 2,000 employees, The Springs has been working with activated Insights since 2018.

Fee Stubblefield headshot
A 1% increase in employee engagement score decreased workers' compensation claims by...

$0

Executive Summary

The Springs began working with Activated Insights to become a Great Place to Work. As a data-driven company, The Springs has correlated employee scores with resident satisfaction as well as community performance. Like many providers, during the COVID pandemic, workers’ compensation injuries skyrocketed. Upon overlaying employee Trust Index scores, The Springs saw that for every 1% increase in its employee engagement score, workers’ compensation claims decreased by an estimated $820,000. The positive results were even higher within the personal care and kitchen staff departments.

The Springs Living Logo

WEBSITE
thespringsliving.com

The Springs Living

Challenges

Prior to Activated Insights, The Springs did not have a way to measure and compare employee engagement - or tie culture to measurable business metrics such as workers’ compensation injuries. Challenges included:

  • Like many workplaces, The Springs’ communities were closely watching employee injuries and associated costs but had no proven way to decrease them.
  • Moreover, The Springs recognized that, in addition to driving up insurance premiums, rising workers’ comp injuries were also bad for workplace morale.
  • With The Spring's previous vendor, employee sentiment measurements were being biased by skewed sampling and provided no capability to drill down to the individual level.

How Activated Insights Helped 

The Springs worked with Activated Insights to tie employee engagement to business cost drivers such as workers’ compensation injuries as well as to leadership recognition.

  • After reviewing The Springs’ internal data on employee injuries, Activated Insights was able to clearly show the executive team the quantified connection between engagement and injuries. Past research has shown that when employees are engaged, they tend to follow rules and procedures more carefully (e.g., for lifting, kitchen safety, etc.), resulting in fewer workplace injuries.
  • Furthermore, all community leaders were excited about the opportunity to be recognized as a Great Place to Work. The results were easy to understand, digest, and use by the home office staff as well as community managers.

Results

The Springs’ leadership was able to quantify the impact of Great Place to Work scores on workers’ compensation expenses. By creating a safer workplace, The Springs reinforced its mission and strategy of caring for its employees. 

  • Activated Insights helped The Springs create a "return on investment" model for employee engagement. For instance, each modest 1-point increase in the Trust Index should result in one fewer injury claim in a typical community. Using the industry's average of $41,000 cost per claim, The Springs can expect to see a $820,000 savings across all its communities.
  • Because of its dedication to being a Great Place to Work, The Springs won a "Top 10" ranking in the 2020 Fortune Best Workplaces in Aging Services list.