“Stickers in your pocket” magic

I had the privilege of working at a children’s hospital for two years. I can honestly say it was my favorite job ever!  Who could not love a job where you would have little kids running into your legs as you were walking down the hall on your way to a meeting.  One of the things I would regularly do was purchase colorful stickers in bulk online and I always had a supply in my pocket whenever I was at work.  In traversing the facility, I would always meet children along the way and they would be delighted by the spontaneous gift of stickers – it was just fun!

I also learned that many of my colleagues did the same thing: handing out everything from stickers, to candy, to saved up stashes of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. There was also a group that knitted blankets for the babies in the NICU.  It was not policy, but the unwritten cardinal rule was that every discharged NICU baby went home with a blanket.

The lesson here is so much more than delighting children with presents.  This gift activity was an important key to a fully engaged staff providing superior customer experience: imagine a workforce where the employees were always thinking about what they could do to delight their customers every day.  How successful would your healthcare enterprise be if every employee purposefully planned and was always prepared to bring joy to their patients.

What is your “Stickers in your pocket” magic?