St Luke’s Hospital: How a Culture of Care and Data-Driven Action Built a Great Place to Work

Elizabeth Mei-Shaan Shaw

Elizabeth Mei-Shaan Shaw

Author

Share:

Meet St Luke's Hospital

View Company Profile

St Luke’s Hospital (SLH) has long been recognized not only for its compassionate patient care but also for its unwavering commitment to creating a great workplace for its employees. Facing the challenges of a competitive healthcare landscape and the evolving needs of both patients and staff, SLH embarked on a transformative journey to strengthen its organizational culture. Central to this journey is the belief that taking care of employees enables them to provide exceptional care to patients – a principle deeply embedded in the hospital’s ethos. SLH’s data-driven effort is borne from SLH Head of Human Resources, Jeethu Syriac’s, belief that “what you can’t measure, you can’t manage. What you can’t manage, you can’t improve”. SLH’s Trust IndexTM results validate his belief that data-driven insights followed by meaningful actions support a high-trust culture For AllTM.

Key Outcomes

17% increase in Trust Index Score

SLH achieved a 17% increase in overall Trust Index Score from 2022 to 2025, a reflection of leadership’s dedicated effort to addressing employee feedback, and the positive effect it has had on employee experience. 
In the competitive healthcare landscape, employee retention rates improved by 2-3% every year, directly correlating to the increase in Trust Index Scores.  
Celebrations, team bonding, and recognition were prioritized in response to employee feedback, leading to a significant increase in sentiment around a fun workplace environment.

Strategic Themes: Building Teams, Enterprise, and Culture

At the core of SLH’s strategy are three themes: Building Teams, Building Enterprise, and Building Culture. Each theme serves as a pillar for sustainable growth and organizational resilience:

  • Building Teams focuses on supporting employees through nurturing well-being, encouraging professional development, and fostering a collaborative workforce. The healthcare sector is often associated with high workloads and long hours that often lead to burnout. In the first year of conducting the Trust Index survey, the statement “this is a fun place to work” saw fewer positive responses. In alignment with employee feedback, the organization prioritized team celebrations by enhancing the team bonding fund, expanding recognition avenues through internal and external awards, and introducing regular birthday celebrations and appreciation for various job families.
  • Building Enterprise aligns SLH’s operations with its mission as a Christian healthcare organization, emphasizing value delivery to patients, brand advancement, and sustainable growth. SLH makes the same commitment to its patients and its staff – to provide the best care and best experience. SLH’s ethos is clear – take care of your staff and they will take care of patients.
  • Building Culture seeks to instill a culture of resilience, growth, and innovation. Employees are encouraged to embrace challenges and learning opportunities, ensuring adaptability in an ever-changing and competitive environment. The annual Trust Index survey is used to determine areas of focus each year, with dedicated action plans targeting focus areas to build upon SLH’s culture.

Feedback and Communication: Building Transparency and Engagement

Recognizing that effective communication is foundational to engagement, SLH has established multiple channels for feedback and dialogue:

  • Direct CEO Access: Employees have direct access to the CEO through online channels or regular tea sessions to share ideas and feedback.
  • HR Walkabouts: HR and management teams conduct regular on-the-ground visits, proactively seeking input to ensure challenges are addressed in a timely manner.
  • Quarterly Hospital Updates: A regular cadence of communication allows leaders to share business updates, progress on action plans, and organizational developments, ensuring transparency and alignment at all levels of the business.
  • Peer Appreciation and Recognition: Quarterly core value awards and peer nominations foster a culture where employees are celebrated and positive feedback is highlighted.

 

This transparent, multi-layered feedback system ensures that every voice is heard. Most importantly, leaders are trained to close the feedback loop — acknowledging every suggestion, and keeping staff informed of actions taken or reasons why change may not be possible. This approach has led to sustained survey engagement rates above 90%, with employees trusting that their input leads to meaningful change.

 

Well-Being and Mental Health: Comprehensive Support for Staff

SLH adopts a holistic approach to staff well-being, recognizing that both physical and mental health are essential in sustaining a thriving workplace. The hospital’s Health & Wellness Club, a staff-driven initiative, organizes a variety of activities such as leisure events, wellness talks, and self-care initiatives to support employees’ overall well-being. Understanding the challenges associated with mental wellness, SLH has also introduced free and confidential psychologist consultations for all staff, alongside peer-to-peer debriefing sessions and psychological first aid training specifically designed for managers to foster psychological safety within their teams.

This foundation of care extends to their inclusive practices where every employee, regardless of background or job function, feels valued and supported within the organisation.

Flexible hybrid work arrangements for non-patient-facing staff, personalized development plans, and accessible learning platforms reinforce a culture of continuous growth. Family-friendly initiatives like “Bring Your Child to Work Day” foster a sense of pride when employees get to share their work with family members.

Together, these well-being and inclusion efforts have produced tangible results, with the hospital’s Trust Index score increasing by 19% within 3 years for the statement “this is a psychologically and emotionally healthy place to work”.

SLH has built a culture of trust and excellence that benefits both employees and patients, and their advice to others is clear: listen to your employees, make meaningful changes, and communicate openly – even when action is not possible. Trust, once built, unlocks extraordinary potential.

-St. Luke’s Hospital

Measurable Outcomes: Data-Driven Improvement

SLH’s workplace transformation offers a compelling case for the power of empowering employees through a culture of feedback. SLH has built a culture of trust and excellence that benefits both employees and patients, and their advice to others is clear: listen to your employees, make meaningful changes, and communicate openly. Trust, once built, unlocks extraordinary potential.

SLH’s ongoing journey underscores that great workplaces are not created overnight. Sustained commitment, data-driven action, and genuine care for people are the foundations of lasting workplace excellence.

Latest Case Studies