A Loving Organization Success Story:

How Hackensack Meridian Health Built A Best Place to Work: On Trust, Love And Leadership

Overview:

Hackensack Meridian Health demonstrates a strong, system-wide culture of love, trust, and engagement. Leadership modeling, team nurturing, and robust engagement structures are advanced, producing tangible outcomes in retention and staff satisfaction.

Leaders: Tria Deibert, SVP Culture & Team Member Wellbeing, Hackensack Meridian Health

Framework: Culture-driven platform combining data, recognition, and human-centered leadership

“Build a workplace environment which makes it easy to fall in love, stay in love, and share your love for Hackensack Meridian Health with everyone you know.”

- Tria Deibert, SVP, Culture and Team Member Wellbeing

Goals

  • Consistently elevate Hackensack Meridian to be recognized as a top workplace in healthcare.
  • Strengthen team member engagement, wellbeing, and retention through trust-based culture.
  • Integrate recognition and leadership practices that reinforce belonging and purpose.

Challenges

  • High turnover risk and pandemic-era burnout pressures.
  • Existing culture: experienced frontline fatigue and inconsistent leadership connection.
  • Need to shift from episodic initiatives to sustained, data-driven culture reinforcement.

Key Initiatives

1. 

Data-Driven “A‑ha” Moments

Used quantitative culture metrics (e.g., StandOut, employee surveys) to uncover areas needing relational investment and surfaced them to leaders for action
2.

Intentional Listening And Leadership Presence

Leaders committed to “listening with intention”—rounding with genuine curiosity and transparency to reinforce psychological safety
3.

Real-Time Recognition Tools

Tools like Wambi’s CarePostcards enabled peer and patient recognition, reinforcing
compassionate actions and fostering gratitude
4.

Celebration of Culture Success

Embraced public recognition (e.g., Fortune Best Places to Work) as a collective win—centered on all team members, not just leadership

Outcomes:

Quantitative

  • Designated a Fortune Best Place to Work in Healthcare (2025) based on strong feedback and engagement
  • Measurable upticks in retention and wellbeing across teams using culture data tools.

Qualitative

  • Team members describe feeling “seen,” “valued,” and emotionally connected.
  • Leaders and staff report increased trust, pride, and sense of belonging.

Lessons Learned

Quantitative

  • Trust is grounded in data-informed action. Culture metrics become powerful when transparently used to guide relational leadership.
  • Authentic presence builds safety. Leaders who listen with intent create trust faster than top‑down directives.
    Recognition drives reinforcement. Simple tools (like CarePostcards) cultivate ongoing gratitude and connection.
    Shared celebration amplifies belonging. Achievements are more meaningful when every team member sees themselves reflected in success.