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Currents The fiscal year 1999-2000 Appropriations Bill provides a 3 percent general, across-the-board increase for employees in permanent classified positions, and an average 1 percent merit increase for performance in conjunction with EPMS review dates. The general increase will be applied to the biweekly payroll June 20—checks will be issued July 13—and to the monthly payroll July 1— checks will be issued July 30.  Increases for unclassified employees will be effective Oct. 1. Guidelines have not been formally issued, but the overall funding is the same. We expect increases may range from zero to 6 percent.  Because the Appropriations Bill allocates 3 percent for the general increase but only a 1 percent merit increase, it appears our legislators lack confidence in our ability to fairly administer a performance-based pay plan. Nevertheless, we are grateful to have some merit pay directly connected with the performance appraisal as this has not been the case in recent years. The merit pay will be given in increments of .5 percent (meets expectations), 1 percent (exceeds expectations) and 1.5 percent (substantially exceeds expectations). Specific guidelines will be issued by the Department of Human Resources Management. Managers should take this opportunity to do a good job with the performance appraisal and merit increase process, and demonstrate our accountability by conducting all performance evaluations in a timely manner. With the authority structure, we anticipate that we can embrace performance-based pay with a direct link to the performance appraisal. While the actual conversion date to the authority has not been resolved, it will not happen before January 2000. Assuming the conversion takes place during fiscal year 1999-2000, we will be sure that all employees receive the appropriate merit increase. Once the authority conversion does take place, we are aware of the need for a fair and competitive performance-based pay plan, while keeping an appropriate balance with the academic division. W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center Medical Center survey analyzed University Communications Billing Update  Lisa Montgomery, administrator for Financial Services, asked management team members to review their telephone bills in order to cut unnecessary expenses. Please take time to audit your department's bill for accuracy of lines being billed, as well as long distance charges. Montgomery distributed a handout that explains how to access telephone bills online. If you have questions, contact University Communications at 792-9980. Organizational Assessment Karen Pellegrin, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of Quality Management, reviewed the results of a Medical Center survey conducted in December 1998 at the request of the senior management team. More than 1,600 MUSC employees, faculty and house staff completed the survey, which identified organizational strengths and weaknesses, as well as predictors of employee satisfaction.  On the work environment scale, which measures the culture or climate of a work place, the MUSC Medical Center scored similarly to the comparison group of other health care organizations on all but two dimensions: clarity and physical comfort. On these two dimensions, the MUSC Medical Center scored better than the comparison group. Clarity means the Medical Center has done a good job setting clear expectations for employees. Physical comfort means the overall physical environment, including lighting, temperature, ventilation and furniture, is relatively pleasant. The quality practices scale measured the extent to which the Medical Center has implemented practices that are consistent with a quality management philosophy. The three comparison groups, which include a broad sample of manufacturing and service organizations, reflect organizations with no quality program in place, those with a beginning program in place, and those with a middle or advanced program. Overall, the Medical Center's results indicated that we are most comparable to organizations with a beginning quality program. Our greatest strength in this area is leadership's commitment to quality and improvement. Our greatest opportunity for improvement in this area is for supervisors to give positive feedback, recognition and rewards for good work. In this survey, the three best predictors of employee satisfaction at the Medical Center are:  good communication, leadership commitment to quality and improvement, and clarity. Among clinical faculty and house staff, communication and leadership commitment to quality and improvement were also good predictors of overall satisfaction. In all three groups—employees, clinical faculty, and house staff—the top two responses to the open-ended question, 'What is the one most important thing the leadership team could do to improve the work environment at the Medical Center?' were: improve accountability for behavior and performance, including incentives and penalties, and improve communication, including listening and honesty. Pellegrin said this survey will be repeated in approximately 18 months to measure the progress made in areas that are being targeted for improvement. Announcements Online Manuals If your department has a policy manual that you would like to put on MUSC's Web site, please send a copy of the manual in WordPerfect, on a disk, to Stephanie Davis in room 251 North Tower, Hospital Administration. Weather Emergency Information Sue Pletcher, director of Patient Access Services, gave the management team packets of weather emergency cards to share with their staff members. Y2K Message Check out MUSC Medical Center's policy A-43 on Utility Services at <http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/policy>  Blood Donors Needed Please make time to donate blood at the MUSC blood drives. The blood supply here and at other local hospitals depends on your donation.  Walk-ins are welcome, but if you'd like to set an appointment for any of the dates below, please call Beth Medved at 852-2922 and leave a message with the date and time preferred. July Horseshoe Bloodmobiles  Tuesday, July 6: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Donors who gave blood on or before May 11, are eligible to give again.) Thursday, July 15: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Donors who gave blood on or before May 20, are eligible to give again.) Tuesday, July 20: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Donors who gave blood on or before May 25, are eligible to give again.) Wednesday, July 28: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Donors who gave blood on or before June 2, are eligible to give again.) July Harborview Tower Blood Drives  Wednesday, July 7: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Donors who gave blood on or before May 12, are eligible to give again.) Platelet donors also are needed to help cancer and leukemia patients.  MUSC Apheresis Center is located in room 267, Main Hospital. Please call 792-3340 or 852-2922 to schedule an appointment.