This article presents a description and preliminary evaluation of a nationwide initiative by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) called Civility, Respect, and Engagement in the Workforce (CREW). The goal of CREW is to increase workplace civility as assessed by employee ratings of interpersonal climate in workgroups. Once endorsed by the VHA leadership and adopted by the leaders of particular VHA hospitals, CREW was conducted by local facility coordinators who were trained and supported by the VHA National Center for Organization Development. This article explains the conceptual and operational background of CREW and the approach used to implement the initiative, presents results from two CREW administrations with a total of 23 sites, and reports significant preintervention to postintervention changes in civility at intervention sites as compared to no significant changes at comparison sites within each administration. It discusses these findings in the conceptual (theoretical) and operational (intervention evaluation) context of interventions targeting civility.T his study presents results from a nationwide organization development initiative in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which focused on increasing civility in the workplace. The initiative is called Civility, Respect, and Engagement in the Workforce (CREW). We present the conceptual and operational background of CREW, explain the approach that the VHA used to implement it, share initial results, and discuss these findings in the theoretical and operational context of interventions targeting civility. In the CREW framework, and in this article, civility refers to courteous and considerate workplace behaviors within the workgroup (the group of people who work together and report to the same supervisor). More specific dimensions understood to express civil behavior are coworkers' personal interest and respect
Organizational climate, policies, and resultant working conditions in health care institutions appear to be strong drivers of system performance. Interventions directed toward improving care quality and safety should address these factors.
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