In the healthcare landscape, employee morale has the power to drive the needle forward or hold it back for your organization.
Even in pre-pandemic times, cultivating a culture steeped in employee satisfaction and wellbeing was a monumental challenge. The arrival of COVID-19 has only served to exacerbate the issue, with 65% of employers saying maintaining employee morale has proven to be difficult throughout these uncertain times.
From increased patient volume to elevated stress levels, the implications of an unhappy workforce are far-reaching, and can negatively impact patient outcomes, staff retention and productivity.
The good news: there are ways you can improve internal culture by building morale and fostering employee wellbeing in your hospital or healthcare practice.
Implement & Embrace Technology
Practice management and grappling with administrative burdens are two time-consuming endeavors that can plague your facility if not tackled effectively. Long-term sustainability simply isn’t feasible if your staff is shouldering an excessive workload. Integrating technology and automation into your workflow can improve the patient experience and decrease burnout.
When manual or repetitive processes can be swapped with time-saving technology, physicians and staff can focus efforts on high-level initiatives, like delivering quality patient care or increasing hospital margins. Leveraging automation can also eliminate process inefficiencies and revenue loss due to human error. Investing in your team and providing tools designed to bolster their success will have a positive impact on job satisfaction and team morale. Over time, you’ll also see an improvement in employee retention numbers.
For instance, utilizing digital communication platforms for appointment scheduling, patient communication, check-up reminders and more will decrease staff workload, encourage patient preventive care and minimize your facility’s no-show rate. Since nearly 70% of patients admitted they would switch doctors if it meant greater convenience and ease of care.
So adopting an effective and easy-to-use digital strategy is a win-win for all parties involved.
Encourage Communication & Feedback
Every employee wants to feel like their voice is heard. Creating a space that encourages team members to voice concerns, share insights and ideas and ask questions demonstrates that their opinions matter. Implementing measures that communicate to your team that they’re valued is a simple, yet effective, way to boost morale.
Surveys, for instance, can be a powerful tool for creating meaningful dialogue and improving decision-making on the leadership level. Feedback can also be captured anonymously, providing staff with a safe space to express their thoughts. By collecting authentic and actionable feedback, you’ll be better equipped to bridge gaps and address pain points that directly impact workplace satisfaction. Instituting an open-door policy with senior managers and holding regular staff meetings will empower the team and ensure everyone is working towards a shared goal.
Focus On Employee Recognition
Hospitals and healthcare facilities that incorporate employee recognition into their culture will see a direct and positive impact on productivity, engagement and morale. Acknowledging hard work and highlighting contributions made by individual workers is a pivotal part of keeping motivations high. Celebrating achievements and anniversaries while also giving positive reinforcement on a regular basis will help improve workplace culture and alleviate stress.
Encourage Staff to Continuously Aim High
Facilitating growth and professional development opportunities for your staff will drive morale and efficiency for your organization. Healthcare workers are looking to align themselves with employers that offer and encourage skill development. Plus, with technology continually advancing, it’ll require corresponding training programs to ensure everyone is contributing to the success of the practice.
Investing in skill development, and providing staff with visibility into how the practice is trending towards its goals, will foster a greater connection between employees and overarching business objectives. This infuses each team member with a sense of purpose, demonstrating that their work is valued and contributes to the bigger picture.
Having the right personnel in place, and ensuring workers and patients alike don’t suffer the burden of an understaffed facility, it’s crucial to have an effective recruitment strategy in place. To learn more about how Polaris’s team of recruitment specialists can help your healthcare facility drive growth and team morale, contact us today.