Recognition & engagement: A health care case study
In any industry, burnout can lead to lower productivity and engagement. Health care, however, faces increased and unique pressures.
Most industries encounter workforce management challenges including recruitment retention and engagement at one time or another, but the pandemic has brought these critical issues to the forefront. The health care industry, which over the past four months alone has grappled with filled ICUs, lack of personal protective equipment, sick colleagues and more during the unprecedented virus, faces a unique set of demands that make the challenges of employee retention and engagement much more consistent and pervasive.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care professionals experienced increasing levels of burnout. In fact, according to a 2018 study, more than half of all doctors and over 33% of all nurses were facing career fatigue. Today, several months into battling the coronavirus pandemic, stress, burnout and mental health concerns are much more intense and widespread within the industry, with impacts we haven’t even begun to fully understand yet.
Related: Safety, recognition, inclusion: How to address basic employee needs
In any industry, burnout can lead to lower productivity and engagement. Health care, however, faces increased and unique pressures that stem from caring for the community—where life and death are at the balance. Coupled with a lack of personal protective equipment, personal and professional isolation, and staggering patient needs from a global pandemic, health care workers in particular need support to avoid burnout, which includes ensuring the right level of staffing and resources.
To make matters more challenging, along with increasing pressure on the job and a talent shortage, there is also a continuous drive in the industry to improve the quality of patient care while reducing costs—all without negatively impacting patient outcomes.
While the impacts of COVID-19 on health care workers and the industry at large will be better understood several months or even years from now, health care businesses should adopt workforce management best practices now, including employee engagement, in order to provide better support to health care workers and stem the tide of an industry in crisis. Bayhealth Medical is one example of an organization that has reaped the benefits of recognition programs to further their employee engagement.
Achieving engagement through recognition
When it comes to using employee engagement to address stress and burnout, it is tempting to believe there is one blanket strategy that works for every employee in any industry. However, the struggles and triumphs employees experience in hospitals or other health care facilities are very different from those experienced by retail workers or those in finance. Similarly, the effects of disengagement in health care have unique consequences. In fact, the engagement level of nurses has the strongest impact on medical complications and mortality rates.
Given these factors, health care leaders will find it best to engage their employees and address burnout using increased and frequent recognition. Studies show that recognition as an engagement driver has the power to improve productivity, retention and satisfaction. At the end of the day, employees want to be recognized for their hard work, the impact they have on their communities and, in the case of health care workers, the positive outcomes with patient care and family interactions.
Putting it into practice
Understanding the unique challenges that face the health care industry, Bayhealth Medical built a high-impact recognition program to reinforce their values, democratize and drive daily recognition and impact engagement. “The technology allows us to develop a platform where managers and peers alike can recognize each other, in real-time, for the entire organization to see,” says Lauren Brittingham, Director of Organizational Development at Bayhealth. She adds, “integrating technology that streamlines and encourages regular recognition creates a culture rooted in said practices, which inspires a more engaged and satisfied workforce.”
Bayhealth Medical Center’s employee recognition program caters to 3,700 employees across central and southern Delaware. Since launching in 2015, the program has seen a 95% activation rate, 75% monthly active usage, and 19,500 leader-sent recognitions in 2018.
With over 50 locations, Bayhealth is able to give a sense of belonging to all of its staff, which is more important than ever before. For Bayhealth employees, engagement at work hinges on having good relationships with co-workers because there is a clear correlation between encouraging recognition and improving the employee experience, which in turn boosts productivity and lowers turnover rates.
At its core, recognition is thanking someone for going above and beyond, explains Brittingham. It does not have to be associated with dollars or points, as it should bring joy to employees and motivate them. In an industry that has recently been put in the spotlight more than ever before, recognition has the power to show the frontline they are valued and are crucial in safeguarding our future.
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