The concept of meaningful work applies to all professions, but for frontline healthcare workers, it is more than just a concept — it’s a call to serve. While most working professionals desire to make a difference, in the field of healthcare, this desire is fundamental.

Unfortunately, not all healthcare employees feel the intensity of purpose or engagement due to the challenges they face in today’s workplace. Studies show that only half of them feel engaged in their jobs while only one in four feel valued by their employers.

That is why it’s important for healthcare organizations, employers, and leaders to empower frontline workers. It can help improve retention, employee morale, and performance.  

Although the healthcare industry continues to face critical challenges magnified by the pandemic, here are three best practices based on a people-centric approach that help create positive, psychologically safe workplace environments.

1.   Help Current Workers Feel Valued and Appreciated

Due to staff shortages and high turnover rates, healthcare workers are expected to do more with less. Thus, they experience high levels of employee burnout, stress, and caregiver fatigue. Employers can help their employees feel valued, appreciated, and heard. Examples of best practices are soliciting feedback from employees, training managers to serve as coaches, providing professional development, incorporating pay increases, wellness initiatives, and rewarding employees. These are strategic efforts that pay huge dividends.  

2. Improve Essential Communication Skills

Communication is critical to the success of high-performing healthcare teams. Frontline workers don’t appreciate being the last to know when it comes to policy and personnel changes, career opportunities, and other relevant information.  

Some examples of best practices are help develop essential soft skills, create team building activities, and implement wellness initiatives when employees show signs of workplace burnout.

3.   Empower Healthcare Managers to Empower Others  

Healthcare managers play an important role in setting the tone for how frontline workers interact with colleagues, management, patients, and families. When managers are equipped to lead, they can empower others better. This can be done by using a people-centric training approach to help communicate effectively, develop emotional intelligence, problem-solve, and think critically. Managers need to feel supported and confident in order to create high-performing, resilient teams in these challenging times.

Final Thoughts

Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach that can solve today’s healthcare challenges, there is, however, one best practice that can help improve employee engagement. Creating a meaningful work environment that is supportive, psychologically safe, and empowering for healthcare workers, managers, and their patients is the best first step.

To learn more about our people-centric approach to workforce training and development, visit www.dbelitegroup.com.

o Maximization of each employee’s potential
o Increased engagement
o Increased retention
o Growth of workplace creativity
o A reputation that attracts new staff
o An ability to respond appropriately to constructive criticism
Improved Communication
Positivity in healthcare organizations enables employees to feel more connected and engaged. As a result, they will go above and beyond to provide quality care by communicating effectively and viewing feedback as an opportunity for growth rather than something to be feared.

With proper communication, healthcare managers can mentor colleagues so that they can better identify their own strengths and weaknesses—the kind of honest feedback that builds high-performing teams. Conversations like this can be difficult, but one important thing to keep in mind is that different people may hold slightly different values, and that’s ok. Healthy, but respectful, disagreement about tough issues is what separates great workplace cultures from the merely good ones.
Final Thoughts
Healthcare workers can achieve and maintain high productivity levels though positivity. Although new problems are emerging all the time in today’s demanding workplace environments, positivity can help encourage colleagues to listen and learn from each other in such a way that, together, they can overcome even the most difficult challenges.

The power of positivity can impact a workplace in so many ways, from boosting overall productivity to fostering cohesion and teamwork. Most importantly, by opening people’s hearts and minds to the insights of their fellow healthcare workers standing right beside them, positivity ultimately makes its way to where it matters most: to the patients entrusted to their care.

To learn more about our people-centered approach to workforce training and development, visit www.dbelitegroup.com.

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