Recognition: The Secret Weapon to Improving Employee Retention in Healthcare
Celebrating associates offers a secret weapon for healthcare organizations that want to foster engagement while boosting employee morale. Frequent and strategic recognition programs positively impact employee retention in healthcare, leading to a more engaged workforce with lower turnover rates.
Why Is Recognition Important?
Recognition is a crucial driver of associate retention. Recognizing associates shows them they are integral to their organization. Their work makes a difference. Expressing sincere, specific gratitude for the work associates perform creates a positive, productive environment.
Employee recognition and employee retention are inextricably linked. Organizations that strategically implement recognition programs make strides toward improving employee retention in healthcare.
Empower Managers to Empower Their Teams
Team managers have a significant impact on employee retention in healthcare. Healthcare organizations should train managers on motivating their teams, providing appropriate training to teach managers how to empower their team members. Training can also give insight into managers' current motivational processes and improvements in this area.
Ways to empower managers include the following:
- Give managers a confidence boost: Have managers meet with the human resources department to work through issues or concerns. HR representatives can help managers identify the root of a problem and prevent it from happening again, assisting managers in feeling more confident in their decisions.
- Educate managers: Inform managers about the best leadership practices. When managers understand how their actions affect their associates, they become more motivated to empower and recognize their teams.
- Recognize managers' successes: Acknowledging managers' accomplishments is as essential as recognizing an organization's associates. Managers who see colleagues succeeding are more apt to strive for the same success.
Recognize Associate Achievements
Associates want to do their work successfully. They also want to know that they're essential members of their teams. By recognizing associates in front of their department or unit, healthcare organizations set the standard for the type of work that earns praise and boost the associate engagement that drives employee retention in healthcare.
Various methods to recognize associates and their achievements exist. Some approaches healthcare organizations can try include the following:
- Send regular company or department emails that detail a particular individual or group achievement.
- Give employee of the month awards.
- Offer a monetary bonus or small perk, such as free lunch.
All in all, celebrating associates makes them feel more valued, ultimately building loyalty to an organization and increasing retention. Associates who feel like their work matters also strive to improve the patient experience.
Provide Advancement Opportunities
Offering ongoing training and development opportunities can also help associates feel valued. Associates who know they have room to grow within an organization are more motivated to stay in the long term, helping to encourage employee retention in healthcare organizations that use these tools.
Providing advancement opportunities for talented associates recognizes the hard work these employees put into their jobs. Associates get to advance their talents, then put their new skills to work on the job. Ultimately, employees want to feel that their employer is investing in their time and abilities. Providing opportunities to advance can positively influence associates' decisions to remain with the organization.
Strategically implementing recognition programs can positively impact employee retention in healthcare. Organizations that celebrate their associates' work create an engaged, motivated workforce.
