The past few years have been anything but ordinary thanks to the wide-ranging impacts of COVID-19. No industry has been harder hit than healthcare. Nearly four years of overwork, understaffing, risk of personal exposure and divisive public health debates have taken a toll on health workers nationwide:
- 49% report experiencing career burnout.
- 53% are suffering mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, PTSD or suicidal ideation.
- 52% of nurses and 20% of doctors are planning to leave clinical practice.
In addition to the staggering impact on the health workers experiencing burnout, fears of a widespread healthcare labor shortage are mounting. The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics projects a shortfall of 195,400 nurses by 2031 and the AMA predicts a shortage of 124,000 physicians by 2034.
Preventing Health Worker Burnout
In an effort to address this crisis head on, the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General issued a 76-page advisory statement on the topic of addressing health worker burnout. Among the recommendations:
- Transform workplace culture to empower health workers and be responsive to their voices and needs.
- Review and revise policies to ensure health workers are not deterred from seeking appropriate care for their physical health, mental health and/or substance abuse challenges.
- Rebuild community and social connection among health workers to mitigate burnout and feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Interestingly, the second recommendation in the report is one that healthcare organizations can directly impact in a variety of ways each day:
Employee Recognition and Employee Engagement
More than any other metric, employee engagement is a predictor of overall workplace effectiveness. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, employee morale is the single most important predictor of employee engagement. Engaged employees, in turn, lead to a stable and productive workforce.
Employee recognition is a key component of employee engagement. The Academy to Innovative HR (AIHR) offers several reasons why employee recognition matters and goes on to document the benefits of employee recognition. These apply to employees in every industry – including healthcare.
1: Talent attraction and retention
According to Forbes, 66% of employees would quit their jobs if they didn’t feel appreciated. The implications for healthcare companies are obvious. Recognition programs that make employees feel valued make it easier to retain top talent and hire new job candidates.
2: Improved morale
Employees who feel appreciated are more likely to have a positive outlook in the workplace. This drives improved morale throughout the team and, in a healthcare environment, can be expected to lead to a heightened quality of patient care. Indeed, a study by Zippia found that 97% of employees say recognition motivates them to do their best work.
3: Heightened productivity
Employee recognition programs encourage workers to pay extra attention to detail and strive for excellence. Studies show that a well-designed employee recognition program can lead to an 11.1% average increase in employee performance.
4: Improved customer service
Employees who feel recognized are more likely to go “above and beyond” to serve customers or, in the case of healthcare, patients and their family members. Research indicates that 35% of organizations with recognition programs have a measurable increase in customer satisfaction levels.
5: Bigger bottom line
The factors above make an impressive list:
- Better, longer-tenured talent.
- Higher workplace morale.
- Increased employee productivity.
- Enhanced customer service and customer satisfaction levels.
The final reason, then, is a natural culmination of all these:
The link between employee recognition and business performance is clear. As documented by the researchers at Deloitte, rewards and recognition programs pay for themselves through improved bottom-line results. This finding presents a tremendous opportunity to a healthcare industry dealing with burnout on a mass scale as it recovers from the impact of COVID-19.
Employee Recognition Programs From Taylor Healthcare
Taylor Healthcare is a leading provider of promotional marketing solutions to the healthcare industry. This includes employee rewards and recognition programs specifically designed to increase healthcare staff morale and engagement.
All of the components of a successful healthcare employee recognition program are available through a single source:
- Creative promo product ideas
- Global sourcing clout
- Convenient web-based ordering tools
- Turnkey warehousing and fulfillment
- Dedicated account management teams
Contact a Taylor Healthcare representative to learn more.
