As we are all well aware, medical professionals have been through the wringer over the past few years. From not having enough PPE to working overtime constantly, many people have chosen to leave the medical field completely to search for greener pastures. This Great Resignation has cost medical practices dearly as customer satisfaction and employee engagement levels have dropped and the costs of training new staff members have soared. This experience has made it all the more important to show employees, both medical and front office, how much you value them being part of the team and the contribution that they make towards your practice.
If your practice is experiencing high turnover rates, it is extremely important to try and understand why turnover is so high and exactly why staff members leave. Are they going to other practices that offer better benefits? Are they getting promoted to higher positions at other places? If you don’t know why people are leaving, you could end up throwing money at a problem but not solving the actual cause of it. On the contrary, if you are lucky enough to have loyal staff members and a low turnover rate, it is important to know exactly what you are doing right to make your employees want to stay.
While this HR “deep dive” may seem to be a bit daunting at first, don’t worry. Companies like Orchard Medical Management can provide HR support that can make it much easier to learn more about employee satisfaction and engagement in your practice and can provide a critical view of the current state of your practice.
Developing the “Right” Employee Appreciation Program
After you have invested the time in learning what it is that drives your team to perform and the level of engagement that they have, it is now time to work on improving that. One of the best ways to make staff members feel valued and engaged is by creating an employee appreciation program. An employee appreciation program can include everything from performance bonuses and extra vacation time to gym memberships and premium parking spots.
Before creating a one-size-fits-all program for your team, take the time to reflect back on what you learned from your HR deep dive and about the issues that came up during it. Are staff members unhappy because of long working hours? Do they want to see more opportunities for advancement or continuing education? What can you offer them that could solve those problems? While it is completely up to the practice to decide what they want to include in a program, it is imperative that they are offering something that employees want and are actually listening to them when they make suggestions. This will greatly increase the chances of creating a successful program that your employees will appreciate.
If you think that creating an employee appreciation program in your practice would be advantageous but weren’t sure where to start, contact us and we will be happy to help.