Nowadays, physicians look to consulting firms such as Great Place To Work or Fortune Magazine’s ranking for 20 Best Workplaces in Health Care to narrow down a myriad of choices in terms of where to work. While your facility may not make these prestigious lists, it never hurts to give your hospital a boost and attract more physicians to work with you. After all, word of mouth is also a very powerful tool! You can check out the following tips to make your hospital a more welcoming place for physicians:
1. Toss Out Top-Down Management
In a top-down management hierarchical structure, upper management is unconcerned with employee affairs, and middle management only delivers messages from the top down. This can promote a culture of resentment and dissatisfaction among employees at the lowest ranks who may feel that their concerns are going unheard. Instead, promote a collaborative management atmosphere where feedback can go both ways, always with the patients at the center of the conversation.
2. Take Care of People So That They Can Take Care of Patients
Having a set of great employment benefits, remodeling or upgrading hospital facilities to account for the latest in medical technology, keeping your staff informed and educated in terms of the latest care practices – these are only a few things you can do to make your hospital a better place to work. Exercising fairness when promoting employees and offering various career advancement opportunities will help you retain your current workforce and ensure that the quality of their care towards patients remains top-notch. Even small, cosmetic things such as installing a doctor’s lounge can go a long way in retaining satisfaction amongst members of your hospital staff. Finally, making sure that team members are individually valued and addressing their needs, such as burnout and exhaustion, will not only add to overall morale, it also ensures that all members will be working in their best possible condition.
3. Remove Irrelevant Metrics from Performance Evaluations
Irrelevant metrics will only seek to frustrate and anger your team members, and they might feel as though they are chasing impossible goals. Instead, structure your performance evaluations around realistic and attainable goals and metrics in order to measure your workforce’s performance objectively and accurately.
4. Allot Your Budget Accordingly
If the goal is to increase productivity, be prepared to provide additional resources, support staff, and/or additional clinic time. Physicians can only do so much by themselves without burning out, and a single fatal mistake made by an overworked and stressed physician can have severe, irreparable consequences. Make sure that lounges are well-stocked so that physicians always have caffeine at the ready, as well as anything else they might need to get them through a long work day.
5. Prioritize Your Employees’ Health and Wellness
According to a survey conducted by Great Place To Work in 2014, 97 companies chose to foot a sizable chunk of the bill – 60% to be exact – on the cost of their employees’ annual health care premiums. Some companies even went so far as to pick up 80% or more of those costs. Meanwhile, 95% of all companies surveyed offer flu shots, while a good majority of them offer screenings for high blood pressure and cholesterol. Investing in your team members’ continued health and wellness can only be beneficial to your hospital: if physicians are working at optimum condition, they are able to be more productive and make fewer errors.
6. Be Honest and Transparent
Brad Federman, Chief Operating Officer of F&H Solutions Group, found that hospitals in dire financial straits during the recession actually did better when they were open about the true state of the hospitals’ finances. When team members know and understand your objectives, they will be more likely to adopt those objectives themselves so that your hospital as a whole can work towards a common goal.
