What Happens to Organizations WITHOUT Effective Engagement Programs?
The verdict is in. The research is clear. Individuals who are actively engaged in their work have higher levels of personal wellbeing and productivity, plus lower levels of burnout.
Physician leaders looking to engage their team should avoid these mistakes and ask the important questions.
In an ideal world, leaders are able to work with their organization to build an effective engagement program. But alas, we are often not in the utopia we dream of.
So we ask: what happens when organizations refuse to create effective engagement programs and invest in their employees?
The organization struggles with...
High turnover
Disruptive behavior from physicians
Rigid bureaucracy
Low job satisfaction
Lack of employee involvement in new initiatives
Team members...
Teeter on the edge of burnout
Are frustrated at work
Exhibit poor performance
Show low engagement
Have frequent disagreements
Don’t feel understood
Physician leaders (like you!) feel...
Thrust into a leadership position you’re not prepared for
As though your team doesn’t trust you
Distant from the physicians you lead
A low sense of wellbeing
It is undoubtedly frustrating to be a physician leader in an organization who refuses to acknowledge a serious problem. If you are unable to convince your organization to partner with you and support the creation of measures to engage team members, do not despair.
You are the leader for a reason. And there are still ways to increase engagement without the support of your organization.
Don’t Despair. Don’t Give Up.
If an organization does not formally measure engagement, there are still many common data points that a leader can use to understand their team’s engagement needs. Look at physician turnover, productivity, recruitment woes, staff complaints, patient satisfaction, patient outcome measures, and burnout. All of these are directly correlated to physician engagement. And any of these measures can be used to track success or failure of the interventions made or programs implemented. Hence, engagement is not the only measure to track. Such measures are an important part of communication back to the physicians a leader wishes to engage. Additionally, they can convey progress, or lack thereof. Therefore, at a managerial level, leaders can begin to engage physicians and combat burnout through meaningful communication, whether an organization has a formal physician engagement plan or not.
Finally, implementing meaningful engagement measures is an opportunity for leaders to create flow in their own work while simultaneously creating engagement for others. This pursuit of engagement is necessary on both organizational and individual levels for workplace effectiveness, physician job satisfaction, and patient experience.
Investing both time and money in more successful communication between leaders and physicians, as well as programs that address physician well being, burnout, and engagement, will strengthen workplace culture, lower turnover rates, and increase job satisfaction for both leaders and physicians. It is an investment that healthcare organizations must make for a strong future.
In fact, we have created just the program you need to succeed. If you’re ready to maximize your leadership potential and provide opportunities for your team to thrive in the workplace, contact me to get started. Let’s create a customized program that’s perfect for your organization!