By Tricia Trammell, CRA, FAHRA, BA, R.T. (R)(M)(QM)(BS), BHCN
Keeping an engaged team is no easy task in the ever-changing health care environment. The challenges our front-line staff faces are endless and the only thing people can count on is change. Both patients and health care organizations often push staff to their limits. So, how can leaders keep their teams engaged in such circumstances? If you are like me, you believe that employee engagement and patient satisfaction go hand in hand. It is difficult to have one without the other. An investment in employee engagement is an indirect investment in patient satisfaction. Here are some easy tips to try that have worked for me:
Keep your door open as much as possible. Let team members see you and know that you are available for them. (I always have snacks in my office to encourage people to come in. It gives me an opportunity to connect with them.)
Obtain a set of door handle tags for your office. My set includes “Out for Lunch”, “In a Meeting”, “Gone for the Day”, “Be Right Back”, “Please Come In” and more. The door tags bring clarity to anyone who may be seeking you out.
Call people by their name. People want to hear their name. It helps them feel recognized and validated.
Get to know your team members. Let them get to know you too. Relationships are not a weakness. They are a strength.
Ask your team for feedback and really listen. Act on the feedback you receive.
Celebrate your wins in a big way! Learn from your mistakes. I once worked for a gentleman who said, “We win together, and we lose together.” He was right. That always stuck with me. I think when we all win, let’s really celebrate! When we all lose, I have the responsibility to make sure that both I and the team learn from the failure.
Be authentic, transparent and intentional.
Create a culture of psychological safety and encourage your team to bring their authentic self to work every day!
OK, so maybe it’s not so easy. To be honest, employee engagement stays top of mind for me all the time. Our large academic institution recently did an engagement survey. My work group scored significantly over the institutional benchmark, so I asked them what makes this group/unit a great place to work? Here are a few of the gems:
“The autonomy to do the work I need to do without micromanagement allows me to feel that my contributions matter.”
“The diversity of the work group allowing me to get perspectives from individuals from different backgrounds is a strength.”
“Feeling respected and valued is important to me. I know that what I do matters to my patients, and I matter to my team members, and my leadership.”
– Tricia Trammell, CRA, FAHRA, BA R.T.(R)(M)(QM)(BS), CHBN, is imaging operations manager at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
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