By Beth A. Allen
Engagement is becoming more and more challenging. It is difficult as a leader to come up with creative solutions to keep our teams fired up about the important work they are doing. We have always had similar struggles, but it seems to just be worse.
We have patient experience expectations to maintain while still trying to meet budget and volume goals, supply chain challenges and staffing shortages. We are all competing for team members that are not only qualified, but have the attitude, focus and personality that will help us deliver the type of patient experience we would expect. Many employers are pulling out all stops to bring in talent to fill their open seats. It is tempting for any worker to want to explore what opportunities are out there and consider what financial benefits can be gained from a move.
Health care is tough. It is really only due to a pandemic that our health care heroes have gotten the recognition that they deserve. Because of this we are not only competing with other health care jobs, but some may choose to leave our industry completely.
If we can find a way to empower our teams to be invested in our success, they hopefully would have no reason to look elsewhere. Banner Imaging created an engagement team made up of folks across all of our centers, with representatives from all job descriptions. Initially, we met in person. We threw out all kinds of ideas that would help our teams get to know each other and become excited about this new Banner Imaging company. It was interesting to hear all the creative ideas and make big plans for the future.
Just like everything else, these in-person meetings went away after March 2020. We adapted to TEAMS meetings which just didn’t have quite the same energy, but we still had stellar participation with as many team members showing up as before. It is a little bit more challenging to have as much interaction as in person, but we were still able to be creative.
We came up with ideas for each month or holiday. We had door decorating contests, crazy sock days, Banner T-shirt day, scavenger hunts, pot lucks (done in a COVID safe way), ice cream socials (same), chili cook offs, salsa contests, a thank you tree and lots of other ideas. None of them were expensive but it amazed me how appreciative our teams were for something to lighten the mood and bring us together. I cannot be prouder of the incredible creativity that works at Banner Imaging. We currently are in the midst of a T-shirt design contest for Rad Tech week and the entries are incredible.
All of these fun activities really give us something to look forward to when one day just seems to turn into another. The real engagement comes when we bring each member of our team up to a standard of expectation that they represent our company.
“When we talk about engaging the team, it is empowering each and every team member to be bold, share their ideas and leaders listening and understanding that we are only as strong as our team,” said Kara Mayeaux, senior director of operations for Banner Imaging and the leader of our engagement team.
Of course, we will also need to be creative in the way we compensate our team members to stay in line with the trend. Salary, benefit packages and other perks obviously will play the biggest part in where our teams choose to work. To be engaged is something that is not demonstrated in your paycheck. The people we work with that are truly invested are the ones that we cannot afford to lose. We currently have a program in place that allows anyone that works within our system to send an electronic MVP to recognize someone who has gone above and beyond in pretty much any capacity. To elevate those that really have stepped up in a way that will affect our entire team in some capacity, there is an MVP+ program that is tied to a monetary reward. This is reviewed and approved by a committee of senior directors, CEOs and vice presidents, so it is impressive to receive.
During October, there are many campaigns to encourage women to get their annual mammogram. Some companies offer small pink gifts or trinkets as a reward for completing the test. Because we were unable to see patients for these screening exams last year because of the pandemic it is more important than ever to get these patients in efficiently and identify who will need further testing. I know that our mammographers and support teams work overtime and extra hard to make sure we can find room to “squeeze” in as many patients as we can without causing a disruption to great customer service. I would argue that the small pink gift really has nothing to do with why patients choose anyone to do their mammogram. It is the engagement of the women’s imaging team and the passion for breast health that they exhibit that brings them in to our centers.
Amy Peronace, director of women’s imaging for Banner Imaging, has brought her team together to plan for the increase in volume. They have been creative in identifying changes to be made in our schedule that will prepare them to offer more openings.
“I am lucky to have a dedicated group of professionals whose priority is patient care. However, they never lose track of being able to recognize and appreciate the hard work and toll that providing this care takes on their staff. I am impressed every day on their commitment to doing the best that they can,” Peronace said.
It will take leaders across the country to work together to find solutions to keep people interested in choosing health care for their career. Let me know if you have a good idea!
Beth Allen is the director of clinical operations at Banner Imaging. She may be reached at Beth.Allen@BannerHealth.com.
