The same factors that make hospitals so unique also make them difficult settings for sustaining staff morale. The stakes are high, and matters are often life or death. The individuals making demands of staff come from all sides — physicians, nurses, insurers, patients, patient families and more. "The stress of hospital environments is unlike any stress I've ever seen," says Michael Brenner, EdD.
Dr. Brenner is the founder and principal consultant of IdeAgency, which is based in Jeffersonville, Pa., and focuses on leader development and team building. Combined, he says these factors can consume staff if hospital managers do not tend to morale daily. Here are five best practices for hospital managers to ensure hospital morale doesn't take a hit.
1. Measure by formal and informal means. Hospitals can use formal methods, such as surveys, or informal strategies to gauge morale. Formal strategies should be utilized approximately once a year, as surveys tend to consume considerable amounts of time and resources. Informal methods, however, should simply become management habits. This includes MBWA, or "management by walking around," as Dr. Brenner calls it. "Ask what people are working on. Ask people what they're struggling with and what you can do to support them," he says. While commonly promoted as a best practice, informal management mechanisms are still overlooked. "Informal management is really critical because, just as much as a survey, you get a lay of the land and a feel for the pulse of the organization," says Dr. Brenner.
2. Ensure confidentiality and stay calm. As revealing as surveys may be, hospital leaders should remember their temporal nature. These materials reflect attitudes and thoughts at a moment in time, and still require interpretation. Keeping this in mind, hospital leaders should not overreact to survey findings. "Don't look at the survey results and think, 'Everything stinks! We need to change everything,'" says Dr. Brenner. "Don't panic, just be thoughtful and respond to data without a knee-jerk reaction."
The survey sponsors should also ensure respondents that the survey is completely confidential and that individual responses will not be scrutinized. While most surveys state this, it cannot be explicit enough. "A big reason people don't fill out surveys is that they think their responses can be traced back to them," says Dr. Brenner.
3. Anticipate changes in attitude and get in front of them. Certain events are likely to trigger a shift in staff morale if not proactively managed. A change at the top tends to rattle the rest of the organization, largely due to fear of the unknown. "A manager wants to be attuned to that, and be open and honest. If you don’t know what this change means for your staff, then you should say that, but also tell staff you'll keep them informed as you learn more," says Dr. Brenner.
Another instance that can reduce morale is the announcement of budget cuts, which are likely to cause panic. Also, managers should anticipate discontent when third parties come into a hospital for assessments and deliver poor results. "If the feedback comes back negative, and there are areas for improvement for hospital staff, the manager needs to address the issues diplomatically but truthfully," says Dr. Brenner. This is a particularly delicate situation since the evaluators are from outside of the hospital and perceived as strangers who come and go. "That can really hurt morale. Hospital employees work very hard, and someone has just criticized their work," says Dr. Brenner.
4. Keep it simple. If staff morale has declined, hospital managers don't necessarily have to adopt a widespread initiative to boost it. Often, managers will go into overhaul mode and create initiatives or programs that place more demands on already-busy staff. Positive results can be reaped from simple measures, such as helping employees make progress in their work. Studies have shown setbacks at work create frustration among employees, making them feel undervalued and resentful. "If a manager can facilitate progress and help employees make small steps toward their goal, that can be very impactful," says Dr. Brenner.
And, as stale as it may seem to hospital leaders, one of the most frequent complaints Dr. Brenner hears is from employees who feel they are recognized for more bad things than good. "They'll often say, 'We hear from our manager only when we screw up,'" says Dr. Brenner. It sounds like a small strategy, but increasing recognition and praise for employees’ work can have an enormous influence on staff morale.
5. Get on board. The worst thing hospital managers can do when trying to boost staff morale is simple: Nothing. By not participating in hospital-wide initiatives, hospital managers send a message to employees that will only make matters worse. "Nothing compromises a leadership program or initiative more than a perceived lack of management interest. That will just kill it," says Dr. Brenner. It might not be the manager's intention to create schisms by not participating, but it certainly becomes the staff's perception when they interpret it as a sign of superiority or apathy.
Related Articles on Hospital Employee Engagement:
8 Ways Top Hospital Leaders Encourage Employee Development
6 Tips to Improve Hospital Employee Engagement
5 Characteristics of an Engaged Hospital Workforce
Dr. Brenner is the founder and principal consultant of IdeAgency, which is based in Jeffersonville, Pa., and focuses on leader development and team building. Combined, he says these factors can consume staff if hospital managers do not tend to morale daily. Here are five best practices for hospital managers to ensure hospital morale doesn't take a hit.
1. Measure by formal and informal means. Hospitals can use formal methods, such as surveys, or informal strategies to gauge morale. Formal strategies should be utilized approximately once a year, as surveys tend to consume considerable amounts of time and resources. Informal methods, however, should simply become management habits. This includes MBWA, or "management by walking around," as Dr. Brenner calls it. "Ask what people are working on. Ask people what they're struggling with and what you can do to support them," he says. While commonly promoted as a best practice, informal management mechanisms are still overlooked. "Informal management is really critical because, just as much as a survey, you get a lay of the land and a feel for the pulse of the organization," says Dr. Brenner.
2. Ensure confidentiality and stay calm. As revealing as surveys may be, hospital leaders should remember their temporal nature. These materials reflect attitudes and thoughts at a moment in time, and still require interpretation. Keeping this in mind, hospital leaders should not overreact to survey findings. "Don't look at the survey results and think, 'Everything stinks! We need to change everything,'" says Dr. Brenner. "Don't panic, just be thoughtful and respond to data without a knee-jerk reaction."
The survey sponsors should also ensure respondents that the survey is completely confidential and that individual responses will not be scrutinized. While most surveys state this, it cannot be explicit enough. "A big reason people don't fill out surveys is that they think their responses can be traced back to them," says Dr. Brenner.
3. Anticipate changes in attitude and get in front of them. Certain events are likely to trigger a shift in staff morale if not proactively managed. A change at the top tends to rattle the rest of the organization, largely due to fear of the unknown. "A manager wants to be attuned to that, and be open and honest. If you don’t know what this change means for your staff, then you should say that, but also tell staff you'll keep them informed as you learn more," says Dr. Brenner.
Another instance that can reduce morale is the announcement of budget cuts, which are likely to cause panic. Also, managers should anticipate discontent when third parties come into a hospital for assessments and deliver poor results. "If the feedback comes back negative, and there are areas for improvement for hospital staff, the manager needs to address the issues diplomatically but truthfully," says Dr. Brenner. This is a particularly delicate situation since the evaluators are from outside of the hospital and perceived as strangers who come and go. "That can really hurt morale. Hospital employees work very hard, and someone has just criticized their work," says Dr. Brenner.
4. Keep it simple. If staff morale has declined, hospital managers don't necessarily have to adopt a widespread initiative to boost it. Often, managers will go into overhaul mode and create initiatives or programs that place more demands on already-busy staff. Positive results can be reaped from simple measures, such as helping employees make progress in their work. Studies have shown setbacks at work create frustration among employees, making them feel undervalued and resentful. "If a manager can facilitate progress and help employees make small steps toward their goal, that can be very impactful," says Dr. Brenner.
And, as stale as it may seem to hospital leaders, one of the most frequent complaints Dr. Brenner hears is from employees who feel they are recognized for more bad things than good. "They'll often say, 'We hear from our manager only when we screw up,'" says Dr. Brenner. It sounds like a small strategy, but increasing recognition and praise for employees’ work can have an enormous influence on staff morale.
5. Get on board. The worst thing hospital managers can do when trying to boost staff morale is simple: Nothing. By not participating in hospital-wide initiatives, hospital managers send a message to employees that will only make matters worse. "Nothing compromises a leadership program or initiative more than a perceived lack of management interest. That will just kill it," says Dr. Brenner. It might not be the manager's intention to create schisms by not participating, but it certainly becomes the staff's perception when they interpret it as a sign of superiority or apathy.
Related Articles on Hospital Employee Engagement:
8 Ways Top Hospital Leaders Encourage Employee Development
6 Tips to Improve Hospital Employee Engagement
5 Characteristics of an Engaged Hospital Workforce