Burdened by intense workloads and pay concerns, workers in the healthcare industry are among the most stressed — and likely to quit. The result? Healthcare organizations are losing millions of dollars every year in turnover costs.
Improving retention is a critical endeavor for healthcare HR teams, for a multitude of reasons. Higher attrition improves everything from company margins, to patient outcomes, to organizational standing.
But in an industry grappling with widespread burnout, how can HR teams rebuild employee engagement and loyalty? Research shows that cultivating a positive healthcare workplace culture — one in which workers feel appreciated for their efforts — can counterbalance the many inherent pressures of healthcare work. This article will explore several top retention strategies and HR actions to reduce burnout — and in particular, the role that recognition plays in reducing turnover in healthcare.
Although employee attrition has been on the decline across all industries, rates of healthcare turnover rank among the highest. There are several reasons why, including:
Despite the immense pressures and safety concerns, many industry employees remained at work because public praise kept them motivated. However, after this wave of appreciation subsided, employees started to feel undervalued and forgotten.
Although turnover has slowed since the height of the pandemic, it still hasn’t returned to pre-COVID levels — reflecting a long-term shift in worker satisfaction driven by greater disillusionment with the demands of healthcare work.
By 2028, the country is projected to be short of over 100,000 healthcare workers. Coupled with an aging population that needs increased medical care, worker shortages are putting tremendous strain on healthcare workforces — leading to higher rates of employee burnout and resignations.
Healthcare work is incredibly demanding, both physically and mentally. Long hours spent on their feet, minimal break time, excessive admin work, and even abuse from patients are some of the many challenging conditions faced by healthcare workers. Recent research from the CDC found that nearly half of health workers often feel burned out.
Healthcare workers continue to rank among the least satisfied with their pay, with only half believing they are getting paid fairly in a recent survey. Although pay concerns are not new to the industry, they’ve worsened significantly due to inflation worries.
As remote work grows in popularity in the broader professional world, deskless medical workers are feeling increasingly dissatisfied about having to report on-site every day. Many healthcare employees have left their roles to pursue more flexible and remote options both within and beyond the medical field.
The direct financial costs of turnover are obvious — from recruiting to training, the process of onboarding new team members involves significant expenses. It costs anywhere from 6 to 9 months of an employee’s salary to replace them, with estimates for nurse hires ranging from $28,400 to $51,700.
Additionally, many organizations rely on travel nurses to fill in staffing gaps — which is very costly since these employees demand higher rates. Research shows that hospitals could save over $3 million simply by eliminating travel nurses from their payroll.
These are just some of the direct costs of turnover, but there are many indirect expenses as well. Healthcare organizations with high attrition experience several worse outcomes that translate into indirect financial losses. These outcomes include:
High turnover worsens staff-to-patient ratios, which negatively impacts the quality and safety of patient care. Numerous studies have uncovered links between understaffing and increased medical errors, infection rates, and even mortality rates — all of which take not just a human toll but a financial toll as well.
Watching their colleagues jump ship often causes employees to feel overburdened and lose trust in leadership. As a result, they start to disengage — which results in lower productivity, more errors, and ultimately, more voluntary resignations — creating a vicious cycle of disengagement and turnover.
High employee turnover can severely damage reputation, signaling potential leadership issues and healthcare workplace culture problems. This poor public perception often makes it harder to attract top talent, retain valued staff, and maintain patient trust.
Combating high turnover is one of the best things that healthcare organizations can do for their patient outcomes, employee satisfaction, and bottom-line performance.
The key to reducing turnover in healthcare is to cultivate a positive healthcare workplace culture — one in which workers feel valued, appreciated, and engaged. By prioritizing the employee experience, employers can boost worker morale and shield them from the emotional toll of day-to-day stressors.
Some effective retention and engagement strategies in healthcare include:
Research from the CDC shows that healthcare employees are undergoing a “mental health crisis,” with more self-reported poor mental health days than those experienced by workers in other industries. Additionally, healthcare workers are more at risk for coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, musculoskeletal injuries, and some cancers than the general population. Night shifts, strenuous bending and lifting, and exposure to death and suffering are just some of the many drivers of poor health outcomes for employees.
When it comes to improving worker wellness, adhering to basic safety requirements is the first place to start. Once these baseline protections — like mandated breaks and hazard prevention — are prioritized, organizations can start focusing on wellness programs for reducing turnover in healthcare. Subsidized gym memberships, stress management workshops, and mindfulness classes are all great retention strategies in healthcare settings.
Professional development is one of the most powerful retention and engagement strategies in healthcare. In a 2021 Gallup survey, over half of all healthcare workers said they were very interested in upskilling — and the numbers are likely higher for Gen Z and Millennial workers.
Leadership training, tuition reimbursement, and certification assistance are some of the many professional development programs that can help employees feel engaged and invested in their company’s success. Not only does offering these programs improve retention, but it’s also a smart way to future-proof organizations and prepare for leadership shifts.
Healthcare workers are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with their compensation, and it’s driving them to seek new jobs — or leave the industry altogether. Ensuring that salaries and compensation packages keep up with industry benchmarks is a necessary investment, and it’s generally less expensive than the long-term costs of replacing and training an employee.
In addition to regularly monitoring salary and benefits packages, it’s a smart move for employers to offer other financial perks like quarterly performance incentives, retention bonuses, and competitive paid time off.
Supporting work-life balance is one of the best employer actions to reduce burnout. Although work-life initiatives are becoming widespread in the corporate world, they’re one of the least prevalent engagement strategies in healthcare settings. In a study from McKinsey, only 59% of physicians reported that their workplaces were actively making work-life balance improvements.
Of course, accommodating flexible or remote schedules is inherently more challenging in healthcare — but it’s not impossible. Routine visits can often be conducted via telehealth, and job sharing and collaborative software scheduling enable employees to coordinate shift arrangements that best accommodate their schedules. The Oschner Health System in Louisiana, for example, was able to boost physician satisfaction by 30% after implementing flexible scheduling technology.
Employee recognition is one of the most impactful and cost-effective retention and engagement strategies in healthcare. In WorkProud’s analysis of a large healthcare client, company employees were found to be 70% more likely to resign when not consistently recognized. Other research backs this up, such as Gallup’s finding that employees who receive high-quality recognition are 45% less likely to leave their jobs within two years.
Among the various HR actions to reduce burnout and turnover, employee recognition is among the most impactful. Studies reveal that employee recognition programs are often more effective at boosting attrition than pay increases or bonuses — particularly in healthcare, where workers tend to be more motivated by altruism than high salaries in the first place.
Not all recognition is beneficial, however. In order for recognition to have a measurable effect on turnover, it must be given frequently and consistently. Here are five practical steps to launching a high-performing healthcare employee recognition program:
The first step to creating a great recognition program is to understand the needs and preferences of your talent base. What types of recognition do workers appreciate? What drives engagement, and what fosters feelings of burnout? Uncovering the answers to these questions will help your team know which rewards and incentives to offer, which actions are deserving of praise, and how to ensure that recognition is given and perceived fairly.
The next step is to pinpoint behaviors and actions that your organization deems worthy of recognition. You’ll want to make sure to provide value-based recognition — which rewards behaviors that align with your workplace’s core values — as well as performance-based recognition. Here are some areas of healthcare employee recognition to consider:
The best providers stay up to date on evidence-based practices and are committed to advancing the standard of care. These high-performing workers leverage research, continuing education, and new medical technologies to provide innovative treatment protocols that improve patient outcomes.
Healthcare isn’t just about medical procedures — it’s about the human connection. Look out for your star players who provide compassionate care to ensure the utmost level of patient comfort and satisfaction. Skills like empathy, cultural competency, and strong verbal communication are pivotal to patient satisfaction and are worthy of recognition.
Ensuring a safe medical environment requires dedication and vigilance from staff. Be sure to recognize workers who have a stellar track record of adhering to safety protocols, as well as those who go above and beyond by proactively identifying risks and spearheading solutions to common safety hazards like hospital-acquired infections and needle stick injuries.
Workplace disagreements and aggression are unfortunately all too common in healthcare, particularly in high-stakes settings like hospitals. Studies show that up to 34% of nurses have considered leaving the profession due to bullying.
The prevalence of team dysfunction and bullying makes it all the more important to praise healthcare workers who are supportive and compassionate. Healthcare jobs are very demanding, and every industry worker needs support at times. By recognizing your best team players, you can reinforce positive behavior and encourage others to lend a helping hand or a listening ear.
Healthcare excellence is built on mentorship, with experienced professionals teaching both soft and hard skills. These competent leaders shape positive healthcare workplace culture, accelerate professional development, and drive advances in patient care. Considering the many benefits of strong leadership for your organization, it’s critical to recognize mentors and managers.
When healthcare workers stay at their company longer, institutional knowledge is strengthened and patients benefit from superior care. Make sure your employees know how much you appreciate their dedication by giving milestone awards that recognize their years of service and professional advancements.
Ensuring that recognition is frequent, timely, sincere, and equitable is no small task. By leveraging a recognition and rewards platform like WorkProud, organizations can automate regular appreciation, ensure that praise is given in real-time, and avoid favoritism or bias. Modern platforms offer seamless ways to celebrate achievements, share success stories, and create a consistent culture of recognition — all while maintaining a personal touch.
The most successful recognition programs incorporate both monetary and non-monetary awards. Considering the comparatively low salaries in healthcare, financial awards tend to be greatly appreciated by employees. However, praise and verbal recognition have a unique ability to boost morale in a way that gifts alone can’t accomplish. With a total rewards strategy that incorporates both tangible and intangible benefits, you can cater to a wider array of worker preferences.
Jersey City Medical Center (an affiliate of RWJBarnabas Health) swapped out its ineffective “Employee of the Month” program with the “Recognizing You” program designed by WorkProud. The total rewards strategy incorporated monetary recognition in the form of a point-based prize catalog, as well as non-monetary peer-to-peer recognition and service awards. After introducing “Recognizing You,” JCMC experienced measurable improvements in the quality of patient care and level of employee engagement.
Let’s take a closer look at the various types of financial and non-financial rewards that can be included in your recognition program. As discussed earlier, it’s a good idea to collect feedback from employees to gain a better idea of which types of recognition they would prefer.
These categories of recognition include:
Accolades and assurance play a crucial role in helping employees stay motivated and connected to their roles. Whether it’s a written thank you card or a digital thumbs up, these simple acknowledgments of worker wins are a great way to foster camaraderie in the workforce.
Recognition platforms are an important tool for automating verbal and written recognition. Solutions like WorkProud offer user-friendly peer recognition tools so that workers can give kudos to colleagues in minutes. They also facilitate real-time recognition, which is more impactful than delayed recognition.
Pointed-based award programs are a great way to generate excitement around your rewards program. Healthcare workers can earn points whenever they receive recognition, which they can then redeem for gift cards, swag, or other monetary rewards.
Additional gamification features include badges, levels, and leaderboards — all of which ignite a healthy sense of competition and team spirit.
Plaques, trophies, and formal awards ceremonies are meaningful additions to your healthcare employee recognition program. They’re a great way to acknowledge and incentivize employees who are committed to your organization’s values and goals. In addition to “Employee of the Month” awards, consider giving awards that recognize specific areas of excellence — such as patient satisfaction, safety, and mentorship.
This form of recognition acknowledges that the best patient care comes from teams who are themselves well-cared for and energized. Wellbeing perks like flexible scheduling, paid time off, and professional development are all great actions to reduce burnout and improve employee attrition.
There’s a reason why many of the country’s top healthcare systems choose WorkProud to improve employee satisfaction. Our deep knowledge of unique industry challenges and a flexible rewards platform enable us to build custom recognition and retention strategies that encourage workers to feel their best, perform at their best, and stay loyal to their employers. Contact us today for a free demo and consultation!
WorkProud is committed to helping its clients create a unified approach to the employee experience by helping them build cultures of workplace pride. Trusted by millions of users at some of the world’s most recognized employer brands, WorkProud delivers a comprehensive approach to building company cultures that inspire people to be Proud of their Work and Proud of their Company.
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