Leadership tips for keeping morale
high in healthcare staffs

One of the most important tasks of a leader is to keep their
staff happy.

And here is the reason: research shows that improving staff’s workplace experience benefits healthcare organizations in at least two ways.

First, being cared for by staff, who feel satisfied and valued for what they do makes a great difference to patients.

Older people, in particular, enjoy having smiling and highly motivated caregivers around.

Secondly, a happy workforce gains the organization a good reputation, which improves staff recruitment and retention, in turn reducing the costs associated with turnover.

So, how do you keep your staff happy and off the job market? Some practical tips and examples to help nurse leaders achieve this goal have been highlighted, in the Dec. 14, 2009, issue of the journal Nursing Times, by Dr. Jocelyn Cornwell, of The King’s Fund, in the UK.

Support

“Altruistic motives are often what attract people to the caring professions in the first place,” Cornwell says.“But these tendencies can make staff particularly susceptible to burnout when they are not able to follow through on their intention.” This is often the case, unfortunately, for geriatric caregivers, because of the many challenges associated with their job, such as lack of time and resources.

With your support and encouragement, staff – especially new recruits – will be more likely to successfully cope with such difficulties, and provide effective care to their elders.

Ask and listen

Give employees the opportunity to talk about themselves and their job. This “may seem a very basic thing,” Cornwell says, “ but without it we cannot begin to understand where the key to improving their experiences might lie.”

There area number of ways you can encourage staff to express their views:

• Ask them to complete the sentence: “I feel valued when…” and to use their answers to create a poster to be displayed in the ward.
• Gather staff members for an informal meeting, during a shift, and encourage them to share their views on how it is to be a caregiver.
• Provide opportunities for giving, and receiving, feedback from both more senior and more junior colleagues.

Value – don’t demoralize

One common mistake among leaders is constantly exhorting staff to work harder and/or better. In doing so, they imply that the person is not doing their best, even if this is not true, and thus unwittingly demoralize them.

Make sure this doesn’t happen!

Always address those working with you with words that show appreciation for their efforts, competence and dedication. Foster improvement through mentoring

Lastly, offer mentoring programs that ensure all staff members have someone to turn to, if they need advice on how to improve themselves.

Cornwell says, “these must aim to match employees with mentors outside their line management, so that any feedback staff are given feels less like a criticism and more like it stems from the spirit of cooperation.”