Hiring and Motivating Administrative and Support Personnel in Your Practice
As an inspirational keynote speaker for the healthcare industry on hiring and motivating administrative and office support personnel for healthcare practices, I know all too well the challenges you face.
Heather Farley, M.D. writing for Delaware Business Times (April 5, 2019) stated that “Healthcare facilities tend to be among the highest-stress work environments of any profession—right up there with nuclear power plants and heavy construction sites—putting doctors, nurses and other clinicians at constant risk…Healthcare workers who are not thriving tend to leave, creating higher turnover.”
Dr. Farley also pointed out that healthcare providers have some of the highest divorce rates of any occupation; nurses, for example, have rates as high as 47 percent and depression rates as well are skyrocketing.
But Let’s not Forget…
However, when we talk about healthcare practices of any size or type, administrative and office support people are frequently left out of the equation – and they shouldn’t be.
A study done of 640 employees at the Mayo Clinic (September 8, 2016) showed that across the board, “stress and burnout are major problems employees face within the medical industry…many [healthcare] companies are looking to integrate, engage and enroll employees into wellness programs.” Among administrative workers, a 15 percent turnover rate after two years was once the norm. Now it is exceeding 20 percent. Some studies show administrative burnout as high as 35 percent. Why is this happening?
There have been numerous articles written on motivating office support staff. However, many of the so-called motivating techniques talk of hard-nosed performance reviews, getting rid of problem employees (one article called them “dead-wood”), engaging them to come up with ideas of their own, and my motivating “favorite” is to listen to what they have to say before chastising them.
The Referral MD website in their May 2019 article entitled: 7 Surprising Reasons Why Your Medical Staff is Unhappy placed at the top of the list “Employees Feel Unappreciated.”
In numerous conversations I have had with practice/office managers, records keeping specialists, front-desk personnel and schedulers in medical, dental and even veterinary practices, I have had some very candid responses to the turnover problem.
One consistent response is that the person interviewing them was rather vague in the job description and was equally ambiguous about pay-scales, continuing medical education and workload.
“It was almost as though she was afraid to interview me,” said a bookkeeper who left an orthopedic practice, “she just wanted to get through with it and hire someone.”
Interviewing is an art, and all too often in the challenge to “get through it,” the wrong expectations are set, the workload is underplayed, the long-term benefits are glossed over and the stress levels are dismissed with “well, everyone is under stress these days.”
If the practice has a “sick dynamic,” starting with those who are doing the hiring to those who are interviewing, the office culture is cursed from the start. There must be a team spirit, not an antagonistic arena. The team spirit is an inclusive one; no one in the practice can be above ownership for a good dynamic.
If the expectations on all sides are low, if there is resignation rather than appreciation, the outcome will result in dissatisfaction and turnover. On the other hand, if hiring and motivating quality, non-professional staff is a practice priority, the results can be amazing and can mitigate many of the built-in external stressors.
Mike Hourigan, Healthcare Industry Motivational Speaker
For more information on Mike Hourigan’s Healthcare Industry Motivational keynotes and break-on hiring and motivating Administrative and Office Support Personnel, call him today at: (704) 875-3030 or fill out the form below.
