According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, patients were 20% less likely to die in a hospital with an engaged nursing staff. 

Put simply: better employee engagement means better patient care and more lives saved.

But how do you monitor and enhance engagement? HR leaders often use survey tools and ask Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) or open-ended questions to determine engagement levels. While these are valuable ways of tracking employee engagement, it’s not enough.

To truly cultivate a thriving workforce, healthcare organizations need to embrace a more holistic and dynamic approach to understanding and enhancing employee engagement. This means going beyond traditional surveys—some of which are still conducted on pen and paper—and exploring innovative methods to gather insights and drive positive change.

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Go Deeper With Qualitative Data

It’s always interesting to see how employees rate their feelings as expressed on a scale, but what do they really think? What is the reasoning behind the response? Here are some ways organizations can gather more qualitative data:

Focus Groups: Moderated discussions with small groups of employees can uncover shared concerns, generate ideas, and provide in-depth perspectives on specific issues. While these can become vent sessions, this raw feedback is crucial to getting to the root of what could be systemic problems.

One-on-One Discussions: Confidential interviews allow employees to express themselves freely and explore sensitive topics in greater detail. Note that many organizations implement “skip-level” meetings where staff don’t only speak with their direct supervisor, but their supervisor’s supervisor. This allows them to openly express concerns they may not feel comfortable sharing with a supervisor. Building on this, many will bring in consultants or neutral third parties to host discussions, freeing up employees to share even more openly.

Observation: Simply watching employees in their work environment can help leaders identify opportunities for improvement. This might include observing workflows to identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies, analyzing communication patterns between colleagues, and assessing the functionality and usability of equipment. Leaders should also be mindful of interactions between staff and patients to identify any potential areas of concern.

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Embrace Real-Time Feedback

Traditional surveys offer a snapshot in time, but employee sentiment can change rapidly. To get consistent and reliable data, healthcare organizations should adopt tools that provide continuous insights into the employee experience.

Ongoing Feedback Tools: Short, frequent surveys can track trends, identify emerging issues, and measure the impact of interventions. More sophisticated solutions will cycle through questions across different categories (leadership, satisfaction, equipment, and more), so that leaders don’t just understand broad metrics like eNPS, they also get details about specifics as well.

Messaging Platforms for Collaboration and Culture: Dedicated platforms facilitate ongoing dialogue between employees and management, fostering a culture of open communication. Many organizations will use existing messaging systems like Slack and Teams to create dedicated channels for feedback, encourage open dialogue, and recognize employee achievements.

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Dig Into Historical Data for Trends

Most organizations are collecting data they might not be using effectively. Throughout an employee’s lifecycle, organizations often create a trail of data crumbs they can follow if they take the time. Here are some places to mine for data:

Performance Reviews: Performance reviews can reveal common challenges among employees as well as help you identify skill gaps and areas for improvement.

Exit Interviews: Understanding why employees leave can provide critical insights into areas needing improvement.

Absenteeism and Turnover Rates: Understanding how long employees stay and how often they don’t appear for a shift can offer insight into how they’re feeling. As you spend more time focused on employee engagement efforts, you’ll begin to see these numbers improve.

As you continue to develop engagement programs, consider which questions you can add to the categories above that might give you better insight into how staff are feeling.

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Categorical Insights: Uncovering the Nuances of Engagement

Just as with surveys, it's vital to gather data across various categories and demographics when using the methods above. This includes understanding departmental differences (clinical vs. non-clinical), location-based variations, and factors like leadership effectiveness, growth opportunities, and work-life balance. This nuanced understanding allows for targeted interventions and personalized solutions. Note that not all available solutions make this process easy, and that manually constructing and sending surveys like this is a complex undertaking. It’s better to use solutions like Swell’s Employee Experience Insights, which not only sends frequent surveys, but automatically alternates questions and categories, giving you a robust data set. You can easily organize data by department, locations, and see which categories most need your attention (e.g., leadership effectiveness, equipment).

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Turning Data into Action: The Importance of the Right Tools

Regardless of the methods used to gather data, the key to success lies in effectively analyzing, interpreting, and acting on the insights. Platforms like Swell's Employee Experience Insights automate the process of gathering feedback through frequent surveys. Once data is gathered, it even helps leaders identify which areas most need improvement, whether it’s a specific department or category of question (leadership, for instance).

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Conclusion

In today's complex healthcare environment, employee engagement requires a multi-faceted approach. By going beyond traditional surveys and embracing innovative methods to gather and analyze data, healthcare organizations can gain a deeper understanding of their workforce, address challenges proactively, and create a more engaged, fulfilled, and resilient healthcare team.

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