Create a workplace culture to attract top talent

The last in a five-part series on technician recruitment and retention.

By James Dawes, MHA, CMPE, COE

In the last four articles in this five-part series, I have discussed recruitment, training, performance assessment and compensation of technicians. As this fifth article wraps up the series, I will focus on how to create a workplace culture that provides meaning and purpose to a team member’s career and life.

The best and happiest technicians I have worked with view the practice as an extension of their family; this is what I like to call their “work family.” Technicians in these offices often say they could never imagine working for another practice because they are so sympatico with their current co-workers, physicians and managers.

DEVELOP A GREAT CULTURE

How do you create a workplace culture that inspires technicians? I offer these four steps:

1. Define and communicate the culture. When onboarding new team members, clearly state cultural expectations and have mechanisms for continually reinforcing that culture with existing team members.
2. Hire team members that exemplify the core values of your culture. When hiring new team members, incorporate questions to identify consistency in the new employee with your practice’s culture.
3. Demonstrate the adherence to the organization’s culture in decision-making. When managing the practice, your daily decision-making and actions should be representative of the desired practice culture.
4. Act swiftly to address team members not adhering to the cultural expectations. When team members, managers and physicians act in way that is not consistent with expected norms and practice culture, those individuals and situations need to be dealt with decisively and swiftly. Remember, one bad apple can ruin the bushel.

POSITIVE BEHAVIORS

In conversations with several technicians in writing this series, I have repeatedly heard several behaviors in MD-owners and administrators that create a positive and desirable workplace culture. Not surprisingly, the behaviors that lead to a great workplace culture and “work family” are not much different than those that create a great home environment. Those qualities are:

• Respect and caring
• Support and loyalty
• Appreciation and generosity
• Empathy and understanding
• Positivity in communication
• Involvement in community beyond business (eg, charity work)

THE FUN FACTOR

Another element that is consistent in organizations that attract and retain top talent is “fun.” Your team members spend 8-10 hours, 5 days a week at work. This time commitment is sometimes greater than what they spend with family and friends, so it is incumbent on managers and physicians to create an environment where people want to come to work and enjoy themselves.

Regular celebrations of birthdays, work anniversaries, career achievement and great patient outcomes are equally if not more meaningful than large company events. I have seen successful practices hold crazy sock days, college jersey days, pumpkin-carving contests and costume contests. I encourage you to ask your team what they think would be fun and just do it.

While everyone is having fun, feature it on social media. These daily demonstrations of appreciation for your team while creating a “fun culture” can go a long way in attracting and retaining top talent.

I trust this five-part series has helped you to form and execute a strategy that will allow you to attract, train, assess, compensate and retain technicians in your pursuit of excellence within your practice. OM