The healthcare is one of the industries, where employees very often feel unhappy with what they do and become victims of the incredible amount of pressure associated with their occupation. Furthermore, most of the time they take no actions to solve their on-going problems due to fears of losing their job.
Is there a way to make healthcare professionals feel better and more productive on the job? For me, the best way to come up with solution to that problem is to look at its causes. Here are the most common reasons why health professionals feel unhappy:
1. Lack of appreciation
Not only healthcare professionals experience this one – this is common problem for pretty much any business around the world and it’s up to the manager to make sure all of his team members feel equally appreciated for their achievements.
For you as a manager, the best solution to this problem is probably a reward system, but healthcare professionals also need to receive feedback from their patients. If you encourage them to leave feedback, you can use it later on to showcase appreciation to your employees.
2. Unclear job descriptions and/or responsibilities
Studies over job recruitment websites and agencies show that more than half of the job opportunities available today come with rather unclear job description and vague responsibilities. This not only causes unproductive behaviour among the employees, but also dramatically increases the everyday stress they are facing.
According to experts in the management field, the best solution to that problem is to allow employees to write their own job descriptions. This will not only help create productive environment, but also place the beginning of open and honest communication between employees and management.
3. Continuing education
Probably the most common reason to feel unhappy at work is that employees often feel trapped at the current position and see absolutely no opportunities for career development. Furthermore, many managers see the investments in training and education as costly, rather unnecessary experience.
The best way to handle this problem is to make employee education one of your top priorities and inform your staff regularly about new opportunities in this field. Furthermore, to cut down expenses and raise quality, you can consider in-house training sessions, tailored specifically for your business needs.
4. Low payments
Probably even more common reason for people feeling unhappy about their work than lack of career development is for them to receive low or inadequate payments for the work they do. The best way to make sure your employees will receive adequate payments for their work is to introduce them to clear, specific goals and when they manage to achieve these there will be rewards, in the form of bonus payments.
5. Outdated software & equipment
There is widespread opinion that healthcare professionals have pretty poor skills when it comes to using software or getting the best of the latest equipment. Chances are there are many things that need to be improved at your IT department, so examine these and see the actions necessary to take.
6. Overworking
Stress is one of the most common reasons for multiple health problems and healthcare professionals are greatly exposed to incredible amount of it. This often leaves employees feeling overworked and this dramatically decreases their productivity. It’s a good idea to introduce flexible work schedules and the opportunity to work from home for certain days of the month.
7. Unpleasant work environment
Hospitals and other healthcare establishments are notoriously unpleasant to visit and work into, mostly due to the nature of the activities that take place there. However, even the darkest healthcare establishment can become a bit more cheerful. For example, the healthcare equipment by color4care.co.uk offers custom products to spark even the darkest healthcare establishment, definitely worth checking out!
