Two-thirds of Americans feel no connection to their jobs, according to a Gallup study. That’s over 60 million full-time employees who don’t love what they do every day. No matter how much money you spend on marketing your brand, if your team members aren’t happy “ain’t nobody happy.” Here are a few things you can do in your practice to help us help you:
Promote a positive culture. A happy workplace is a healthy workplace, and it starts at the top. Leaders, you’re the role models. If you demonstrate gratitude, praise your employees, and encourage self-care, you foster a pleasant work environment.
Happy employees not only share their positive experiences with co-workers, but they also demonstrate it to patients with their behavior.
Be authentic. Be true to who you are, where you are. A sophisticated atmosphere isn’t going to work in a rural health clinic. A down-home ambiance will feel out of place in a metropolitan hospital.
Your organization’s brand is rooted where it’s planted. Embrace it. Patients in your service area want to believe your brand is real and relatable.
Take a patient journey. Have you ever walked in your patient’s shoes? Try it some time, and go through the experience from beginning to end. For instance, pretend you’re a patient and want to meet with one of the physicians at your practice. Now, follow the steps:
- Schedule an appointment.
- Fill out paperwork online.
- Park in the patient parking lot.
- Walk into the lobby.
- Sign in with the receptionist and provide insurance information.
- Fill out more forms.
- Meet with the nurse and the lab technician – even the physician.
- Schedule a follow-up appointment before leaving.
Anything amiss? Put a team together to fix it.
Empower employees. Your team needs to know you trust them to make decisions and solve problems on the spot. Grant them the freedom to assert themselves, especially when it means prioritizing patient care. Create an environment that encourages team members to speak up. Ask your team for feedback or, better yet, ask “What can we do to make your job easier?”
Marketing is a powerful way to promote your practice or healthcare services. But it can’t solve internal brand issues. We can work with you to develop brand marketing strategies, but it’s up to you to live and love your brand — from the inside out.