EMPLOYEE WELLNESS

Liz McKeon looks at why a happy team equals happy patients

Your clinic may pride itself on being a good employer. But, even with the best of intentions, you could be hurting employees’ health and well-being because of the way work is organised. Working conditions and demands of the work environment are a significant stress for many staff members, and research has found that the design of work can have a substantial effect on employee well-being and health.

The good news is that there are ways to redesign work to support well-being and yield long-term benefits to the clinic. An easy starting point is to consider introducing some of the following:

1. Give team members more control over how they manage their workload. Even relatively small changes in staff autonomy can make a difference in employee well-being. For example, giving more training so staff can take on new tasks and improve patient service will improve performance on the job and increase pride in their role.

2. Increase the stability of employee’s schedules. Erratic, unpredictable schedules make it difficult for staff to manage their personal lives and family responsibilities.

Improving scheduling stability will increase productivity for the clinic and for the employees, as this added stability improves quality of sleep and reduces stress, which can only have a positive impact on your business.

3. Provide employees with opportunities to identify and solve workplace problems. Giving your team members the chance to participate in clinic improvements can be an effective approach to fostering their well-being.

Employees who are included in problem-solving as a group are more likely to stay in your business, which is a key benefit for clinics trying to retain valuable employees.

4. Keep your clinic adequately staffed, so workloads are reasonable. High work demands, if long-term, can take a substantial toll on employee health and well-being.

5. Encourage your manager to support employee’s personal needs during personal crisis times. At some time, most employees will have extra personal challenges, such as also being caregivers for children or elderly parents, and they benefit from supervisors who are more supportive of the challenges they face in trying to balance their work and personal lives.

Of course, this is challenging in a clinic environment, but research continually shows that employees are appreciative of the support and employers also benefit, because staff have higher job satisfaction, better job performance and are less interested in leaving their jobs, because they feel valued and needed.

6. Take steps to foster a sense of social belonging among employees. Creating a work culture in which employees can develop supportive relationships with their colleagues can be an important strategy for increasing worker well-being. The T.E.A.M. (together everyone achieves more) concept is very powerful because when team members work together, for the good of all, the good of the clinic and its patients, everyone is happier and achieves more, personally and for the business. Simply put, working together works!

Sometimes, it is as simple as learning more about the people you work with, and sometimes it’s more complicated. The bottom line is: it is almost impossible to have a financially successful clinic without a happy team working together. In other words, it’s less ‘me’ and more ‘we’.

LIZ MCKEON

Liz McKeon is a renowned public speaker and her unique gift for storytelling sees her speak at many of the industry’s top events, trade shows and Women in Business events. Her experience and expertise regarding business has resulted in her being a panelist and keynote speaker for some of the beauty industry’s biggest brands who have also requested her presence at global retreats and conferences to deliver a spectrum of business topics, keeping attendees entertained whilst being incredibly inspiring and motivating.