A recent article in Harvard Business Review (HBR) summarized a longitudinal study conducted across six years in 80 hospitals, including info from 92,000 health workers, in Western Australia that found increased worker engagement led to positive outcomes for the hospital, including hospital costs, treatment effectiveness, and the level of hospital-acquired infections.
For example, our longitudinal analysis revealed that a small (1%) increase in employee engagement leads to a 3% reduction in hospital-acquired complications and a 7% reduction in hospital readmissions.
They attributed increased engagement to:
Prioritize Patient and Staff Safety When workers felt their safety was important to the hospital, they engaged more
Build a Culture of Accountability When workers were held accountable for their actions, safety increased. Paradoxically, this didn't just come from punishment, but from the ability to openly discuss failures and provide training to improve.
Provide Proof that New Practices will be Worthwhile Workers engaged more in new health care practices when evidence of the value was circulated and discussion was encouraged prior to roll out.
At MKThink, our work often intersects with employee engagement as we strategize and design environments for employees to work, whether that be at home or at the office or somewhere else. One of the factors involved in figuring out the right working arrangement for an organization is what type of engagement they want from their teams. Space design is one way to encourage certain types of engagement, so are scheduling, virtual/physical requirements, team diversity and more.