To support patient rehabilitation in a physical therapy or chiropractic practice — or any medical or dental practice — flexibility is key. On a daily basis, you carefully review systems of the human body, evaluate the ways they interact, and determine the best care for each individual patient. In the same way, automated support in the form of HR software can help your practice recover from the chaos and uncertainty of the last two years.
As the world recovers from a global pandemic, professionals like you benefit from maintaining operational flexibility as you rehabilitate your healthcare practice.
2021 witnessed a surge in employee frustration and burnout. Old models and systems, under a new set of troubling circumstances, stopped functioning efficiently. Employees, feeling like they don’t have another choice, have left the offices they used to love. Whether you’re a chiropractor, primary care physician, dentist, or veterinarian, you know that treatment and recovery require an examination to uncover disease or injury. This in turn equates to understanding employee burnout, maintaining flexibility to keep employees on board, and prioritizing employee health and wellbeing as integral parts of your practice.
Employee Burnout: What to Watch For
When your star player repeatedly calls out sick, and the smiling faces that used to greet you have lost their warmth, you know something’s going on. Although employees are often told to leave their egos or personal problems at the door, the pandemic has blurred professional and personal lives throughout every office.
Perceived unfair treatment, unreasonable workloads, and lack of communication and support all lead to employee burnout. As the head of your practice, you know it’s a balancing act between keeping your employees happy and protecting your bottom line.
According to a survey by the Limeade Institute, as many as 40% of employees who left their previous jobs this year did so because of burnout. Of those employees, 34% also cited company organizational changes, and 20% pointed to a lack of flexibility. Despite high levels of uncertainty, 28% of the employees surveyed did not have another job lined up.
These numbers point to underlying desperation — willingness to take the leap without a safe landing place. As it turned out, many employees found something better on the other side. Flexible employers who can shift their ways of operating, incorporate automated systems like HR software, and listen to their employees can improve employee retention and overall satisfaction.
Below are several HRFH features that can help minimize frustration/burnout in employees:
- The ability to send internal notes and communications to all employees in one message within the software. This feature is ideal for keeping employees informed and engaged.
- The “Kudos” feature helps with employee recognition, especially for those employees that appreciate words of affirmation.
- Easy-to-understand employee benefits to help employees keep track of their most up-to-date vacation and/or PTO balances.
- Automation of administrative tasks, giving time back to practices that may already be short-staffed.
Rethinking Employee Work Schedules
A flexible schedule can prevent burnout and exhaustion. As an example, telehealth has been a helpful resource for patient care (and other work can be done remotely). While it may be necessary to have your office manager on-site with you during your open hours, some aspects of office management may be accomplished from home.
Similarly, a receptionist who doubles as a billing assistant can potentially work remotely on billing tasks, showing up to greet patients on a part-time schedule. You can maximize the features of HRFH software to simplify the tracking of two different pay rates when an employee works different roles within your practice. There is no tried and true formula for preventing employee burnout. However, open, honest communication can help you understand where changes can create harmony.
If you’re short-staffed (and even if you’re not), you might believe that handling HR yourself is better than harnessing the power of HR software, but split attention helps no one and navigating HR tasks should not be done in a rush as accuracy in all records is crucial. Just as you refer to your employee handbook to handle issues that come up in your practice, HR software is a go-to that helps automate tedious yet necessary tasks.
An all-in-one HR software solution helps you discover how easy HR can be. Suddenly, with intelligent HR software as part of your practice, you can focus on rebuilding and reinforcing the team of your dreams.
Wellbeing as Part of Office Culture
What employees require now more than ever is a sense of safety. With so many nervous systems rattled by the events of the last two years, it’s expected that your employees’ needs have changed. If they’re afraid of becoming ill, they need to know that remote work is possible. If they’ve racked up medical bills, they need a sense of financial security to get them through these tough times. For all employees, they need to know their mental health is taken seriously.
HRFH software can assist your practice with ensuring safety by:
- Helping you stay up-to-date with developments around COVID safety
- Communicating updates proactively to your team
- Housing your docs in one secure location
- Easily sending docs electronically to your employees for review/signature, which makes the process seamless.
Attention and connection lead to the kind of communication that reveals motivations. Find out what motivates your employees and make the shifts to keep them engaged. Deliver positive feedback whenever possible, offering rewards and incentives to show your appreciation for their work and loyalty. Encourage breaks and limit overtime, so even employees with high agreeableness can have space to breathe, rest, and rejuvenate. Well-being is all-encompassing. If you’re unable to nurture your team, you’re bound to lose them.
HR Software as Part of Your Recovery Plan
You can’t address the effects of burnout without making structural changes. You can’t make structural changes if you don’t have support. HR software, when included in your own recovery plan, can be the difference between a practice that thrives and one that struggles to adapt and grow.
As your practice grows, your attention must shift to higher-level priorities. HR for Health software makes HR recordkeeping a breeze, allowing you the confidence to move forward with an expansive vision.
Your HR tasks can be automated, but the human connection your employees need can’t be replicated or replaced. Schedule a demo and get ready to bolster your practice with a solution designed specifically for healthcare practices.
