You and your team got into health, dental, optometry, or veterinary because you care about the patients. For a lot of people, that passion gets them pretty far into their career. But after a while, it becomes work, just like any other job. It’s tiring, and that initial spark starts to fade. You can see the difference in your team’s efforts, and your patients can feel it in their care. With effort, you can motivate healthcare employees and get that energy back.
Need Some Motivation to Prioritize Motivation?
Your people are tired, and they need leaders like you to put in the work to re-motivate them. Without question, healthcare can be a punishing line of work:
- Burnout rates are over 35%.
- Nurse turnover is 16%.
- Healthcare workers are 13–21% more likely to take off work than average.
- Healthcare workers are more stressed over work than their personal life.
- Burnout and exhaustion lead to markedly worse patient care.
That’s the bad news.
Here’s the good news:
- Burnout is fixable.
- There’s a proven pathway for nurse retention.
- Motivation and employee engagement can cut absenteeism in half.
- Building a culture of psychological safety is doable.
- Recognition and engagement improves job satisfaction.
- Better job satisfaction leads to better patient care.
The ways you can motivate healthcare employees are practically infinite, but we’ve narrowed it down to six real-world examples that you can start using today.
1. Show Your Team How You Trust Them
Your practice is made up of experts. They know what would make their workflow smoother, and giving them the authority to make choices and changes shows you trust that expertise. Ironically, saying “I trust you” doesn’t do much to instill trust in your team. You have to give them autonomy and decision-making opportunities, over and over.
Example: Next time you’re restocking your practice’s supplies, don’t just get the same stuff again. Stop and ask your hygienist what’s on their wishlist and what they want to do differently. Then try it.
2. Fix the Thing Everyone Complains About
Every workplace has “that thing.” You know, that annoying little thing that everyone knows is broken or wrong, but nobody ever gets a chance to fix? Over time, the team gets used to it. They find workarounds, and they don’t realize that it’s impacting their quality of life. Take away that unnecessary frustration, and you’ll see job satisfaction skyrocket.
Example: It could be a big improvement, like getting a new payroll provider. Or it could be a little thing, like fixing the scanner so it doesn’t eat patients’ insurance cards.
3. Focus on CE, Training, and Growth Before They Ask for It
Don’t wait for employees to come to you asking for professional development opportunities. You can support continuing education by recommending courses. Bring up opportunities at performance reviews and tie it into their goals. That kind of advancement helps motivate healthcare employees to grow their careers, and it gives your practice an edge.
Example: Bring your team to a conference or sign up for a CE webinar series on new advancements in your field. But before you register, make sure you’re choosing course topics that your people would actually care about. This goes back to the decision-making and trust example.
If you’re strapped for cash, ask your employees what growth looks like for them, then work on internal career paths to stimulate real growth without paying a ton of money.
4. Create Policies That Make Sense and Actually Support Your Team
A recycled employee handbook from twenty years ago (or worse, an AI-generated list of policies) is not built for the way your practice actually functions. Compliance-wise, a custom handbook that takes your state’s laws into account and filters out all the unnecessary business rules is going to keep your practice safer. Meanwhile, your employees are going to check those policies when they need to know how you’re supporting them and their careers.
Example: When’s the last time you looked at your PTO and sick leave policies? Are they flexible enough for real life? Even if your state doesn’t require it, you might want to consider a rule that enforces taking actual breaks for real rest.
5. Recognize Achievements in the Ways They Prefer
Employee recognition and celebrations absolutely matter. But you don’t have to save acknowledgements for major milestones or when people go above and beyond the “above and beyond.” When gratitude is a habit and it’s honest, it changes your practice’s culture for the better. That said, employee recognition is not the same for everyone. Think about each individual’s preferences, then express your appreciation in the format that makes sense for them.
Example: Outgoing employees would probably love a special shout-out on social media. A sticky note with a heartfelt thanks can motivate healthcare employees who don’t like that much of a spotlight. Try creating a “favorites” document as part of your onboarding process. That way, you can personalize any gift giving and ask about preferred methods of recognition. Refer to that document to make the most impact for your people.
6. Remind Your Team Why They Entered the Healthcare Field in the First Place
You have one of the most meaningful, intimate, impactful jobs in the world. But it’s still a job, so it’s easy to forget that. In businesses, a mission is a statement that keeps everyone pointed in the same direction. In a health or dental practice, seeing your patients’ lives actually improve is the whole reason you come into work every day. You don’t need a mission statement as much as you need tangible reminders about the difference you make.
Example: If you had a particularly good patient outcome, talk about it. Better yet, have each member of your team share what they did to support that outcome. They’ll see exactly how (and how much) their work really matters.
HR for Health Helps You Show Your Team the Love
Taking the time to motivate healthcare employees takes real work. The HR and compliance side doesn’t have to be quite so effortful. HR for Health saves practice owners 8+ hours of admin time each week, not to mention the legal protection you get with compliant handbooks, accurate time-tracking and payroll, and automatic law updates. Want to see why over 3,000 practices rely on HR for Health?
