Healthcare faces challenges like never before, from staffing shortages to high turnover rates and widespread burnout. These issues have gone beyond affecting morale. They’re also straining hospital systems and impacting patient care.
Could a cultural shift be the key to easing these challenges? At NexGen Surgical, we believe it is. Here’s how a cultural shift can improve workforce challenges — and how NexGen can support healthcare organizations in driving this transformation.
The Workforce Crisis in Healthcare: A Pressing Challenge for Executives
Hospitals and healthcare systems nationwide are grappling with a mounting workforce crisis. The challenges include high turnover rates, labor shortages and increasing levels of employee burnout. All of this is leading to an extremely difficult situation: Overburdened caregivers aren’t performing at their best, and staffing shortages are affecting the quality of patient care. Executives are tasked with solving these problems.
The current situation signals a need for a shift in strategy. Workforce instability isn’t just a numbers game. It has real financial and operational consequences. When turnover is high, hospitals rely on more contract labor, which can be expensive and inefficient. In the meantime, burned-out staff take increasing sick days, reducing productivity and creating gaps in patient coverage. Focusing solely on recruitment and retention is no longer enough. Hospital executives should examine the underlying culture that shapes the work environment.
The Role of Organizational Culture in Workforce Stability
A positive organizational culture is the foundation for workforce stability. When employees feel supported, valued, and genuinely cared for, they are more likely to stay with an organization, contribute productively and even advocate for their workplace. This is especially important in healthcare, where the work is inherently high-pressure.
For hospital leadership, the mission is to lead by example. Leaders set the tone for organizational culture, and it’s up to them to foster transparency, humility and genuine care.
This is one area in which NexGen Surgical can help. Our expertise and support systems remove some administrative burdens from hospital leadership, giving them more time and resources to foster a thriving workplace culture.
UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) is another example of cultural improvements in action. Here, researchers are using data and analytics to identify areas of improvement. With this information, they are actively creating a better work environment that focuses on flexibility, a more balanced workload and other improvements that are designed to create a better organizational culture.
Their efforts have paid off. Clinician satisfaction is up, employees enjoy work-life balance and experience less burnout, and the hospital has created more balanced workloads and improved staff retention.
Strategies for Executives to Improve Work Culture
Improving workplace culture requires strategies and actionable steps from leadership. Executives can start by implementing programs that prioritize professionalism, resiliency and the well-being of their workforce. Cultures that prioritize these values create a more stable and engaged workforce.
One practical strategy to consider is the implementation of non-punitive systems for addressing workplace concerns. For example, daily incident reporting (DIR) programs allow staff to report issues without fear of retribution. When you can foster a transparent environment where concerns can safely be raised and addressed, hospitals can build trust and improve morale.
Keep in mind that it’s not enough to simply hear concerns. It’s also critical to act on them. When employees bring up issues, but no changes are made and no discussions occur, it can worsen a tenuous organizational culture, leaving employees feeling unheard and unvalued.
Remember that cultural change starts at the top. Leadership must actively demonstrate the values it wants to instill. This can be done through open communication, transparency and a visible commitment to employee well-being.
The Critical Role of Middle Management in Cultural Transformation
Top-level leadership sets the vision, but middle management is crucial for implementing and sustaining cultural values. These people interact with staff daily, allowing them to reinforce organizational culture.
However, middle management often faces unique challenges in building a better culture. They balance multiple priorities, like maintaining responsiveness, developing talent and supporting staff.
That’s why hospital leadership needs to provide support to middle management. Tools and training will help middle managers achieve their objectives — and leadership can also empower them to take ownership of cultural initiatives, which allows them to act as critical drivers behind cultural change.
NexGen Surgical’s Approach to Cultural Transformation
As discussed, improving workplace culture requires deliberate strategies and strong leadership. NexGen’s approach to cultural transformation provides actionable solutions. We promote an environment that features the following:
- Systems that encourage conversations — like reporting tools that allow employees to voice concerns without fears of retaliation.
- Follow-through on feedback to ensure that employees feel heard, which is critical to building trust and morale.
- An emphasis on employee well-being through flexible schedules and tailored opportunities reduces stress and burnout among physicians, allowing them to enjoy greater professional satisfaction.
Together, these factors help NexGen and the leaders we work with build a more supportive environment where physicians and support staff feel valued.
The Business Case for Investing in Work Culture
There is a strong business case for investing in organizational culture to solve workforce challenges. Supporting employees and prioritizing their well-being will improve key metrics by reducing turnover, decreasing reliance on contract labor and improving financial outcomes.
As healthcare executives continue to negotiate today’s workforce challenges, it’s becoming increasingly more apparent that culture is the key to long-term success. NexGen empowers your hospital’s healthcare decision-makers to prioritize cultural initiatives to stabilize the workforce, reduce turnover and improve overall efficiency. See how we can help today.
