Research Spotlight: Retaining Employees in Health Care

There is so much effort and research activity occuring to better understand our health care delivery system, yet often it can seem either daunting to keep up with the latest news or extremely challenging to access recent findings from high-quality, peer-reviewed studies.  In light of this challenge, we hope to periodically shine a light on recent studies that relate to the important work being done every day in health care organizations across the U.S.  Our aim in these research entries is to regularly bring "bite-size" summaries of meaningful research to busy health care administrators, helping disseminate interesting findings and bring work outside the "ivory tower" to within the walls of health care organizations.  This month's research spotlight comes from a recently published study on the impact of employee engagement.

It's a critical issue that continues to find its way into health care industry headlines and remains a key concern for health care leaders: retention.  In a time when the health care industry is experiencing numerous changes and heightened demands, the health care workforce finds itself facing considerable pressures, and accounts of burnout across health care organizations abound.  A question many administrators ask today continues to be, how can I effectively retain members of the organization?

In the most recent issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Health Care Management Review, a longitudinal study by researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health suggests that employee engagement is a key to achieving effectively retaining employees.  Led by Jessica M. Tullar, the team of researchers found that health care workers who had participated in an employee engagement program were less likely than non-participants to leave their hospital, even after controlling for numerous covarying factors.  This employee engagement program promoted employees' efforts to connect more deeply with their work and see their jobs as meaningful.

In the article, the authors also note that employee engagement is just one method to improve employee retention rates, identifying previous evidence that improved teamwork, efficiencies, and access to resources, as well as reduced job demands, have been shown to help retain employees.  Additionally, beyond the benefit of improved retention, the article also states that employee engagement efforts can help "improve performance...and employee communication with leadership, both important outcomes for managers" (p. 323).

For health care managers today, the issue of retention is critical for numerous reasons.  Employee turnover comes with many costs, from financial to operational, even profoundly affecting the organization's culture and morale.  Leaders in health care today would do well to reflect and consider: how are employees being engaged in my organization?  What can I do to help my fellow employees to connect more deeply and find significant meaning in their work?

Reference:

Tullar, J.M., et al. (2016). Improve employee engagement to retain your workforce. Health Care Management Review, 41 (4), 316-324.