Employee Engagement Key To Delivering Quality Outcomes In Indian Healthcare
The Indian healthcare domain is set to scale a high growth trajectory with the roll-out of pro-people initiatives like Ayushman Bharat by the Indian government to provide inclusive healthcare services across diverse geographies. A firm commitment to improving the healthcare infrastructure in the country and a vast talent pool of qualified personnel with specialized skill sets has global investors betting big on the exponential growth potential of the sector. Clocking a growth rate of 16 per cent, the country’s healthcare sector is anticipated to reach $280 billion by 2020. Indian healthcare is set to enter into a booming phase with its workforce requirement expected to reach 7.4 million by 2022. While the country’s healthcare sector enters a decisive transformative phase driven by technological advancements and pro-sector government interventions, it needs to be noted that it remains a people-intensive business. Employee engagement and talent management remain the key to leveraging the latent synergies of the Indian healthcare ecosystem.
Encouraging an open-door policy
There is an urgent need to dismantle conventional management structures in Indian healthcare organizations that deter employee participation and communication. Doing away with rigid hierarchical layers and long command chains, modern-day healthcare management need to implement an open-door policy for their employees. The term clearly implies fostering a culture of openness and transparency promoting mutual respect and trust between the management and employees. Collaboration, rather than conflict and intimidation should be the core operational credo for encouraging employees to fearlessly voice their opinions and provide suggestions. The human interface is the most critical aspect in treating the patient at every stage of the disease cycle. An open-door culture is instrumental in creating an involved and engaged workforce, trained to assess chronic medical cases and sensitized to handle recurring patient complexities. This remains key to ensuring successful clinical outcomes and improving the quality of life for patients. The priority focus should be on aligning the employee with organizational aims and objectives. This can be effectively done by deploying open communication channels to convey corporate information such as policy decisions and important announcements. An efficacious internal communication system is key to driving company goals and visions across different employee levels and eliminate miscommunication to ensure a seamless workflow and coordination across personnel.
Employee an asset not liability
As the Indian healthcare delivery sector becomes highly competitive and dynamic, attracting and retaining patients becomes pertinent to improve cash inflows and create sustainable revenue streams. The patient’s experience with a hospital will largely be determined on the basis of his interaction at the first point of contact with frontline hospital staff. Building confidence in the patient, reducing his anxiety and assuring him of care and compassion forms a key part of a healthcare organization’s patient engagement strategy. An engaged employee, who is valued and treated like an asset, will not only communicate confidently with a patient but also build a positive brand image of his organization. Employees are tangible assets and provide the requisite competitive edge in the volatile Indian healthcare domain. Rather than treated as liabilities, employees should be treated as contributing stakeholders in the organization.
Healthcare organizations where the contribution and hard work of the employee is appreciated and rewarded are known to report lower staff attrition. This not only helps a healthcare organization to reduce its cost per hire but also ensure higher staff retention rates by building a sustainable talent pipeline. An engaged and motivated employee can be a long-term asset to the organization. Employee engagement and involvement also directly impact healthcare financials. A workforce driven by passion and zeal will work to ensure higher profitability and greater shareholder value for the organization.
Money, not the only motivation
Employees are not merely driven by monetary considerations. Healthcare organizations need to nurture a workplace environment wherein employees will establish a personal connect with their job roles. The commitment and contribution of an employee cannot be assessed in monetary terms. Creating an employee-friendly culture will translate into quality care for patients and higher business margins for healthcare organizations.
Conclusion
Employee engagement assumes significance when the Indian healthcare sector is undergoing rapid consolidation driven by tightening regulatory interventions and a highly competitive ecosystem. As domain players aim to gain scale and grab a larger pie of the country’s expanding healthcare services market, synergizing human resource competencies and working on innovative employee engagement strategies will be key to rationalizing cost structures and improving health outcomes.
