4 Ways Healthcare Leaders Can Empower Their People
Healthcare is a demanding industry. Long hours that often stretch into nights, weekends and holidays, emotionally charged patient dynamics, and complex medical procedures with no margin for error can break down even the most stable individuals.
But healthcare is also an incredibly rewarding field in which to work, and those who choose this professional path do it because of their passion for caring for others.
As a healthcare executive, your leadership has the power to motivate or deflate. It can encourage innovation and creativity, or stir up animosity and divisiveness. This is why focusing on empowerment is such a critical component of a quality healthcare setting.
The impact of empowered employees — employees who feel confident in their abilities, comfortable in their work environments, inspired, and supported — cannot be overstated.
As a leader, here are four tangible ways to empower your people.
1. Foster a Culture of Learning
Empowerment is rooted in education. Ongoing training and development opportunities, promoting internally, and creating access to unique ways for continued growth ensure your teams are equipped with the latest knowledge and skills, and also cultivate confidence and enjoyment.
Actionable Steps:
Implement regular training sessions (virtually and in-person) on emerging medical technologies and practices, and on professional development topics.
Encourage attendance at conferences and seminars.
Offer tuition reimbursement for advanced degrees or certifications.
2. Prioritize Open Communication
Effective communication is the backbone of a strong healthcare team. While important for many reasons, a 2024 paper from the National Library of Medicine has cited medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Transparent and open communication is crucial for delivering high-quality medical care. It also fosters trust, collaboration and a sense of belonging.
Cultivating a culture of feedback also enhances empowerment. When team members feel heard and encouraged to speak up, it results in greater ownership of their output.
Actionable Steps:
Be proactive in communication, including department updates, organizational news, trending topics and more.
Establish proper processes and lines of communication at all levels of the organization.
Facilitate numerous ways to gather feedback: One-on-one meetings, town halls, surveys, and feedback forms are all ways to solicit feedback. Then, take that feedback seriously.
3. Promote Agency
In healthcare, there is a delicate balance between data and thoughtful creativity. While the techniques used in medical practice are standard, how you interact with a patient will often vary depending on what the circumstance requires.
By allowing your people the autonomy to engage in appropriate decision-making, you are instilling confidence and promoting accountability. The result is employees who seek to take the right actions and are considerate of any unique dynamics at play.
Actionable Steps:
Encourage teamwork and collaboration.
Live the standards you set for your employees daily. What you demonstrate, your people will follow.
Set your employees up for success by aligning their tasks with their strengths.
4. Recognize and Reward Excellence
We all like to be acknowledged. Doing so with your employees on a regular basis boosts morale, increases motivation and heightens engagement. Recognizing a job well done shows that you care and that you’re in tune with your team’s workload.
Actionable Steps:
Create an employee recognition program that highlights achievements.
Offer performance-based incentives and bonuses.
Celebrate the big and small things: milestones, birthdays, attendance records, and work that goes above and beyond.
Why Empowerment Matters
In addition to improving job satisfaction, empowerment enhances patient care and overall organization performance. As a leader, empowerment should be a pillar of your approach with your people and a tool to enhance your personnel, operational, and strategic missions.