Moving the dialogue from productivity to engagement.

With the gap between demand and resources ever widening and patients waiting far too long for much-needed care, productivity often becomes the dominant leadership narrative.

Already overworked clinicians are asked to:

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.

Productivity is relentlessly measured/benchmarked, to squeeze more activity out of an already overwhelmed system run by already overwhelmed clinicians.

But here’s the thing. High-quality, safe and 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 begins with 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬.

Shifting the conversation from productivity to engagement achieves something magical!

When clinicians are engaged:

1. Patients feel valued, listened to

2. Patient safety and quality improve

3. Teamwork improves

4. Clinicians innovate

5. Efficiency improves

6. Staff Retention improves

7. Recruitment costs reduce

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬….𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲!

𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞; 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

It’s not simply an action, something that is done to/with us or measured.

To be engaged is to feel:

𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 rather than exhausted

𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝, connected with our higher purpose rather than cynical and remote

𝐀 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲, that we are achieving something valuable, rather than “what’s the point?”

𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭.

And so, the drivers of burnout are also the levers for us to become more engaged.

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 understand this; 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴.

They 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐲:

Prioritising leadership development; capable leaders foster engaged clinicians

Facilitating autonomy, agency

Encouraging innovation, accepting that some great ideas fail

Appreciating, recognising and spending time listening to staff, understanding their world

Creating time and space for teams to meet together, to build a sense of community/togetherness

Removing the unnecessary irritations that get in the way of delivering care

Focusing the dialogue on quality/safety as much as finance/productivity.

Advocating for the resources that allow us to be productive

Creating a culture of fairness, kindness and respect.

 

It’s these things that provide the environment to optimise our productivity

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤?

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲/𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞?