Motivating the mediocre: Getting the maximum out of someone who's giving you the minimum disruptive or incompetent employees need to be dealt with. Allowing mediocre employees in health care will continue to effect the organizations performance. How an organization identifies mediocrity, more specifically high performance and hires for performance is critical in the development of organizational success. This article is a review from an April 2008 AM News article.
By Larry Stevens, AM News correspondent. April 14, 2008.
Under performing staffers can seriously hurt a practice. Identifying a mediocre employee is less obvious And, perhaps more difficult.
A mediocre employee does the job, but only the minimum amount. Or tells other employees that certain tasks are "not my job." This would match what Dave Logan says in Tribal Leadership is Level 2 behavior. This individual may not interact with patients in the friendly way you want, or is exhibiting several qualities, that, while annoying, don't warrant a firing, not when it's hard enough to find halfway decent people.
Under motivated employees may take longer than their peers to complete routine functions, take an inordinate number of sick days, forget important tasks, or even be abrupt with your patients. This has great impact on your organization's performance and ability to achieve its vision and strategy.
The problem can occur shortly after the staffer is hired, or after a number of years of satisfactory service. Whatever the symptoms, experts say, unless doctors or administrators take rapid action, the problem can spread like a virus, affecting the morale of other workers who have to take up the slack, reducing office efficiency, patient satisfaction and revenue. This statement alone should make health care facilities more aware of the reason to address this issue in a timely manner.
Tides can turn
The toughest part might be that the mediocre employee could be someone you've trusted and relied on, and might even think of as a friend.
As these relationship develop, it becomes harder to address the issues and concerns and the effects the employee has on his/her peers and the performance of the unit and/or organization.
A behavioral medicine physician, Dr. Dohrenwend discusses that doctors and staff often have an emotional attachment to the employee who is having a problem. Firing a long-standing worker may reduce morale if other workers believe the termination was unfair or worry that they may be next. This means that clear expectations and accountabilities are needed to reduce the effect on fellow employees.
And the group's investment in having trained that employee over the years may justify more of an effort to remediate the situation, Dr. Dohrenwend says.
Helping with success
The first step to improving any employee's job performance is to specify the problem. "Is it a matter of ability or a matter of willingness? Each of these presents its own challenges."
The only way to determine the answer is to have a conversation in which the worker is allowed to freely express opinions about the work and explain why he or she is having problems.
In response, Dr. Dohrenwend says, doctors or managers shouldn't simply say "your attitude isn't what it used to be" or "you don't seem to be posting files as quickly."
Instead, workers should be told specifically what they are not doing -- how many fewer files they are posting; how many co-payments they are not getting compared with their co-workers. "You shouldn't leave the employee wondering what has to be done in order for her to improve her performance," Dr. Dohrenwend says.
If we are to hold employees accountable, the organization needs to provide each individual with real-time productivity measures that allow them to see objectively the loss in production. If there are more attitude concerns, this should also be measured more objectively by having the individual rate themselves and measure it with peers and supervisors to demonstrate the differences between the individuals perceptions of their performance and those around them,
Making improvements
Once the problem is identified to the worker, experts say a practice should put together a specific and quantifiable action plan.
Ongoing encouragement from managers, supervisors and physicians both formally and informally are important to continue to motivate the individual to greater and sustained performance.
Identification of the problem may involve identifying if the person is the right "fit" for the position they are in or identifying outside factors that may impact their work performance. At times a coach can be a neutral party that can help provide insight into areas outside of work that may be impacting work performance
For example, some groups might offer a worker a leave of absence to solve a home problem. Others may allow workers to reduce their hours.
The best course may be for doctors or managers to steer an employee to resources, but not try to solve the problems themselves.
Drastic action
When positive reinforcement and support don't work, experts say, perhaps the problem is not a mediocre employee, but an employee who just isn't cut out to work for your practice anymore. The distinction is especially important if one employee is requiring a disproportionate amount of the practice's time and attention.
Virtually all staff are "at will" employees, meaning they can quit or be fired without stating a reason. However, a doctor can be sued for wrongful termination if the employee is fired for religious affiliation, refusing sexual advances or having a disability that can be reasonably accommodated. Even employees fired for incompetence may claim they were terminated for an illegal reason. In addition, employees who can show they were fired without cause are eligible for unemployment compensation.
Documenting performance concerns consistently is essential to the process.
Envisage Health, Inc. can provide a number of services to identify high performance at the time of hiring, identify the best job fit for current employees, and perform meaningful and actionable 360 reviews. This is part of the tools we provide to health care organizations to help align vision, strategy, process and people. The identification and sustainability of high performance in a health care organization is a key strategy to accomplish the organization's vision. Please visit us at Envisage Health, Inc for more information, or email us at info@envisage-health.com
Facing staff attrition situations? Talk to our talent retention & HR advisory consultancy in Singapore. Website here. A marketing strategy blog for smes by Scotts digital.
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