When it comes to healthcare employees, it can be difficult to think of an incentive program that is going to not only reward and motivate them, but also work around their busy schedules.
People who work in the healthcare industry are often in need of recognition, support, and appreciation the most.
A career in healthcare is very rewarding but it is also very exhausting and your staff deserves a special break or reward every once in a while.
Incentives for healthcare employees are a serious matter. Too often you will come across people in the industry that feel unappreciated and left wondering, “Is all of this work really worth it? Does anyone care?”
By not providing incentives you risk your employees feeling like their hard work is unrecognized, underappreciated and their performance may decrease or they will leave altogether.
Signs Your Staff is Overworked
- They are calling in sick a lot
- Engagement is low
- You can visibly see low energy levels
- They seem irritable
- They are making more mistakes than usual
Offering carefully planned incentives for healthcare employees will help to attract new staff members and retain those who currently work for your organization.
These programs will also make sure they’re able to provide excellent service or improve on their performance which ultimately affects patient satisfaction-which is a huge deal in the current industry landscape.
Essentially, healthcare employees need to have incentives that make them feel like their needs are understood.
Looking at things like work-life balance and listening to what your employees really want is the first step to creating a successful incentive program but we have outlined a few ideas below to get you started.
Incentive Ideas for Healthcare Employees
1. Offer a Monthly Spa Day
Spa days are becoming increasingly popular with organizations that don’t want to spend a ton of money but also want their employees to take a chance to relax.
Happy and healthy employees are more focused and productive. Those on staff also feel confident in the stability of working for a company that cares about their well being.
Offering a spa day as an incentive is a great way to encourage a good work-life balance.
(Recommended Read: Top 3 Benefits of a Wellness Retreat for Your Employees)
One issue you may find with this incentive is that your employees don’t want to spend their days off at the spa – they are busy and probably have other things to get done.
To negate this issue, give your employees some flexibility with the day they choose to use their incentive by offering gift cards. They can schedule their spa day on their own time and won’t have to change their entire schedule to accommodate it.
You can also give them an extra day off where they can go enjoy the spa. Speaking of extra days off, that is next on our list of incentives!
2. Give Extra Days Off
Whether you allow your employees to earn time off by the hour, day, week, month, or year, it’s all calculated by the time that they put in.
As the times are changing offering time off as an incentive to employees is becoming more and more popular. It’s a fantastic non-monetary bonus or reward for good performance.
Often when an employee knows an extra day off is coming, they’re motivated to accomplish more so they can keep earning those extra days off.
One great benefit of offering time off as an incentive is that it’s essentially free to do. You may argue that you’re losing a productive member of staff for a day or two but, the time and effort that you are likely to see in return is worth it.
Time off from work to do your own thing is seen as a privilege to most, there are few who don’t want a little more “me-time.”
It’s a great incentive to offer to your staff so they can get their personal things done, take a trip away, or just relax.
Bear in mind that some employees prefer money or don’t use their time off each year. In this case, it is a good idea to offer it as an option rather than an automated process.
3. Gift Cards
While cash has been the main reward option for many employee recognition programs for a long time, gift cards offer a wider set of advantages over cash rewards.
Offering a gift card over cash means that employees are more likely to spend it on something that they enjoy or wouldn’t usually buy instead of spending it on things like an oil change.
You can expect employees to be more likely to share what they purchased with their rewards and this generates more excitement around the incentive.
It’s a great way to get the word out that there is a reward in place.
Giving gift cards to your employees is more personal than a bonus It’s seen as a gift not a non-specific gesture like cash.
You could offer them a choice of different gift cards or simply give them one for a site like Amazon where they can buy anything.
4. Catered Lunches
Providing your healthcare employees with a catered lunch every once in a while can go a long way when it comes to increasing morale.
Good morale leads to increased loyalty, better motivation and increased productivity. This makes any costs you incur worthwhile.
Company-provided lunches or snacks can make your employees feel more valued for the contributions they give day in and day out and give them something to look forward to.
Eating lunch together also builds trust and relationships between employees which is never a bad thing!
One more benefit of bringing in lunch for your team is that they will go back to work after their break with the energy to finish out their day.
5. Better Pay for Productivity
This system enables you to compare employees based on a particular set of indicators. What the indicators will depend on several different factors such as their job roles and responsibilities. Those that achieve and exceed the indicators set are then rewarded financially.
This is an excellent way of highlighting high performers and giving them the recognition they deserve. Its main goal is to increase performance levels and get employees wanting to achieve more.
Currently, the pay-for-performance incentive is proving to have mixed effects.
The whole idea behind this is to enhance performance at the same time as decreasing the number of errors made but we are seeing way more of a shift towards non-monetary incentives.
6. Employee Recognition
Sincere recognition is believed to be one of the keys to boosting the morale and performance of your employees.
You should be recognizing your employees for their outstanding performance and showing your appreciation for their work regularly.
Sometimes you may find that all they need are simple things like a thank you note for going out of their way to put in some extra effort or a verbal thank you. You could go one step further and add recognition and gratitude as part of your company culture.
You can also adopt a more formal approach to employee recognition.
A great incentive for healthcare employees could be to hold an annual employee recognition event where you create a nomination and award for certain areas of excellence.
This means you’re not only recognizing your employees for the hard work they’re doing but you’re also enabling them to recognize their peers going the extra mile.
Holding an event like this could encourage better performance and give your employees a real sense of achievement. A nice additional touch would be to provide prizes for those who won the awards.
If you already have a healthcare employee incentive program in place or are thinking about starting one you need to take the steps to make your employee aware.
If they’re unaware of the program then it will likely not be successful. With essential planning and communication, you will be sure to set your incentive for healthcare employees on the right track.
