How to improve frontline employee wellbeing in healthcare
Healthcare worker productivity and wellbeing management is one of the biggest challenges the healthcare industry faces. Read on and follow our healthcare blogging series to learn how Microsoft Teams and Viva can boost team morale, improve connections within multi-disciplinary teams and attract and retain highly skilled healthcare workers.
Over the last year, the average duration of mental health related absences were three times longer than that of COVID-related absences in the NHS between 1st June 2020 and 1st June 2021. This, teamed with the enormous pressure placed on healthcare organisations recently has placed a newfound importance on personal health and wellbeing. Additionally, frontline teams and their integrated care communities need high quality communication and work practices.
The demand for workplace empowerment tools has existed long before our new hybrid working world. Frontline healthcare workers spend the most time working outside of their working hours compared to their colleagues. According to the 2020 NHS staff survey, 55.2 percent of all NHS employees work additional unpaid hours every week. Due to the demanding nature of frontline jobs, higher employee turnover and the feeling of being disconnected from the community of the organisation is common. This places paramount importance on being able to manage wellbeing at an individual level through readily available tools in order to stimulate a supportive frontline worker community.
Improve productivity and wellbeing
For organisations tackling the increased levels of stress and anxiety of their workforce, leaders are starting to consider the different technologies that can support mental health and wellbeing.
Insights can help empower healthcare employees take control over their own wellbeing. And with Viva Insights, employees can manage the way they work with recommendations visible only to them. For example, a frontline employee on the ward that might want to send praise to a specialist nurse for the incredible way they have been treating a patient. Or colleagues who are part of a multi-disciplinary team might want to make everyone aware of the positive impact a team member has had on their development.
The ability to send praise in the Viva Insights dashboard can help to create and boost team morale. In addition, this can help everyone to feel more connected, being part of a team where their efforts are recognised and praised. As a result, employee retention is improved.
Getting caught in daily administrative tasks, especially if you are a clinician that regularly faces unexpected circumstances during a shift, can leave little time for wellbeing management which eventually could lead to burnout. Clinicians and everyone across the organisation can start taking control of their wellbeing by setting up reminders in the Viva Insights app to finish their shift by reflecting on how they’re feeling. Over time, they can start analysing their reflections, and begin to understand the driving factors behind their emotions. By focussing on their feelings over time, they can discover ways to reduce burnout.
Meditation breaks can not only help people feel energised but can also improve their ability to focus and engage, leading to better patient outcomes. With the integration of Headspace meditation into Teams through Insights, employees can now tap into moments of relaxation before a patient appointment or a team meeting, making sure they feel ready to tackle any problem that may arise – all from a computer or smartphone.
Through the stay connected tab in the Insights app, healthcare workers can easily discover any pending tasks or people they need to connect with, all based on data from the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Leveraging actionable insights in the context of the day-to-day work can help the workforce to concentrate on things that matter. For example, ward staff can easily complete their admin tasks and focus more on delivering the best treatment for patients.
Take Control of Your Wellbeing
Microsoft Viva brings together scattered organisational resources into the central hub of collaboration that is Microsoft Teams, ensuring healthcare workers can manage their wellbeing and utilise their organisational resources so they can deliver the highest standard of patient care while staying in the flow of everyday work. Insights is the first aspect of Microsoft Viva we will be covering in this blogging series. Make sure to send this document to a human resources colleague, a wellbeing lead or a clinician you know who wants to modernise their wellbeing management.
Keep an eye on our Modern Tools tag on our blog, as we continue our series into how organisations can use these tools to support powerful employee experiences.
Find out more
NHS England » Making the most of the skills in our teams
Remote Employees Are Working Longer Than Before
3 ways to support frontline workers in a hybrid world
About the author
Edward is currently a Modern Work Specialist working with healthcare organisations across the UK, helping on their journey towards digital transformation. Focusing on hybrid working, frontline technologies and wellbeing and productivity management, connect with Edward on LinkedIn to follow content relating to healthcare and Microsoft 365 optimisation.
Ioana works with healthcare organisations across the UK to improve their journey towards digital transformation using Microsoft 365 technologies. She helps healthcare organisations utilise Microsoft Teams to connect multi-disciplinary communities across the organisation, bring wellbeing and productivity management into the flow of everyday work and surface knowledge and learning across the organisation.
