While employee engagement has been a focus for some organizations, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of making this a major priority.

This was confirmed in a survey conducted jointly by Axxess and healthcare consulting firm SimiTree, getting industry feedback from more than 1,800 home-based care providers from organizations of all sizes. Nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated they have been at their jobs for three years or less. When asked what strategies they felt are important in driving employee engagement, more than 75% of respondents agreed that the following are important:

• Effective orientation and onboarding
• Regular training and education
• Mentorship
• Providing flexibility to balance work and personal life responsibilities
• Financial incentives
• Easy-to-use software

Why Employees Leave

When the same respondents were asked the top reasons cited for leaving an organization, compensation, chemistry and career development led the list. While these have been equally important over many years, the higher percentage citing pay and total compensation as their leading exit factor may indicate this has become more important over the past year.

Yet reviewing our 2022 Industry Trends Report reminded me of something I read: “Feeding the pleasure center of the brain through extrinsic rewards doesn’t engage a person and bring real, lasting fulfillment. At best, it creates security and short-term pleasure or hedonic well-being.”

Pay and compensation is a leading factor for employee retention, but that alone cannot sustain your employees for the long-term.

The Engagement Equation

We know that engagement drives performance. Engagement is the passion you have for what you are doing, your connection with the organization and its people.

Engagement can be broken into an equation of “High Engagement = Individual Behavior + Organizational Conditions.” It is important to note that these two elements can be synergistic.

Why Are Employees Engaged

When examining my own responsibility as an individual, I identified three significant areas:

First, I have a connection to my work, the people and my organization on an intellectual level. My next connection is to the culture; I am aligned with the mission, vision and values of the organization.

We spend many hours a week conducting and meeting our work obligations. Making work your own is key! While I do not have complete control over my work life, I can shape it based upon my professional experience and preferences while pursuing my goals and contributions to the organization.

The contribution of my time to the work I do must make a difference in the lives of a person, a group and the greater good. Having a high level of learning accomplishes this by enabling me to apply something new I have learned to achieve my work-life goals. This stretches me, it pushes me outside of my comfort zone, creating a capacity to perform at a higher level.

These specific drivers create my individual responsibility of being and remaining highly engaged.

The Organization’s Role in Engagement

When we think back to the equation of employee engagement, you, the individual, are the first variable, the architect of it. Organizational conditions are the second variable, rounding out the result. It is important that as an organization, there is a strong focus on creating, strengthening and measuring the conditions to cultivate a positive change in employee engagement levels.

In our trends report, you will find key organizational conditions and best practices that will assist you in creating a highly engaged workforce. Please take a moment to review and then join Axxess, SimiTree and key industry leaders as they take a deep dive into the organization’s playbook with Best Practices for Home-Based Care Employee Engagement and Retention.

By focusing on both aspects of the equation, strategies to drive retention will be clear, bringing lasting fulfillment to your team members and ultimately, your patients.

Axxess, a cloud-based care at home software, offers HIPAA-compliant mobile solutions for home health, home care, hospice and palliative care organizations.