5 ways to create better employee experiences in healthcare

An increasingly urgent challenge for the healthcare industry is the shortage of skilled healthcare professionals. This is due to the general population getting older, an increase in chronic diseases, the impact of the pandemic, and an aging healthcare workforce. Compounding these trends is a work environment where siloed information, disconnected workflows, and excessive paperwork can lead to frustrating experiences for employees and patients.

Healthcare organizations need to empower their employees with streamlined workflows that encourage collaboration and provide the data they need for great patient experiences, as well as systems that simplify and speed up internal processes. Bringing together patient data from multiple sources empowers employees to deliver better care faster. Read on for five best practices for creating better employee experiences.

1. Set up your internal teams for success

   
   Companies recognize the importance of employee experience. 70 percent of tech buyers say their company is actively looking for new ways to engage employees. Supporting your employees to do their best work leads to happier employees, better customer experiences, and ultimately competitive advantage. According to the latest Zendesk Employee Experience Trends Report, 68 percent of company leaders now recognize a direct link between employee service and business growth.
   One way to improve the employee experience is through an internal help desk—a centralized hub for employees to access information around internal processes, products, and services. Organizations want to deploy internal help desks to increase employee productivity (79 percent), automate business processes (73 percent), and help internal departments manage requests (68 percent).

2. Help employees help themselves

   
   A simple way to make things happen faster is to enable employees to find their own answers. The trend toward self-service for employees and customers has been growing for years. Businesses that are leaders in employee support and satisfaction are 60 percent more likely to offer self-service resources. Employees want to help themselves, when and where they need it.

3. Adapt to change with flexible tools

   
   The best way to adapt to change and uncertainty is to build flexibility into tools and processes. Internal help desks can help companies adapt to volatility by being more agile.
   One Medical, a membership-based primary care practice based in the United States with 70 offices, uses Zendesk to help build better relationships between patients and providers. The company also uses Zendesk Support and Guide to provide internal IT, HR, and operations support to its employees. One Medical tracks the top issues across product, IT, and HR support to identify problems and resolve them quickly. The company even collects suggestions and feedback from employees to ensure it’s addressing their needs on an ongoing basis.

4. Work smarter, not harder

   
   In Zendesk’s Employee Experience Trends Report, 42 percent of respondents say they need the ability to collaborate better with internal teams. By streamlining processes that facilitate collaboration, healthcare organizations can reduce frustration, increase productivity, and save money.
   The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is one of Scotland’s national health services that provide healthcare services for 1.2 million people. With over 38,000 employees, it manages £2.5B of managed resources per year. The NHS uses Zendesk Support to streamline its procurement workflow of more than 500,000 invoices from 10,000 suppliers. The new procurement process has freed up the accounts payable team to focus on more important work and they are able to pay their suppliers more quickly.

5. Treat your employees like customers

   
   Healthcare organizations want to provide a work environment where their employees can thrive and feel empowered to do their best work. Agile healthcare organizations are using technology to improve interactions with patients, employees, and members. Improving internal efficiencies not only creates happier employees, but also increases productivity, improves communication, saves money, and leads to better patient experiences and outcomes.