How To Retain Healthcare Front Desk Staff in 5 Simple Ways

Amidst a global pandemic, healthcare workers fight a daily battle of managing strenuous workloads, juggling the needs of patients, colleagues, and themselves. In such a hectic work environment, healthcare employees are susceptible to burnout if left unchecked.

A study shows that healthcare employees yielded a 5.6% turnover rate in 2020, compared to 3.2% before the pandemic. Sudden employee turnover can impact healthcare facilities and result in an overall decline in performance, such as a loss of workplace productivity and an increased number of errors.

Despite the need for healthcare workers on the frontlines of COVID-19, a recent survey reports that 28% of nursing facilities have a staff shortage as of March 2022. In anticipation of this continued scarcity, many institutions are looking into strategies on how to retain staff in healthcare in the face of a global pandemic. If you want to incorporate these simple, yet effective, ways to help boost your employee retention and particularly maintain a happy healthcare front desk in your clinic, keep reading!

5 Practical Ways to Retain Healthcare Employees

1. Ensure employee safety

Aside from already being in a hectic environment like the medical field, healthcare front desk personnel stand at the front of patient interaction and are susceptible to the risk of infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) endorses workplace precautions that you may need to re-evaluate for the safety of your front desk clinic, such as:

• Implementing physical distancing from clients
• Wearing protective equipment at all times
• Ensuring proper sanitation
• Minimizing physical meetings with teleconferencing
• Being cautious of symptoms and addressing them immediately

Aside from promoting these standard precautions, consider if there may be any help the administration can extend to prioritize the team’s safety. Remember, the healthcare front desk is the central point of contact for patients and staff, so eliminating health risks or inconveniences can save your employees from added stress. Your facility may think to:

• Provide company transportation to aid daily commute struggle
• Stock up on free protective equipment and sanitation
• Conduct regular safety training programs

2. Provide flexibility in work arrangements

While following safety measures can prevent health risks, the possibility of your staff catching a virus cannot be fully avoided, especially when working on-site. In the UK, a study reports that 79% of National Health Service (NHS) health workers have switched to working from home. Consider providing a hybrid or work-from-home setup for your healthcare front desk workers to fulfill administrative tasks safely.

Solutions like WelcomeWare, a virtual front-desk receptionist platform and kiosk, make it possible for your healthcare front desk to work from home. This type of solution enables front desk clinics to greet and check in customers, facilitate data input and signatures, and accept client payments remotely, eliminating health risks to your workforce.

3. Recognize employee wins

Despite being the first to welcome patients into the facility, not all healthcare front desk workers get proper gratitude for their service, so it’s a manager’s responsibility to ensure that all employees get the recognition they deserve.

Happy and valued front desk personnel can be leveraged to reduce burnout in the workplace, particularly when they provide great service to patients. A report shows that organizations with formal recognition programs result in 31% less employee turnover than those that don’t invest in these efforts.

4. Invest in employee career growth

Healthcare front desk employees work long hours, facing patients with a smile while attending to their inquiries. Eventually, these employees will look for career development amidst the day-to-day grind. A 2022 turnover statistics survey backs up this claim, as 37% of employees are reported to have left their organization due to a lack of career growth.

As such, consider offering leadership programs or career path training for your front desk clinic workers. The promise of a long-term development plan can attract healthcare workers to stay on the frontlines amidst the pandemic, even in future ones.

5. Seek and listen to employee feedback

Employee engagement leads to better employee retention in healthcare. In fact, a study has found that 94% of organizations with a listening program have high employee retention rates. This type of initiative in the workplace is when the employer captures and understands the employee’s experience.

To adapt to the constant medical risks that health workers face daily, take time to conduct employee feedback surveys or open forums in the workplace to know what needs to be improved. Additionally, leveraging your healthcare front desk workers for ideas in refining processes could benefit a smoother system in handling administrative work in the facility.

Keep Your Front Desk Clinic in Check

Essentially, a healthcare front desk is the “face” of service in a medical institution. They create an impression for patients and their loved ones when they first arrive at the clinic and act as the first line of defense to patient complaints and needs.

To address employee retention, consider adding a remote healthcare kiosk and front desk to your facility to provide a high quality patient experience, while improving the safety, efficiency, and flexibility of your receptionist.

For reliable front desk solutions, look no further than WelcomeWare! We are a customer service company that offers both software and hardware to deliver an all-in-one check-in, check-out, and customer service solution for your business.

Learn more about what we can do for your organization when you contact us today!