Health care organizations struggle to engage employees: survey

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Despite modest improvements, health care organizations continue to face significant challenges in engaging and keeping their employees, a new survey reveals.

Health care technology and consulting firm Press Ganey, in its “Employee Experience in Healthcare 2024” report, found that employee engagement rose by about .5%, from 4.02 to 4.04 out of 5. It was the first increase since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In another positive sign, satisfaction among clinical registered nurses (RNs) saw one of the biggest gains among employee categories, rising by 10% from 3.84 to 3.89. The survey defines “engagement” as an employee’s connection to and satisfaction with their workplace, intent to stay, and likelihood of recommending their employer.

Offsetting these improvements has been a continuing decline in engagement among managers at health care organizations, which fell by .7%. Since 2020 it has declined by 3.7%, from 4.38 to 4.22

Another ongoing challenge the survey reveals is employee turnover, with 20% leaving their jobs between 2022 and 2023. The problem is most acute among new employees, as 25% of those employed two years or less left their organization.

Overall, the survey finds that about one-third of health care employees don’t feel engaged. This raises concerns about future retention, since disengaged employees are twice as likely to leave their job compared to highly engaged employees, Press Ganey says.

Broken down by role, the survey showed senior managers having the highest engagement level at 4.54. That was followed by management (4.22) and “nonclinical” (4.12.) The lowest levels reported were among licensed technicians and RNs, at 3.90 and 3.89, respectively.

“A positive employee experience is directly tied to the rest of an organization’s results, including safety, patient experience, and health outcomes,” Press Ganey Chief Clinical Officer Jessica Dudley, MD, said in a news release accompanying the survey.

The report’s findings are based on responses from 2.2 million health care employees gathered from annual, pulse, and lifecycle surveys during the previous calendar year.