“Show me the money”   “Where’s the beef?”  Health care delivery has evolved over the past few decades to evidence based practice.  With the emergence of new drugs, techniques, and regulations health care providers are demanding “where’s the evidence”.  In our quest for evidence to guide our medical resource management, we often overlook the fact that our personnel are the most important resource that we manage.

An excellent article by Vicki Hess, RN published in Hospital and Health News (Jan 19, 2012) encourages evidence based management as a tool for increasing employee satisfaction and productivity.

In the article, Vicki states that in recent years, scholars have studied and written about evidence-based leadership and evidence-based management. A logical progression in this thinking is evidence-based employee engagement. Employees are engaged when they are satisfied (they like what they do), energized (they put effort behind it) and productive (their work contributes to organizational goals). Leaders who are effective in engaging others are facilitators of the engagement process. Because no one external source can motivate an employee, providing an environment that encourages intrinsic motivators is critical.

The article continues with the concept that employee preferences are an important but often overlooked factor in department management.  Engaged managers are in  touch with employee preferences and make personal contact with employees on a daily basis.

She concludes that by adopting an evidence-based employee engagement approach that combines current engagement research, leadership insights and employee preferences, leaders can positively impact important business results without subtracting from the bottom line.

Click here to read the excellent article by Vicki Hess, RN