Contributor: Jessica Homann
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In the intense landscape of healthcare, leaders are no strangers to high-stress environments with limited resources and understaffed facilities. Added strain from the COVID-19 pandemic led to more than half of healthcare workers experiencing physical and mental fatigue. As a result, burnout has become a pressing issue that demands attention. It is not only causing outstanding colleagues to consider leaving the profession but also impacting team well-being and performance, which ultimately affects patient outcomes.
Though these strains are occurring across most healthcare delivery organizations, your leadership approach can make a significant, positive impact. As the leadership paradigm has shifted from profit-centric to people-centric, successful healthcare organizations have realized that profits naturally follow when people feel supported and valued. Happy, engaged employees are more productive, loyal, and achieve better results. By being in tune with the team, leaders can be more empathetic and compassionate, allowing them to provide real-time solutions to alleviate burnout and enhance experiences for both caregivers and patients.
How can your organization support people-first leadership? By creating employee experience roles dedicated to improving the well-being of the workforce and transforming culture. Here are five emerging people-first roles helping healthcare organizations focus on team engagement and cultivate a culture of wellness.
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Chief Wellness Officer (CWO)
Wellness is the journey to becoming your best, both physically and mentally. To envision the Chief Wellness Officer (CWO), think of a trainer and mindset coach for the entire organization. This person motivates and encourages healthy habits to help employees reach their full potential, improving business results.
The CWO develops and executes long-term strategies employees can use that promote more positive lifestyles and work habits. These methods lead to better engagement, resilience, and productivity, creating an overall culture of well-being. This role is essential because employee wellness is critical to overall performance. Like our bodies need exercise, sunlight, and nutrient-dense foods to prosper, healthcare organizations need a CWO to thrive.
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Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
Organizations often need to remember that employees are customers too, and their experiences, along with external customers, matter. The Chief Experience Officer (CXO) is the customer service champion for the entire organization, and this leadership role is vital in today's consumer-driven healthcare industry.
CXOs create positive, memorable experiences for patients and employees by designing and implementing employee experience strategies that elevate patient experience and ensure quality interactions with staff. Another key benefit of engaging a CXO is that they create policies that boost patient satisfaction and loyalty. CXOs lead the entire healthcare orchestra, ensuring every note is in tune, playing a beautiful symphony of service excellence.
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Chief People Officer (CPO)
The ultimate talent advocate for healthcare organizations, a Chief People Officer (CPO) attracts, retains, and develops top talent by implementing innovation and effective talent management strategies. Like a coach, the CPO ensures every employee has the tools and resources needed to do their best work, helping each team member reach their full potential and make a difference in the lives of patients and families. The CPO is universally known as a culture leader. Their team-building expertise makes them experts at creating and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace that encourages employee growth and development.
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Chief Engagement Officer (CEO)
The Chief Engagement Officer (CEO) is the heartbeat of the organization. They promote a positive company culture where employees feel part of something bigger than themselves. Like the heart, they are the center of great culture, permeating each vessel of the organization to ensure everyone feels seen, valued, respected, heard, and engaged.
CEOs are responsible for creating processes and systems that make it easier for employees to do their work and recognize and celebrate employee successes. Furthermore, they promote positive communication between departments and individuals and ensure everyone clearly understands the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Their goal? Improving employee experience, satisfaction, productivity, and retention. By doing so, they enable the healthcare team to provide exceptional patient care and create a lasting, positive impact on the communities they serve.
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Chief Culture Officer (CCO)
Recently, your organization may have experienced a positive cultural transformation that improved the workforce. Congratulations! Following this path, you may be in search of a guardian to protect the new culture and prevent your team from returning to old habits under stress. A Chief Culture Officer (CCO) may be the solution.
The CCO ensures the culture stays strong. They are dedicated to cultivating and maintaining a workplace that values employees, encourages collaboration and innovation, and drives patient satisfaction. CCOs engage with teams across all levels of the organization to identify areas for improvement and implement strategies for effectively addressing those needs. Likewise, they are responsible for ensuring the organization's core values are reflected in daily operations, from hiring processes to promotions.
CCOs play a critical role because they understand that a positive culture that upholds company values is essential to organizational success. They work diligently to help teams work harmoniously and deliver exceptional patient care.
These five emerging roles are not just additions to an organizational chart. They represent a seismic shift in healthcare leadership that values people and recognizes the importance of creating positive patient and employee experiences. This leadership model infuses care and compassion into every aspect of an organization, ultimately improving the bottom line across every metric.
As uncertainty continues to dissolve the line that once separated our work lives from our personal lives, wellness is vital to organizational success and retaining top talent. More than that, healthcare teams that prioritize a people-first mindset develop resilience and navigate challenges with ease. Having a C-Suite leader dedicated to people-first leadership ensures that wellness and well-being are prioritized and brings intentional focus to integrating care and compassion into everything you do.
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