Mobile apps claim to help us complete tasks faster, improve communication, and generally make life easier. A handful of apps used in the corporate world even claim to also boost employee engagement - this is an important claim. Research shows that engagement is critical for employee retention. When engagement soars, turnover drops by a whopping 25 to 65%.
But can an app really improve job satisfaction for busy healthcare professionals?
Mobile apps impact employee engagement
Recent research around the use of employee apps and staff engagement shows that companies that use such apps improved engagement by 75%.
Why is this? Communication breakdown is one of the primary reasons for poor engagement. Using technology to facilitate meaningful two-way communication is an efficient way for leadership, management, and staff to communicate. That, in turn, can easily lead to an engagement boost.
Apps designed to improve communications connect employees and contractors scattered across sites. This connection fosters a stronger company culture and engagement.
Another reason employees engagement improves with apps: they’re familiar. Most Americans (85%) own a smartphone. As digital natives, millennials and Generation Zs expect information to be immediate and available no matter where they are. They fully expect to have apps that allow them to communicate with colleagues, get company news, and conveniently collaborate on projects regardless of where they are.
Employees also want to minimize the amount of time it takes them to do the mundane tasks associated with work. Apps provide that value at their fingertips while also providing access to training, the ability to file expenses reports or request time off, and so on.
What about apps in healthcare?
Despite the unique challenges and rewards of working in a healthcare setting, there is no reason to believe that these benefits of employee apps don’t apply to healthcare. With the current nursing shortage, burnout, and all-too-common staffing challenges, health systems might stand to gain the most from a boost in employee engagement created by app-enabled experiences.
In fact, a Feb 2021 survey of 284 CareRev healthcare professionals showed that 94% of respondents were more likely to be interested in working at a facility that is technologically advanced and almost all (98%) feel that mobile apps are critical for the future of healthcare.
How CareRev addresses engagement in healthcare
The CareRev app is designed to improve engagement for both full-time and on-demand staff. When you leverage a flexible staffing model with CareRev, on-demand professionals can be brought in at any time to supplement your full-time workforce, decreasing the pressure to work overtime and reducing burnout. In effect, CareRev allows the same amount of work to be spread out over a larger number of professionals, making nurse-to-patient ratios more manageable - and safer - for each individual.
CareRev healthcare professionals work when they want. Most want a flexible schedule. In the same survey mentioned above, more than 90% said they are more likely to stay in a job where they can create their own schedules. More than half of the respondents said picking up shifts through CareRev gives them better work/life balance (66.7%) and helps them feel less stressed about money (61.3%).
Because of all these advantages, users of the CareRev app - your internal employees or external on-demand staff - are more likely to show up for their shifts well-rested, healthy, and happy. In a team-based care delivery model, that enthusiasm is contagious.
