Cultivating a strong middle management culture is a key to creating a great workplace, according to an article in Becker's Hospital 
Review.
The supervisor relationship was the No. 1 factor in employee satisfaction among women in the healthcare industry, Quint Studer, founder of Studer Group, said in the article. That means organizations must focus on engagement efforts in this area.
Healthcare systems and hospitals can make their company a better place to work by:
Unifying leadership styles and techniques. As health systems grow larger and more complex, they must have a systematic hiring and training process. Every manager must learn and know how to run an effective meeting, manage financial resources and address employee issues, according to the article.
Fostering professional development. Offer an even playing field in leadership training--working with both natural leaders and with those who need more guidance and assistance. Hospital leaders must identify where middle managers are in their skill development and train them to successfully interact with staff and understand the work environment, according to Becker's.
Identifying priorities. Senior leaders must sit down with middle managers and identify five goals to prevent managers from getting overwhelmed, assigning those goals in time allotments rather than an ordered list. "Say, 'Here's 100 percent of your time. We want 30 percent spent on this, another 30 percent goes here,' and so on," Studer said in the article. Gauge progress using performance evaluation, weighing performance for each priority.
Meeting regularly with management. Hold meetings at least once a month at a scheduled time in order to stay involved with planning and development, Studer told Becker's. Leaders should assist managers in any way possible, engaging them and showcasing the importance of thorough communication.
It costs hospitals less to develop and retain leadership in-house than to hire and train new management, FierceHealthcare previously reported. Hospitals that don't groom internal leaders spend four times more to replace and train nurses than hospitals emphasizing leadership development, concluded the 2012 Healthcare Management Survey, conducted by Talent Management Consulting.
To learn more:
- here's the article