3 secrets to inspire employee enthusiasm

Research shows that workplace smiles enhance employee productivity, according to a recent post from FastCompany.

Here are three more enjoyable ways to promote teamwork and work ethic in your staff members:

Learn a language--together. Better communication skills aren't just necessary for doctors, but for everyone in your office. Why not engage in education as a group? Devote some regular meeting time to communication, body language skills and role playing, for example, or invite a facilitator to teach a workshop during lunch or after hours. To take this idea even further, consider teaming up to learn a foreign language a large part of your patient population speaks. Doing so will not only help enhance employees' resumes, but your office's cultural competence as well, noted FastCompany.

Offer cash and prizes (or simple acknowledgment). There are various ways your practice can make a game out of recognizing a job well done. Small prizes and rewards might boost these incentives, but it's acknowledgement itself that taps into people's innate desire to do praise-worthy work.

Take field trips. If there's a new "cool concept" you want your employees to see, you might not be able to get your team to "get on a plane and go look at it," as grocery company CEO Stew Leonard Jr., does to excite employees and earn their respect, he told Inc. But you can arrange more local excursions, such as to a newly remodeled office with a design you are considering, or to a nearby school or library to talk about careers in healthcare. Whether the outing is big or small, occasionally getting out as a group helps build camaraderie and ensures employees "see the [company's] vision," Leonard said.

To learn more:
- read the post from FastCompany
- watch the video from Inc.