By Jay Juffre

I was recently reading an article in Forbes that talked about reasons employees choose to stay or leave a company. They cited five. Before you say, ‘that’s easy money’, let’s unpack what they learned from asking employees across the country. Although pay was on the list, curiously it was last. Only about 9% of employees cited money as the contributing factor. Ahead of that were things like work/life balance, family/health concerns, stress, and finally a career path/job fulfillment (1st at 24%).

The great thing about the top four is that great leaders can help in all these areas. By staying close to your people. You can monitor if they are getting the right amount of personal vs. professional time. Remember that this equation can change as people’s lives change. There is a big difference between someone when they are single with no kids and several years later when they have two small children at home. Also, if you are truly connected, you will know if they have any outside family/health concerns competing with their job duties, and then can work with them to support them. In addition, leadership has an obligation to reduce the stress our teams are under.

And finally, understanding what their professional goals are and laying out a clear career path is also key. It’s been noted before, your patients will never be happier than the person taking care of them. Tenured teams whose leadership is focused on their success will always deliver better care than a bunch of rookies who are looking to leave.

So, if you want to see your patient satisfaction and referrals go through the roof, focus on the things that make your team want to stay with you for life. The best leaders today develop, recharge and show empathy to their employees. The return they get on that approach pays big dividends.

Jay Juffre is Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, ImageFIRST. For more information on ImageFIRST, call 1-800-932-7472 or visit www.imagefirst.com.