Organizational Culture & The Role Of Leaders In Shaping It
The US healthcare industry faces significant challenges, including an aging population, reimbursement issues, legislative and regulatory ambiguities, staffing shortage and burnout, and cybersecurity threats. These challenges are putting immense pressure on healthcare professionals at a time when their capabilities and overall well-being are more critical than ever.
Healthcare providers seeking to enhance their organizational performance can access various helpful resources, including graduate programs from professional associations like Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). While educational resources carry weight, one crucial influence to organizational performance that is often overlooked is culture.
Understanding and shaping culture is essential for effective practice leadership, as it can have a positive impact on both in-person team members and virtual medical assistants.
What Is Organizational Culture?
Culture is a complex and multifaceted concept that can be difficult to define. It encompasses many interpretations, such as positive values, attitudes, norms, and rules that guide employee behavior.
While culture is subjective and hard to measure, it is the glue that uniquely defines an organization. The shared learning, assumptions, values, and patterns of behavior give a practice a distinct identity. Moreover, it reflects an organization’s emotional and psychological climate, and it develops over time through the accumulation of shared experiences.
Ultimately, culture is about how people make sense of events and experiences, and it influences an organization’s internal dynamics and external perception.
How Leaders Can Shape Organizational Culture
When developing implementation strategies, leaders should remember the importance of reinforcing organizational culture and values that align with the practice’s vision. They can achieve this by adopting the following approaches:
Evaluating & Optimizing Leadership
Effective leadership requires a holistic approach that combines learning, relationship-building, and a drive for excellence that spans work and personal life. To achieve this approach, practice leaders must equip themselves with proper tools and strategies, such as succession planning and talent management practices. These may include onboarding, self-assessment, coaching, mentoring, and leadership development plans. By leveraging these strategies, leaders can optimize their potential and lead confidently and efficiently.
Modeling Desired Attributes
The success of an organization depends on how its team members embody its desired qualities and values in every interaction, from the hiring process to daily team huddles and strategic planning retreats. Leaders must prioritize various initiatives, such as staff engagement assessments, quality improvement efforts, and employee evaluations in both formal and informal settings. Complementing these measures, an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and resiliency programs is essential to promoting the overall well-being of employees.
For a medical practice to thrive, leaders must establish a strong organizational culture that they will reinforce through positive behaviors. This claim is especially true during times of timely industry challenges.
The key to success is understanding that culture is a strategic asset that can set a medical practice apart from the competition and drive its transformation. Leaders must define and nurture this foundation as it will shape the future of their organization.