Blog: The Performance Review Journey Will Continue to Evolve in Healthcare-812737696

The Performance Review Journey Will Continue to Evolve in Healthcare

May 14, 2021
May 14, 2021

In a pandemic, priorities shift. For healthcare providers, that has meant a finite focus on patient care and employee safety, along with a daily realignment of staff to handle the most urgent care needs. This narrowing of operations has also meant that many procedures and processes, such as ongoing performance evaluations and annual reviews, have been modified or, in some cases, put completely on hold. Providers are realizing that neglecting these assessments is not optimal for the long term—and they’re starting to reimagine how to improve them when nothing seems normal.

This blog post excerpts an article from HealthStream, Performance Management Turned Upside Down, that features HealthStream’s Brad Weeks, Director, Performance Platform Solutions, and Megan Gibson, Manager, Success Management. This article explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has made healthcare organizations even more aware of the importance of improving performance evaluations and employee reviews at a time when nothing is normal about performance management in healthcare.

The Performance Review Journey Will Continue to Evolve

The only certain thing about 2021 is that there will be more uncertainty across the healthcare continuum. Steps taken now to reimagine performance reviews and evaluations will bring continuity and clarity to managers and employees alike. This will help drive success across provider’s various operational areas.

What that is likely to mean in a healthcare entity’s employee-review process, Weeks points out, is a shift beyond disciplines, roles, and their associated responsibilities.

“We get locked into what a doctor or a nurse does,” he says. “This year brought attention to how people can move into different areas, and it also brought attention to them as human beings. A lot of organizations are starting to recognize that their learning, development, and performance assessment programs need to recognize not just the role someone has, does, or wants, but also who they are and their value as a person.”

“And that doesn’t even touch on generational differences, “Gibson adds. “For instance, we know that the bulk of the nursing population now is Millennial or Gen-Z. They have had a very difficult time dealing with the pandemic compared to people who have been working in healthcare a lot longer. Knowing that, how do we evaluate their performance, and help them grow.”

HealthStream’s Learning and Assessment Tools Build a Better Workplace

Healthcare employers are going to need a multilayered strategy to attract and retain high-quality employees. A big piece of that will be an engagement platform that folds in continuing education, ongoing (vs. annual) reviews and assessments, peer sharing, and a billboard-style social component to call out strong performances and other wins.

Gibson says “the HealthStream Learning Center as a whole provides staff the opportunity to self-author their specific training. And at the same time, it empowers managers to communicate with their target audiences. Organizations are also able to use AMPT, our social recognition platform, creating an even more holistic experience for learning, engagement, and assessment.”

Other posts in this series will include:

  • The Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Performance Reviews
  • Reviews and Recognition as a Tool to Avoid Staff Burnout
  • Goal Setting Takes on New Importance as Job Responsibilities Shift

Learning & Performance Exclusively for the Healthcare Workforce

There’s a good reason why HealthStream’s workforce education solutions are already trusted by more than 70 percent of healthcare organizations in the U.S. HealthStream’s comprehensive suite of learning and competency management tools empowers your people to deliver the best care more easily and effectively than ever before. Powered by the industry’s top content providers, HealthStream's Learning & Performance solutions connect you to healthcare’s largest learning community with a learning management system customized by you to meet your organization’s unique needs.