It’s no secret that “The Great Attrition” is hitting the healthcare sector hard.

Turnover rates are skyrocketing nationwide and are projected to only get worse, with 40% of nurses and 20% of physicians planning to resign from their current employer in the next two years. A shortage of 3.2 million healthcare workers expected by 2026 only exacerbates the problem. The “Great Attrition” and “Great Retirement” have made one thing clear — a culture of appreciation and belonging is an absolute requirement for organizational success. A recent report noted that the primary reason employees resigned during the pandemic was that they did not feel valued by their organization. Senior leaders have clear marching orders from their team: build a culture where employees feel valued or risk losing them.

This makes building and keeping your team together more important now than ever. Making sure your team members feel heard, recognized, and appreciated is crucial to fostering engagement and the desire to stay with your organization. In fact, creating a workplace where team members feel connected to their team and company culture has shown to reduce turnover rates by as much as 50%.

How do you create a workplace with an enriching culture that makes team members want to stay?  

Strengthen your company culture by using proven practices through the lens of Wambi’s five values: compassion, fearlessness, imagination, gratitude, and joy. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make when thinking about culture is that they believe and say the right things, but miss the critical step of operationalizing stated values. Since culture is “the way we do things here,” organizations run into trouble when the actions of leaders run counter to stated values. If we list gratitude as a core value, but leaders rarely demonstrate it, then it is not part of the culture.   

Try the following gratitude exercise at your next team huddle: 

Ask each team member to take a moment to think of a time when a coworker did something that they feel thankful for and encourage them to write a message of gratitude to that coworker sharing how grateful they are. Turn this into a regular practice by facilitating this exercise four times per month.  

Taking the time to reflect on these meaningful moments reminds team members of the many positive interactions that happen between them every day, but are often too easily forgotten in their fast-paced, high-intensity work environment.  

Creating a workplace where team members feel invested and want to stay, as Dr. Swati Mehta, Director of Quality and Performance and Patient Experience at Vituity, said on Wambi’s Moments Move Us podcast, “begins from the top.” When leaders walk the walk and lead with compassion, fearlessness, imagination, gratitude, and joy, it creates a trickle-down effect throughout an organization. 

A culture-building program that elevates meaningful recognition and encourages a culture of belonging is a great place to start. For healthcare leaders, this means finding a system that includes the voices of ALL key stakeholders – leaders, team members, and patients. 

If you’re in the market for an employee recognition tool that’s right for your organization, A Recognition Buyer’s Guide will help you make an educated decision to inspire lasting change for your healthcare workforce.

For those looking for a more hands-on approach to strengthen one’s leadership, download Wambi’s Best of 2021 Retention Tools for the Busy Leader workbook. This workbook shares recommendations and insights to empower your organization to increase employee satisfaction and reduce turnover using the power of meaningful reflection.

We are thrilled to announce that in 2021 over 520,000 Wambis were shared across all Wambi platforms. What an inspiring year of celebrations, appreciation, and gratitude shared between team members, leaders, and patients. We are humbled to partner with so many great organizations to shine a light on these meaningful moments! Thank you to our clients, partners, and supporters for being a part of the Wambi family!

Wambi is built on creating a culture of gratitude where team members feel valued. As we look towards 2022 with excitement and anticipation, we want to share the importance of integrating gratitude into your New Year’s resolutions.

Research shows that regularly reflecting on and expressing gratitude leads to a stronger immune system, reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, better sleep, and even faster recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Living a life of gratitude gives you hope, strength, energy, wisdom, and the serenity to meet life’s many challenges of grief, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and fear.

Gratitude is considered one of the key strengths for human flourishing. By drawing on this strength and creating an awareness of what is going well in your life, your positive emotions, your positive relationships, and your well-being combine to enable you to truly thrive.

Want to learn more about the importance of gratitude? Download the toolkit today!

Have you noticed how many New Year’s resolutions fizzle out after January? Change can sometimes be difficult, and new practices are often forgotten. Here are a few helpful tips on how you can turn practicing gratitude into a habit.  

Define your goals  

Setting goals and working towards them is a great way to reinforce purpose in your day. Consider how many notes of appreciation and gratitude (Wambis) you want to share each week and set a goal. As you continue to reach your goal throughout the year, consider increasing the number you send.  

Be Consistent 

Set a calendar appointment for 15 minutes each week to share appreciation with a colleague or coworker. Consider starting your mid-week morning with a Wambi Wednesday to focus on the kind words from patients and team members. It’s important to find a time that works best for you where you can fully absorb and reflect on the positive notes.  

Form a “Trigger”

Your gratitude practice may need to start with a very small step of reflection. Use a “trigger,” such as washing your hands, as your mental cue to think about something that you are grateful for. Next time you are washing your hands (or whatever your new gratitude trigger is), reflect on something that you are grateful for and name the positive emotions you feel.  

Make it Easy  

Writing a letter of gratitude to someone who has made a difference in your life is one of the most recommended and meaningful activities in practicing gratitude. At Wambi, we understand that it can sometimes feel overwhelming to think of how to put into words how much you appreciate someone.  

Try following these steps to write a thoughtful letter:    

1. Identify an individual in your life for whom you are grateful.  
2. Describe why you are grateful.  
3. Describe specifically how you have benefitted.  
4. Describe specifically why this was meaningful.  
5. Thank them for allowing you to share your gratitude with them. 

Remember practice makes perfect! There’s no better time to start making gratitude a habit than today!  

During disruptive and difficult times, like the pandemic, it may feel like practicing gratitude is unachievable. However, having a grateful perspective on life can help you cope and build greater personal resilience.

Whether you are sending or receiving gratitude, it is important to understand what practices work best for you. As you are focusing on gratitude as part of your New Year’s resolution, here are a few helpful tips:

How to Share Gratitude During Challenging Times

One simple reflective practice is called “My Three Good Things.” Capture three good things over the past 24 hours: they can be positive interactions, positive emotions, or positive thoughts. Write them down and explain why you chose them. Do this every day for two weeks to build a routine, perhaps in the morning or at bedtime. If you miss a day, it is okay, try again the next day. You may want to find a friend, colleague, or family member to join you in taking on this new practice.

How to Accept Gratitude During Challenging Times

During a stressful time, it may be difficult to absorb and feel the emotions you experience from positive feedback. We’ve heard from physicians and healthcare workers that they like to keep a running journal of these moments so that they can be reflected on later, when they are in a mindset to receive gratitude. Consider adding a new folder to your email, adding a note on your phone, or writing in a gratitude journal. Make sure to set aside a dedicated time each week when you can read and focus on your Wambis.

Is there someone who has helped you through a difficult time? Let them know what they did that impacted you and how you benefitted from their support.

Wambi’s recognition platform helps healthcare organizations improve team member and patient experience through real-time individual feedback, driving retention, and creating a culture of gratitude. Take the first step in making gratitude a New Year’s resolution by requesting a demo today!

Look ahead into a brand new year with a free 2022 calendar desktop  wallpaper!

Recognize moments all year long with the Wambi free 2022 calendar desktop wallpaper, highlighting national holidays and healthcare-related holidays. In theme with new years, we challenge you to add fearlessness and gratitude to your list of yearly resolutions. Want to spread the joy? Feel free to share this post with colleagues, friends, and family members.

“There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.” — Kahlil Gibran

There’s a desktop wallpaper for every screen size. Don’t see your size? Feel free to contact us.

• 1280 x 720 (17-inch screen)
• 1280 x 1024(19-inch screen)
• 1600 x 1200 (20-inch screen)
• 1680 x 1050 (22-inch screen)
• 1920 x 1080 (16:9 aspect-ratio monitor)
• 2560 x 1600 (13-inch Macbook)
• 2880 x 1800 (15-inch Macbook)

Here is a list of 2022 healthcare holidays and fresh ideas to celebrate each holiday more intentionally:

Employee Appreciation Day (March 5)
World Imagination Day (March 14)

Download An Evolved Leader’s Guide to learn how to use incorporate the value of imagination in your retention strategy.

National Doctors Day (March 30)
World Health Day (April 7)

Observe World Health Day with tips to support you and your team members through a healing mindfulness journey.

Patient Experience Week (April 26-30)
National Nurses Week (May 6-12)

The National Nurses Week content hub is a one-stop shop for ideas and inspiration on how to celebrating your nursing staff.

Hospital Week (May 9-15)

A caring Hospital Week testimony from one of Wambi’s flock recounting a seven month inpatient experience at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

World Meditation Day (May 31)

In need of meditation? Enjoy our trio of 10-minute guided meditations featuring Jonathan Metter on the Wambi Youtube channel.

World Day of Joy (August 1)

One of the best ways to seek joy is within the pages of a book. Choose your next delightful read from the 10 Books To Spark Joy blog.

Health Unit Coordinator Week (August 23-29)
World Gratitude Day (September 16)

Download  The Gratitude Toolkit, a free workbook with prompts to guide you through your gratitude practice.

World Mental Health Day (October 10)

Looking for healthy ways to manage stress? Read It’s Okay To Not Be Okay for healthy reminders.

Make a Difference Day (October 24)
World Kindness Day (November 13)
Giving Tuesday (December 1)

After you’ve found your correct screen size, save the image file to your personal drive.

FOR PC USERS

Locate the image file on your personal drive. Once you have found the file, right-click the file and choose either Set as > Set as background or, in older versions of Windows, Set as desktop background.

FOR MAC USERS

Locate the image file on your personal drive. Once you have found the file, right-click the file and choose Set Desktop Picture.