Medical Lab Professionals Week: A Guide for HR and Clinic Managers
The Unsung Heroes of Healthcare.
Medical lab professional’s week is an annual celebration recognizing the critical role laboratory professionals and pathologists play in healthcare. These individuals are the unsung heroes and backbone of the medical industry, they run all the tests, biopsies, screenings and process every sample. They are not the ones delivering the news, but rather the ones doing the hard investigative work behind the good and bad results.
Recognizing these people, who often work in obscurity, out of sight from the public, and even other medical professionals can be a bit tricky. As an HR or clinic manager, this week offers the opportunity to honor, support and celebrate your lab team’s vital contribution.
How to do that?
Skip the Fluff and click the links to lists of suggested activities in the text below:
Recognizing Their Contributions, Acknowledgment and Appreciation.
Simple, free to implement and something you should be doing all year round, is acknowledging each lab person's specific contributions. Personalized thank you cards or shout outs in team meetings go a long way. Even a kind word in an email, recognizing your team member’s job well done, can make them feel valued and is surprisingly uplifting. Highlighting individual achievement not only fosters a culture of appreciation but it also boosts morale and job satisfaction, you can set the example by celebrating other people's successes and encouraging others to do the same.
Professional Development Opportunities.
Investing in your lab professional’s growth is also an investment in your lab. It demonstrates a commitment to your team member’s career progression and opens doors professionally for the individual at the same time it adds depth and capacity to your lab. During this week consider announcing scholarships for continuing education, or sponsoring certifications that further people’s expertise, promoting professional development enriches both the individual and the practice.
Supporting the Well-being, Work-life Balance and Mental Health.
Flexible scheduling.
Professionals these days often work long hours, hard hours and healthcare workers are around the clock, 24 hours a day, nights and weekends. Introducing flexibility into your scheduling, allowing “comp time” or just opening the beginning and ends of the work day to some flex, can and often does make a huge difference. Life is flexible and dynamic, would should be too.
Health Resources.
Opening doors to both physical and mental health resources and wellbeing techniques recognizes your team and recognizes the toll that they may be feeling from the grind. Offer workshops or access to counseling services, focusing on stress management and mental health. Offer yoga classes, or massage and acupuncture, or breathing workshops. Just remember that not everybody will like everything, so it is wise to think two or three resources deep. Lab work can be high pressure, high-paced and emotionally taxing. Providing resources to manage these challenges underscores your recognition of the teams hard work and dedication. It can also be really useful for promoting healthy communication between individuals, reducing team friction over the long term.
Celebrating Their Achievements Events and Team Building.
Appreciation Events.
Organize a special event or luncheon. An appreciation event, whether virtual or in person, offers a chance for the team to bond. Incorporating awards and recognition ceremonies within these events can also highlight individuals and team achievements (list of appreciation event ideas or activities)
As a massage therapy company, I would be remiss to not point out that on-sight massage is an excellent option for an appreciation event or wellness resource. It directly supports the physical and mental well-being of each staff member while boosting the culture and productivity of the entire team.
Team building activities.
Planning team building exercises that are fun and inclusive, encouraging collaboration and inter-team communication is a fantastic way to create a great work culture, but it can be hard to do. If you do it outside of the regular work environment, activities like escape rooms, trivia nights, or even picnics can be lightly attended as people have full lives outside of work. Doing it during the work day can put you impossibly behind, or can feel absurdly expensive as a manager or owner. The truth is, it’s worth the investment, in retention, and productivity in the long haul. It strengthens team dynamics and improves workplace culture. (list of team building activities.)
Recognizing Their Impact, Public Acknowledgment.
Social media spotlight.
Posting on social media is not every business', department’s, or individual’s cup of tea, so make sure that this is within the culture of your environment and seek permission before posting anybody on the world wide web. That said, it can be a powerful tool to have a manager or a department head publicly acknowledge and praise their team to the world abroad, or maybe just in a Slack channel.
Press Release and Local Media.
Consider sending out a press release or reaching out to local media to cover your team’s achievements and celebrations during this week. Better yet, if you stumble upon this article early, sed in a draft to your local paper a week or two in advance, so that you can share it, in print if they run it. This not only honors your team but also raises public awareness about the importance of medical lab professionals in healthcare (link to a template press release.)
A Culture of Appreciation
Medical lab professional’s week is more than just a week of celebration, it's an opportunity to cultivate a culture of continuous recognition and support for these vital members society, by acknowledging their hard work, supporting their well-being, celebrating their achievements and recognizing their impact. Office managers, HR professionals and clinic managers can demonstrate a deep appreciation for their medical lab professionals this week. This in turn contributes to a positive workplace environment, hire job satisfaction and ultimately better results.